
Worried about COVID-19?
You're not the only one. Travel insurance companies are now offering some cover for coronavirus, so you can travel with more peace of mind.
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The Philippines is an exciting place to visit, but you will find risks both in and out of the city.
Whether a typhoon causes you to cancel your trip, you break your ankle surfing or a pickpocket takes off with your wallet on a crowded street, know you'll be covered if you get travel insurance.
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You're not the only one. Travel insurance companies are now offering some cover for coronavirus, so you can travel with more peace of mind.
Travel insurance for the Philippines is essential, as it can protect you from the particular risks of the Philippines. Travel insurance also covers you for common travel concerns including:
Travel in the Philippines can be a risky business and visitors need to be on the alert and stay away from trouble hotspots. Risks you may be exposed to include:
Because of the number of potential hazards in the Philippines, travel insurance is highly advisable. Travel insurance covers you if you require medical treatment and will cover lost or stolen belongings and cancellations due to unexpected occurrences.
Mike and Emma planned their trip to the Philippines during the wet season. While driving down a muddy road in a remote rural area, a landslide swept down the hill and engulfed their vehicle, sweeping it into the valley below. Both were injured in the accident and required medical evacuation to Manila and then repatriation home after a stay in hospital. Because they had full medical cover in their travel insurance, their insurer covered all their costs, including expenses incurred due to the cancellation of their holiday.
* This is a fictional, but realistic, example.
The Philippines is home to a variety of outdoor activities, some of which may be regarded as high risk by insurers. Popular activities include:
Learn more about getting surf cover
Some of these activities are considered extreme sports and will require additional cover in your travel insurance, so read your PDS carefully for terms and conditions.
Back to topWhen travelling to the Philippines, a travel insurance policy will generally also cover* the surrounding Asian countries such as:
*Always check your policy for excluded countries as well as government warnings
**You may need to specify additional countries like Japan and Indonesia
Back to topIf you become ill or injured in the Philippines, travel insurance with overseas medical cover and evacuation is essential. While the cost per day of a hospital in a Philippines private hospital is not that high, having travel insurance can help you seek out doctors and appropriate hospitals in a developing country that may not have easy access to hospitals in rural areas.
Medical facilities vary and while adequate in major cities, are limited in remote regions. Most Philippine hospitals will require up-front payment or a guarantee of payment before commencing treatment, something that medical travel insurance can provide.
With most insurers, making a claim involves contacting the insurer or their emergency assistance provider and lodging a claim form along with appropriate supporting documentation. In the case of the Philippines, you will also need to secure a guarantee of payment from the insurer as soon as possible.
Back to topAustralians may enter the Philippines without a visa for a stay not exceeding 30 days, as long as you have a passport valid for at least 6 months beyond the period of your stay and a return ticket to Australia or outward bound ticket to your next destination.
While travel insurance is not a requirement of entry, immigration authorities strongly recommend that visitors have appropriate cover for medical treatment and evacuation before travelling to the Philippines.
The weather is an important consideration when deciding when to travel to the Philippines. Because it is a tropical climate, the country has a wet season between May and October and it’s best to avoid this if possible, as it coincides with the typhoon season which brings dangerous winds, torrential rains, mudslides and impassable roads. The dry season between November and April is the best* time to travel, with January and February being the coolest months and March to May the hottest.
The currency used in the Philippines is the Philippine peso (PHP) and while a few establishments will accept foreign currency, most will only accept Philippine pesos. Credit cards are accepted in nearly all major centres and these are a convenient option in cities such as Manila, although rural areas operate on a cash-only basis.
Forget about travel cards or travellers cheques, as most merchants won’t take them and few banks will cash them. A better option is a credit card or your ATM card from home if it carries the Visa electron, although you will be charged a transaction fee. When using ATMs, be on the lookout for skimmers attached to the machine and when using cards for transactions, do not let them out of your sight, as this is when a copy could be taken.
If an emergency situation arises while travelling in the Philippines, there are several ways you can obtain assistance:
When travelling in the Philippines you must be aware of these circumstances that will exclude your travel insurance:
When selecting the level of travel insurance you will need, there are 5 questions to ask yourself:
Travel to the Philippines is not without risk, both from the threat of terrorism, kidnapping, crime and natural disasters and from risky activities you may choose to indulge in yourself.
However, these risks should not deter you from visiting this beautiful part of the world, but rather they highlight the need for a comprehensive travel insurance policy to protect yourself from accidents and misadventures.
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Picture: Wunkai, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (image cropped)
Picture: , licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (image cropped)
*subject to the conditions of the policy
Picture: GettyImages
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