COTA Travel Insurance

Our verdict: With comprehensive cover for COVID-19 and no age limit, COTA Travel Insurance is a good option all-round, but particularly so for older travellers.

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Nicola Middlemiss

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COTA Travel Insurance

Pros

  • COTA Travel Insurance has comprehensive COVID-19 benefits and may cover cancellation costs, quarantine costs, transport costs, medical fees, childcare costs, and pet boarding fees.
  • With no age limit and the option to take part in medical screening for some existing conditions, COTA Travel Insurance is a good option for older travellers.

Cons

  • Although COTA Travel Insurance covers cruises as standard, the PDS doesn't include information about cruise-specific risks so it's not clear exactly what's covered.
COTA Travel Insurance is not currently available via Finder. You can head to the COTA Travel Insurance website or compare alternative options available below.

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Summary of COTA Comprehensive policy

Overseas Medical and Hospital ExpensesUnlimited
Cancellation and Amendment FeesCover chosen
Luggage and Personal Effects$12,000
Maximum Age LimitNo age limit (110 on engine)

Table updated September 2023

How does COTA Travel Insurance cover COVID-19?

COTA Travel Insurance offers strong COVID-19 protection. Travellers will be covered in a variety of situations including:

  • Overseas medical costs related to COVID-19
  • Cancellation or amendment costs if:
      • -you or a travelling partner is diagnosed with COVID-19
      • -a close relative or business partner is hospitalised or dies due to COVID-19
      • -you're permanently employed as a healthcare worker, residential care worker or law enforcement officer, and your pre-approved leave is cancelled due to COVID-19.
  • Travel and accommodation costs if a tour is cancelled due to your tour guide contracting COVID-19 or if your accommodation can't operate due to staff contracting COVID-19.
  • Travel, meals and accommodation if you're not permitted to board your scheduled public transport due to being suspected of having COVID-19.
  • Travel, meal and accommodation costs if you're required to enter compulsory quarantine due to COVID-19.
  • Childcare costs if COVID-19 renders you unable to care for your dependent children while on holiday.
  • Pet care costs if you can't travel back to Australia at your scheduled time due to COVID-19.

There are some scenarios that are not covered by COTA Travel Insurance including if you buy a policy knowing you already have COVID-19 or if you are not vaccinated against COVID-19.

What policies does COTA Travel Insurance offer?

COTA gives you the choice of four plans: Comprehensive, Essentials, Annual Multi-Trip, and Australian Travel.

Travel plane luggage passport

Comprehensive

Passport

Essentials

Hiking

Annual Multi-Trip

Australian Map Icon

Domestic

The insurer of this product is Pacific International Insurance Pty Ltd. It comes with a cooling-off period of 21 days and choice of $250 standard excess for international plans.

Here's a breakdown of COTA Travel Insurance features

Standard features
Optional add-ons
Exclusions

Check icon

Standard features

These are some of the main insured events that COTA Travel Insurance will cover.

Some of these inclusions are only available on the Comprehensive plan.

  • Overseas medical expenses
  • Travel delay
  • Emergency travel and accommodation
  • Lost, stolen or damaged belongings
  • Stolen cash or credit cards
  • Loss of income
  • Personal liability
  • Total permanent disability
  • Accidental death

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Optional add-ons

As well as the benefits above, COTA also lets you add Snow Sports Cover to your policy. It comes with a range of benefits including:

  • Ski lift passes
  • Ski run closure
  • Hire costs for replacement snow equipment

cross icon

Exclusions

Unfortunately, travel insurance doesn't cover everything. Generally, COTA will not pay your claim if it relates to:

    • Unlawful, wreckless or unreasonably unsafe behaviour by you
    • Behaviour while you were drunk or under the influence of drugs
    • Expenses related to a pre-existing medical condition
    • An act of war, invasion or revolution
    • Insolvency of a travel agent, tour operator or accommodation provider
    • Mandatory quarantines or isolations
    • An act of war, invasion or revolution
    • You being unfit to travel or travelling against medical advic
    • Childbirth or pregnancy complications after the 24th week of gestation or if you have had previous pregnancy complications
    • A multiple pregnancy or one where the conception was medically assisted
    • An elective medical or dental treatment, cosmetic procedure or body modification (including tattoos or piercing)
    • Self-inflicted injury or illness, suicide or attempted suicide

Make sure you review COTA's PDS for a detailed breakdown of what won't be covered, found under its list of general exclusions.

