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Are you planning a trip around Australia? Now that borders are starting to open, you might be wondering what kind of cover is available.
Here's what you need to know;
Some people think that you only need travel insurance when you travel abroad - but that's really not true. Travel mishaps can happen anywhere in the world, even when you're travelling in your home country. Domestic travel insurance can protect your pocket when things start to go a bit awry. Policies can range from cover for cancellations only, all the way up to more comprehensive policies that include skiing. We can help find the right policy for your trip.[/fin_hide]
Domestic travel insurance is important down under for a number of reasons. These include:
Start your search for the right policy
There are loads of domestic travel insurance policies to choose from. While most cover similar situations, you will find some differences with price and benefit limits. It's also often the case that certain benefits are automatically included or offered as add-ons.
Here is a list of some of our partners and how their domestic policies compare. The policy cost is based on a hypothetical 14-day trip taken by a 28-year-old traveller between 29 May - 11 June 2019.
1 Cover | Australia Post | Zoom | |
---|---|---|---|
Trip cancellation | Unlimited | $10,000 | Unlimited |
Emergency expenses | $50,000 | $10,000 | $50,000 |
Travel delay expenses | $2,000 | $1,000 | $2,000 |
Luggage and personal belongings | $15,000 | $4,000 | $7,500 |
Resumption of journey | No cover | No cover | Included |
Rental car excess | $5,000 | $3,000 | $5,000 |
Policy cost | $49.67 | $72.00 | $38.47 |
The best domestic travel insurance policy is the one that offers high benefit limits for the situations that matter most to you, and that also cover you for a wider variety of situations.
Here are some ways you can identify which policy is the best one for you:
Finding a cheap domestic travel insurance policy shouldn't be difficult. Here are a few simple ways you can reduce your domestic travel insurance premium:
You might be surprised at how affordable domestic travel insurance can be. For example, the cheapest cost of a week-long domestic trip on Finder for a 35-year-old is around $25 (priced on the 14th June 2019). That's less than $4 a day for inclusions such as cancellations, your luggage and even theft of cash!
Flights in and around Australia can often be quite affordable, so it's tempting to assume it's worth the risk to travel uninsured. To test this out, let's take a look at a case study.
Luckily she had the foresight to purchase a domestic travel insurance policy for less than six bucks a day, and this entitled her to a full refund of the $560 fare. That's a $480 net gain. Not too shabby!
To top it off, Sarah's policy would have also covered a host of other cancellation fees and lost deposits had she also booked those. These include:
While you are justified in thinking that Medicare will cover you for any medical services on a domestic cruise, it's not necessarily the case.
Medicare will only cover the cost of your treatment if you're treated by a Medicare-approved doctor. However, cruise lines aren't required to hire Medicare-approved doctors, so taking out medical cover is your safest bet. Medical cover is not usually covered under a domestic policy for most brands, so you might have to purchase an international policy instead. Check out your insurers PDS to find out region will cover your domestic cruise.
Another benefit to domestic cruise travel insurance is that it can cover you for issues that regularly occur while you are on a ship. These include:
Just search for your domestic cruise travel insurance by clicking the button below, enter your trip details, and filter the search by selecting "Cruise Cover" on the sidebar under Specific Cover Types.
Search domestic cruise travel insurance
While you could just get car rental excess insurance by itself, this will only cover your rental car and the cost is often much higher*. Just check out the case study below to see why domestic travel insurance is worth that little extra. A day before they left, Greg considered taking out a domestic travel insurance policy for $47. As well as cover for personal liability, cancellation fees and more, the policy would have provided $6,000 cover for rental vehicle insurance excess. Unfortunately, Greg forgot to purchase cover. When Greg picked up the rental car, the rental company offered the option of purchasing a car rental excess reduction for $25 a day. The cost was quoted $175 in total, to reduce the excess payable in the case of an accident from $3,000 to $100. Greg was keen to pinch his pennies and chose not to purchase cover. So when Greg failed to check his mirror and reversed into a Mini in the carpark of a fast-food restaurant, he knew he'd made a big mistake. Not only did he break a tail light on the rental, Greg also dented the bumper and significantly scratched the paintwork. Without domestic travel insurance cover in place or even the rental company's excess reduction waiver, he had to pay the standard insurance excess of $3,000. Cost of damage done to vehicle: $1,900 Insurance excess Greg must pay: $3,000 Cost of domestic travel insurance: $47 Amount Greg could have saved had he taken out cover: $2,953Greg doesn't get travel insurance for a road trip
Greg and his wife Gwen decided to take a road trip down to Melbourne up Australia's east coast for the long weekend. They rent a luxury vehicle from a rental car company to add some fun to their one-week journey.
