Australia Travel Answers

Not boring at all. It's not really a matter of cost. It's a matter of you carefully reading what the policy covers and what it does not, then choosing which policy is right for your needs and budget. So once you have quotes you need to read through the relevant exclusions etc to know exactly what you are covered for. Endsleigh is a reliable UK company: endsleigh.co.uk/Travel/Pages...

Agree with leics. Am guessing that you are a young traveller and in good health but accidents and unexpected illness can occur. So I would recommend that your chosen policy includes good medical cover with repatriation in the event of a long recovery/treatment programme. I am assumiming you have checked out what, if any, reciprocal health care arrangements exist between UK and Australia. Best of luck and happy & safe travelling!

Yes there are recirocals between Australia and UK but I am not sure of details.

Details here: humanservices.gov.au/custome... fco.gov.uk/en/travel-and-liv...

There is a reciprocal agreement between Britain and Australia, when you arrive here go into a Medicare office and apply for a medicare card, this will entitle you to free necesary medical carewhile you are here. While it isn,t essential to get the card immediately, you would need to get one if you see a Doctor, you can obtain one after seeing a Doctor if necessary. It makes things easier if you have the card on you. However you would not be covered for a flight back to the UK when you are ill, say you broke your leg and needed 3 seats then insurance would pay this. I would make sure return to your home is covered under certain circumstances (parents unwell for example) as these are big costs. Everyone thinks of luggage but this is small beer in comparison to having to use hotels in unexpected situations, flights and so on. 100 pounds sounds very little for a year, I don,t think I would go with that crowd.

I'll leave you to do your own research but I know that the UK Post Office offers long term trip insurance with very comprehensive coverage which can include a trip home in the middle. As mentioned previously just make sure you read the small print,

As I bought travel insurance yesterday (in NZ), just out of interest I got a quick quote for a 10 month period a NZ visitor would have to pay with one of the NZ's most popular insurers who also insure visitors. It came to about 320 pounds. So the more expensive offer you got seems to be quite realistic. (Without cover for baggage and personal items it would cost 220 pounds.)

Reinforcing the others with the fact that repatriation and good hospital care is more vital than the loss of baggage etc. A young fit 23 year old friend discovered a hole in her heart the hard way - collapsed getting off a plane in the Middle East and the insurer picked up the cost for the surgery, sending her parents out as caregivers and a specialist nurse to accompany them home.

I have to agree with the others, health cover is the really important part. Lost luggage isn't a major issue and the airline covers such things anyway. With the UK Visitor Medicare card you're covered for the bulk of medical costs here but you need to have insurance for major costs things, repatriation etc. Don't go for the cheapest, go for a reputable company that covers the important items even if it's a bit more expensive.

Yes, we had a local man in hospital where I work who sufferred a stroke in Norway, he was in Hospital for a long time before being sent back to Australia, his stretcher occupied the full bank of seats in the middle of the aircraft and a Doctor and Nurse accompanied him. His insurance paid every cent of the costs for all this, his wife told me they would have had to sell their house to pay if it hadn,t been for the insurance.

The really key points to draw out here is that you must make your buying decision based on cover and not price. It is entirely possible to find that paying £300 to an expensive company gets no better cover than paying £100 to a competitive specialist. Medical cover, and related repatriation costs, is the most vital aspect, as uninsured costs (if something terrible happens) could bankrupt you and your family. Always read the 'Key Facts' document (which all insurers should provide) before signing up. Pay particular attention to 'Exclusions'. You may well find that some of the cheaper annual policies exclude cover for trips over a certain duration (often 28 days). This clause would render the policy completely useless to you. If you search the Lonely Planet (Thorn Tree) forum for 'gap year insurance' you will find plenty of discussion that may be relevant - there's lots of stuff, but filtering it down to, say, postings in the last 6 months, will give you a more relevant selection. There are probably other forums equally specific to your circumstances. Final tip: to reduce the cost without reducing the cover, don't forget to see if you can get 'cashback' via Topcashback or Quidco etc.

The reciprocity between UK and Australia gives you access at a minimal fee to public hospitals and Doctors in private clinics for around30 to60 and if they 'bulk bill'its free So, unless you want the emergency additional type things like luggage, travel home etc, why bother at all, you have the same cover as 49% of Australians with no private health cover.

Regardless of medical costs, the potential cost of repatriation alone is well worth the far, far smaller cost of travel health insurance. I'd always advise it simply for that reason. Even if you only break a limb, the cost of paying for extra seat/s on the flight home can be substantial.