How to make a COTA Travel Insurance claim

You can download a claim form from COTA's website and follow the instructions.

If you need help, you can phone 1300 625 229 within Australia or +61 2 8263 0487 outside Australia. Alternatively you can email claims@nibtravel.com.

Here's the bottom line about COTA Travel Insurance

COTA offers strong travel insurance, particularly in relation to COVID-19 related expenses. It also extends cover for pregnancy up to 26 weeks, longer than some other providers, and will consider offering cover for existing medical conditions, if you complete an online health assessment.

With no age limit, it's a good option for a wide range of travellers. However, with limited information about how exactly cruising is covered, anyone setting sail might want to clarify the PDS with a CODA representative or consider a specific cruise travel insurance.

If you're still not sure about COTA, you can compare other travel insurance companies here.

Frequently asked questions

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Sources

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Journalist
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Nicola Middlemiss is a journalist with nearly a decade of experience in personal finance and insurance. She has contributed to Domain, Yahoo Finance, Money Magazine and Insurance Business Australia, offering in-depth insights into commercial insurance in the Australian market. Nicola holds a Bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Leeds and a Tier 1 General Insurance (General Advice) certification, which complies with ASIC standards. See full bio

Nicola's expertise
Nicola has written 170 Finder guides across topics including:
  • Personal finance
  • Personal insurance, including car, health, home, life, pet and travel insurance
  • Commercial business insurance
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14 Responses

    Leta Mcdonald's avatar
    LetaMay 8, 2025

    I wish to take out a policy with cota

      Peta Taylor's headshotFinder
      PetaMay 9, 2025Finder

      Hi Leta,
      We’re not currently partnered with COTA so if you’d like to take out a policy with them, you’ll need to visit their website directly. Otherwise, we have plenty of other travel insurance policies available for purchase here: https://www.finder.com.au/travel-insurance
      Hope this helps!

    Inga & Ron Allen's avatar
    IngaMarch 18, 2024

    We are travelling to Kenya for 2 weeks on 3 October until 17 October 2024, and looking for travel insurance for that time. Can we please have a quote.
    Thank you

    Mim's avatar
    MimFebruary 24, 2017

    I have diverticular disease, is this condition covered under your policy

      Zubair Hassan's avatarFinder
      ZubairFebruary 28, 2017Finder

      Hi Mim,

      Thank you for your question.

      Pre-existing conditions are assessed on a case-by-case basis. You may find our article about travel insurance for pre-existing condition helpful.

      Cota Travel Insurance is not currently one of the brands in our panel of travel insurers so you will need to contact them directly. If you would like to receive a quote from the brands in our panel, please head to our travel insurance home page.

      Cheers,
      Zubair

    Judith's avatar
    JudithFebruary 9, 2017

    I only need to cover 2 airfares to Sydney 800 dollars

      Richard Laycock's headshotFinder
      RichardFebruary 9, 2017Finder

      Hi Judith,

      Thanks for getting in touch with Finder.

      If you wish to get covered by Cota, please visit their website where you can get a quote or purchase their policy.

      If you would like to compare the brands in our panel, please head over to our travel insurance home page. You may also find our travel insurance for flights only article helpful.

      While looking for insurers, please make sure you read the terms and conditions of the policy to learn more and know if it is the right policy for you or not.

      I hope this helps. Should you have further questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out again.

      Have a wonderful day!

      All the best,
      Richard

    sandy's avatar
    sandyJanuary 8, 2017

    I am interested in taking out a travel cover.
    Is it necessary to join COTA membership to be eligible?

      Richard Laycock's headshotFinder
      RichardJanuary 9, 2017Finder

      Hi Sandy,

      Thanks for contacting Finder!

      I’m afraid we currerntly don’t have a partnership with COTA. If you would like to get cover from COTA, you will need to head to their site directly.

      If you would like to compare your cover options from brands in our panel, you can do so by entering your travel details into the comparison tool on the travel insurance home page.

      All the best,
      Richard

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