Travel Insurance
Discover Croatia recommends that all clients purchase travel insurance the day they make their first payment (including deposits).
Does travel insurance cover me if my airline or tour operator goes bankrupt? (Generally, no, it’s not automatically covered… read on.. )
Pretty much almost all travel insurance will cover you if you get sick or have an accident before you go and you can’t make your trip. What happens if something goes wrong once you’re away, or there’s a problem with the end supplier before you leave or when you arrive? See below for some information on how to check what you’re covered for.
We do not sell or recommend any particular travel insurance, as each client has their own priorities and not all insurance policies cover the same things. Please do your research and get the right cover for you, so that you can enjoy your holiday with peace of mind. Thank you.
Here’s a site where someone has done some research for you for travel insurance. We are not affiliated with these sites, we just think this info might be useful for our clients.
https://www.insurancecouncil.com.au/
https://finder.com.au/insolvency-and-travel-insurance
https://comparetravelinsurance.com.au/travel-insurance-tips/does-travel-insurance-cover-insolvency
We highly recommend that you purchase travel insurance the day you pay any money to anyone for your trip (including deposits). You never know what is going to happen and over the years we’ve seen some strange events and some random weather occurrences. It’s your responsibility to ensure you are covered for all your own eventualities.
Here are some questions to ask your travel insurance company. Do they cover….
• Cruises on small ships? Cruises on big ships (if you’re doing something else)? Not all insurance covers you when you are at sea. Please check! (Croatian coastal cruises do not sail in international waters)
• Medical Insurance? (for you and/or your family members if you need to cancel your holiday if your parent/child gets ill and you need to stay home to take care of them; or, if you get sick while you are away, what do they cover?)
• Car Hire Excess Insurance?
• Lost luggage? Stolen luggage? Electronics?
• Travel delays? (either your fault or your airline/train/bus company’s fault)
• Adventure travel cover? (some companies won’t cover the more ‘risky’ type of sports, or motorcycle riding, or even being a pillion on a scooter)
• What do they cover if something goes wrong on your cruise or tour? (say your cruise ship breaks down or everyone gets sick, or your tour bus is delayed and you miss your flight.. these kinds of things. What do they really cover if this happens?) Are you covered whilst at sea?
• Are you covered for your private yacht or gulet charter? Private charter is hardly ever covered under regular travel insurance. Will they pay for a replacement boat if yours is damaged in an unforeseeable storm?
• Airline / tour / cruise operator financial default or failure to provide contracted services? (end supplier failure)
• Anything else that is a possibility for you in particular?
Your style of travel might differ greatly from the person next to you on the plane. You might be skydiving, they might be going on a cruise. There is no one travel insurance policy that will cover everyone for what they need. DO YOUR RESEARCH. Things change all the time and legal-speak can be hard to decipher. Don’t be afraid to ask questions of your insurer.
Most travel insurance policies do not cover you for the end supplier financial default (but they don’t mention this explicitly), so if that is something that concerns you, please do your research and select the appropriate travel insurance for you (some info is on the Finder link above, but you must read all PDS’s carefully yourself). Most insurance policies only cover you if you have to cancel your trip because of something happening on your end. Please speak to your insurance company and ensure that you are going to be covered for what is important to you. In light of the recent collapses of large tour operators, it’s more important than ever to get the right policy to cover you for everything. So it’s up to you to check about end supplier financial insolvency in your travel insurance policy.
We act as an Agent only, we are not the End Supplier (tour operator) of the travel products on this website. We have no control over their actions and unfortunately once we have paid the end supplier, we have no control over their finances either.
We are registered with IATA under a TIDS code (TIDS… Travel Industry Designator Service world-wide registration scheme for those agents who don’t sell flights, which is us).
