Travel

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travel insurance buying guide CHOICE

Why get travel insurance?

Organising travel insurance is an essential part of preparing for your overseas trip. If you are uninsured, you (or your family) are personally responsible for covering any medical or other costs resulting from unexpected incidents or accidents.

You should make sure your travel insurance covers all medical expenses for injury or illness, as well as theft of valuables, damage to baggage and cancellations or interruptions to flight plans. Accidents can happen to anyone, and medical costs overseas can reach hundreds of thousands of dollars. Australians have faced financial hardship to cover these costs when things go wrong.

The Australian Government won't pay for your medical treatment overseas or medical evacuation to Australia or a third country. Travellers without travel insurance are personally liable for covering any medical and associated costs they incur.

Take a look at our travel insurance case studies for some examples.

Guide to buying travel insurance

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has teamed up with independent consumer advocate CHOICE to provide two simple travel insurance guides for you, the Aussie traveller, to help you get the right insurance for your trip.

The CHOICE travel insurance buying guide helps you to understand the ins and outs of travel insurance to help you get the best insurance for your trip and your circumstances. It also provides some handy tips on how to save money on your policy, and what to do if your claim is denied.

The CHOICE travel insurance cheat sheet provides a rundown of the most important things to look out for and consider when you are buying travel insurance.

Who is CHOICE? Set up by consumers for consumers, CHOICE is the consumer advocate that provides Australians with information and advice, free from commercial bias.