Guide to Buying Travel Insurance

Medical Cover

Medical cover is arguably the most important reason for buying Travel Insurance. If something unexpected does happen you’ll want to be sure you’re going to get the best medical attention available.

A good policy will have unlimited medical cover.

Both Fast Cover’s Standard & Comprehensive policies come with unlimited medical cover.

Emergency Medical Assistance

Emergency Medical Assistance is another very important part of a quality travel insurance policy. If you do run into a problem in a foreign country – especially a non-English speaking country – it’s vital to have a support service you can contact 24 hours a day 7 days a week.

A good support service will have a worldwide network of support centres with local contacts in or near the country you’re travelling to.

Some policies only offer a phone number in Australia and call it emergency medical assistance.

Fast Cover travel insurance polices include as standard overseas emergency medical assistance by Allianz Global Assistance (formerly Mondial Assistance). Allianz Global Assistance is an expert in providing emergency assistance worldwide and has been helping travellers for over 20 years. Allianz Global Assistance has a worldwide network of support centres and has provided emergency assistance for millions of travellers worldwide.

Pre-Existing Medical Conditions

If you have a pre-existing medical condition that you need covered it’s important that you check that the travel insurance policy you buy covers it. A good travel insurance policy will cover many common pre-existing conditions and clearly state which pre-existing conditions are covered and which are not.

Fast Cover travel insurance policies cover an extensive range of pre-existing medical conditions. These are detailed in our Product Disclosure Statement on page 20 and also in our pre-existing medical conditions covered faq page.

Cancellation Cover

A good travel insurance policy will provide cancellation cover from the moment the policy is purchased. This protects deposits that have been paid in the event that your trip has to be cancelled due to a medical condition or unforseen event.

Both Fast Cover’s Standard & Comprehensive travel insurance policies come with cancellation cover that begins from the moment the policy is purchased.

Luggage & Personal Effects

Check that the travel insurance policy you buy provides adequate cover for the luggage and personal effects you’re taking on your trip. A good travel insurance policy will provide cover for high value items like laptops, cameras & mobile phones and will allow you to increase the cover if you need to.

Fast Cover travel insurance policies provide cover laptops, cameras, mobile phones & most other items you're likely to take on your trip. Our Comprehensive policy even allows you to increase the cover for specific items.

Strong Underwriter

A strong underwriter is vital. The underwriter is ultimately responsible for paying claims so it is important that the underwriter is financially strong, ethical & recognisable.

We suggest that if you have not heard of the underwriter you do some research to make sure that they are a strong, stable, ethical company.

Fast Cover travel insurance policies are underwritten by Allianz Australia. Allianz Australia is one of Australia's largest general insurers. In 2010 Allianz Australia undrwrote over 2 million travel insurance policies.

Children Covered

A good travel insurance policy will cover children and dependents under 21 for free.

Fast Cover Single and Family travel insurance policies include free cover for up to 10 children or dependents under 21 traveling on the same policy as their parent or guardian.

Excess

When making a claim excess is the amount you have to pay. For example if you make a claim that comes to $500 and your policy excess is $100, you would have to pay the first $100 and the insurance company would pay the remaining $400.

A good travel insurance policy will have a low excess ($100 or less) and offer the option to reduce the excess to $0.

Fast Cover travel insurance policies have a standard excess of $100 and give you the option to reduce the excess to $0.