NIB Travel has announced a new insurance product that includes plans which offer cover for some coronavirus-related events, as it resumes selling travel insurance policies in Australia from January 2021.
Anna Gladman, CEO of NIB Travel, said the new product reflects efforts to find new ways to protect travellers in a world learning to live with coronavirus.
“We understand travellers are concerned about the impact coronavirus might have on their plans and health while travelling,” she said.
“A survey of our travellers showed 40 per cent were looking for cover for coronavirus-related events in their policy.
“With coronavirus destined to become part of normal life and in response to the challenges this poses to travel, we have reassessed our coverage and created a product which will allow travellers to resume exploring with greater peace of mind.”
The new product has plans which offer cover if travellers are diagnosed with COVID-19 on their journey, including overseas medical expenses and some coronavirus-related cancellation and quarantine expenses.
It also recognises the extraordinary contribution of healthcare, aged care and law enforcement workers who have worked tirelessly against COVID-19, with special provision for cancellation coverage should they be required to return to work.
Gladman said the new product will support those travellers looking to book trips both domestically now and internationally in the future.
“There is significant pent-up demand for travel, with a recent survey of our travellers showing that 61 per cent of Aussies are planning on exploring our own backyard in the next 12 months, with Queensland at the top of the wish list,” she said.
“Travel has proven to be an important driver of economic prosperity all over the world, and it is important we do everything we can to give people the confidence to book holidays and get the global tourism industry back on its feet.”
The move by NIB Travel comes not long after rival Cover-More introduced its owned COVID-covered travel insurance offering.
NIB Travel has also combined the best of its SureSave and NIB Travel brands which will see its partners brought together onto the one system.
From 20 January 2021, NIB will become the flagship partner brand, with existing SureSave partners transitioned to NIB Travel.
“Importantly, this is just a change to the brand name – we’ll still have the same team on hand to support our partners and any ongoing policy maintenance as we move forward into 2021,” Gladman said.
“We’ll be in touch with our partners in early January to assist them with the transition to NIB Travel Insurance.”
Featured image source: iStock/Nils Versemann
