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17 July, 2023

Australians urged to take out domestic travel insurance ahead of busy end of the year: SCTI

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Edited by Travel Weekly

As Australia prepares for an end of the year stacked with standout sporting events, Southern Cross Travel Insurance (SCTI) is reminding travellers to take out domestic travel insurance to safeguard their plans.

Recent research conducted by SCTI showed that 58 per cent of Aussies that travelled interstate in 2022, reported experiencing an issue with their travel or travel plans.

Aussies intending to enjoy the myriad fantastic sporting events taking place this year could be forgiven for thinking domestic travel insurance for their trip isn’t necessary.

“Domestic travel insurance is often overlooked by travellers,” CEO, SCTI, Jo McCauley, said.

“However, since emerging from the pandemic, travel disruption in Australia has remained steady and when you add popular sporting events into the mix, the risk of disruption is likely to increase due to the sheer numbers of travellers moving around the country.”

SCTI data shows that the most common factors resulting in a domestic travel insurance claim are changes to customers’ travel plans before or during their journey, accounting for 36% of claims paid this year. This is followed by claims relating to rental car payments (14%) and lost personal items and baggage (11%).

“We’re also seeing claim costs for domestic travel become increasingly expensive with the average claim payment for domestic claims exceeding the costs for international claims,” McCauley, said.

“Our average claims payment for domestic travel this year is $1,505 compared to only $1,446 for international travel-related claims across the same period.

“Despite the increase in travel costs and consistent appetite for domestic travel in Australia, we’re not seeing the uptake of domestic travel insurance that we anticipated post-COVID.

“I think this is largely due to the fact that life has returned to ‘normal’ and many Aussies don’t think it’ll happen to them. But our data suggests otherwise.”

Some domestic travel insurance policies, including SCTI’s, provide cover for ‘special events’ such as weddings, concerts and ticketed sporting events. This means that if it’s likely a customer will miss their special event as a consequence of unexpected delays, SCTI could cover the additional costs (up to $3,000) of alternative transport options to get the customer there faster, to prevent them from missing their event.

Some of this year’s most expensive domestic travel claims include a customer that had to be urgently admitted to hospital with a blood infection, which resulted in them having to cancel their travel plans, costing over $10,000.

Another claim related to a customer that broke their arm and was unable to go on the trek that they had booked, resulting in cancellation costs of more than $4,000, which they were able to recoup through their domestic travel insurance policy.

Finally, a customer that hit a kangaroo while driving a rental car was covered for over $3,000 worth of damage to the vehicle.

“I think what these examples highlight is the value of domestic travel insurance; both before you head on your trip, as well as when you’re on your way,” McCauley, said.

“Two out of the three examples involved customers who unfortunately had to make claims before they’d even packed their bags!”

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domestic travel insurance Jo McCauley Southern Cross Travel Insurance