TIDS Code 96846385
https://iata.org/services/accreditation/tids/Pages/index.aspx
We have been in business since 2003. We are not the ones who might go insolvent, as your money is safe in our Trust Account until we pay it to the end supplier. It is only once it leaves our hands that we need you to be insured on your own to cover anything that is beyond our control. We want you to be safe when you travel, we want you to be able to get home safely if something goes wrong, we want you to be covered if there’s an ‘act of god’ weather event and your boat sinks. Please, get travel insurance and ensure you have the best protection for what you need. 🙂
For comprehensive travel insurance that covers most things, we can suggest you look at Sure Save Travel Insurance. They seem to have a wide coverage, but please get it in writing exactly what they cover and if it’s relevant to your holiday and what products you are booking, especially if you’re on a cruise or charter. They seem to include some financial insolvency insurance, but you need to check (flights in particular are often the riskiest purchase) what’s really covered. The tourism industry in Croatia is robust and it’s rare that any of the cruise companies have any financial problems.
Covermore now has a ‘cancel for any reason’ insurance (including insolvency, mopeds, high risk adventures, cancelled tours etc), but you need to read the PDS really carefully to ensure your ‘any reason’ is covered and that you have added the selected cover as an option: https://covermore.com.au/travel-insurance/cancel-for-any-reason (also see here: https://finder.com.au/cover-more-cancel-for-any-reason-travel-insurance ).
For basic insurance that covers car hire excess, medical, annual multi-trips, cover when you’re already overseas and group policies, you could look at 1Cover Travel Insurance. Please read the product disclosure statements thoroughly and check anything you aren’t sure of with 1Cover directly.
For Adventure Travel insurance, or insurance for the basics after you leave home, we can suggest you look at World Nomads Travel Insurance. They say they cover emergency medical expenses, baggage, trip cancellation (that’s if you have to cancel for reasons they cover), and technical equipment. You can extend your cover while you travel and they cover heaps of sports like scuba diving, skiing, bungee-jumping, surfing and mountain-biking to name just a few.
For Private Yacht or Gulet Charter insurance, you can look at TopSail Yachtsman’s Travel Insurance. This insurance should cover you both at sea and on land and covers private charters.
You really do need to decide exactly what cover is most important to you based on your style of travel, your responsibilities at home, the possibility that you might need to cancel your trip to take care of a loved one, or whether you’re going to hire a car or going on a cruise. Please read all the Product Disclosure Statements thoroughly and carefully and ensure that the cover they entail is exactly what you need. If you’re not sure, phone the insurance company and check with them that you’re going to be covered (and then get it in writing!).
If you’re hiring a car, you can also look at a Car Hire Excess Insurance Policy, such as this one https://icarhireinsurance.com/car-hire-insurance-products/excess-worldwide. Car Hire Excess is usually expensive, so it can pay to take out a separate policy if your other travel insurance doesn’t cover it.
If you are going to use your credit card insurance, then please read the PDS very, very carefully so that you know exactly what it covers and then contact them to double check the legal-speak. Most do not cover if the end supplier is in financial default or fails to provide a service. Some will not cover you if you don’t have a return ticket booked. Some won’t cover you unless you pay for the entire holiday with your credit card. Be careful, we cannot stress this enough.
Are you totally sure your credit card travel insurance they will pay for a replacement if something goes wrong whilst you are on holiday? Will they cover your ENTIRE GROUP if you are travelling with children, or extended family or friends? Does your entire group have travel insurance? You must take responsibility for yourselves and ensure that your cover includes cover for everyone with you and for everything you are doing whilst on holiday. We cannot be held responsible if your travel insurance does not cover you for something that goes wrong.
If you are using your credit card travel insurance, PLEASE read this carefully and ensure that you are covered for all eventualities before relying on it. You need to take responsibility and check with them and go through the PDS carefully to see what you are covered for in the event of a claim with them. Not just medical claims, but what happens if something else goes awry when you’re already on your holiday? Please, be careful and don’t risk it. Get proper travel insurance if you are not sure your credit card will cover you.
Again, please do your research thoroughly and ensure you get the right cover for you, so that you can enjoy your holiday with peace of mind. Thank you.
If you have any questions, give us a call on +612-9212-1507 or email us at [email protected]