To search for domestic policies with car rental excess cover included, click the search button below and enter your trip details. Filter your search by selecting "Rental vehicle excess" on the sidebar and compare your options.
Domestic travel insurance with car rental excess
If you're a frequent traveller, or travel 3 or more times per year, purchasing annual multi-trip travel insurance can be much more cost-effective than buying a separate policy for each trip you take.
Annual multi-trip domestic travel insurance provides cover for all the holidays you embark upon within Australia across a 12-month period. There's usually a maximum limit on the length of each individual trip, but otherwise these policies provide all the benefits you would expect in an ordinary travel insurance policy.
Because of Australia's public health care system Medicare, domestic travel insurance rarely provides medical cover. As well as this, insurers will provide you a list of circumstances that will void your cover. These are called exclusions. Here are some you may encounter:
Choose 'Australia' as your destination, enter your travel dates and your age - you can compare quotes in 10 seconds.
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At the time of writing, there are no Australian insurers that offer a custom caravan holiday insurance product. Because of this, it's also important to examine the cover provided by your caravan insurance policy. Comprehensive caravan insurance covers loss or damage caused by accidents, fire, storm, theft, malicious damage and more, so it's worth reviewing your cover before hitting the road.
If you are going to the ski slopes, you have the option to buy additional ski cover that will cover you for bad weather, gear rental excess and lost/stolen equipment related to skiing. But this extra cost is not based on where you're travelling. It's based on what activities you will be doing.
Picture: GettyImages
Gary Hunter is a writer at Finder, specialising in insurance. He has a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from the University of Glasgow and has previously worked for Real Insurance as a content specialist.
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I’m trying to find which travel insurers will cover the 2 of us for an Australian interstate trip that has a flight to Bali in it. Is there just one policy I can purchase and with whom?
Thank you,
Susan
Hi Susan,
Thank you for getting in touch with finder.
On this page you’re looking at you may enter all your destinations to start comparing your options. I suggest that you contact your chosen insurer to discuss your cover and for further assistance on getting a travel insurance to cover you and your companion.
You may want to read more about getting travel insurance for your Bali trip on this page .
I hope this helps.
Please feel free to reach out to us if you have any other enquiries.
Thank you and have a wonderful day!
Cheers,
Jeni
I am going to rent a hire car. All the extra costs in case of an accident make it very expensive. Can I take out domestic insurance to help cover these extra costs.
Hello Barbara,
Thank you for your inquiry.
You can check your options on this dedicated page we have.
Please review the fine print and the requirements for cover.
Hope this helps.
Cheers,
Jonathan
Is Christmas Island considered to be domestic?
Hi Jan,
Thanks for your inquiry.
Christmas Island is considered as international. You may check this page for International Travel Insurance.
Cheers,
Rench
We will be travelling to the Kimberley next year on a tour. I realise that any medical expenses are covered by Medicare but what happens if you need to be evacuated out. Does Medicare cover this or travel insurance?
Hi Vicki,
Thanks for your question. Domestic travel insurance doesn’t cover any costs related to medical treatment as these costs will be covered by either Medicare or your private health insurance.
All the best,
Richard
We are about to go on a road trip in Australia with our own car.
It will involve about 7000 kilometres and take around 6 weeks. We have booked and paid for around $5000 for accommodation along the way. Would you recommend travel insurance and if so what should we ask for?
I will be travelling to the Whitsundays in May. I would like to make sure Im covered for flight cancellations, accommodation expenses, meals(as I have breakfasts included), transfers, lost baggage, lost or stolen credit cards, mobile phone and tablet, snorkelling on excursions, basically my personal belongings and my out of pocket expenses. Id like to know the best policy as they all vary so greatly in price. Also Im concerned about cyclones etc, are they generally covered?.
Thank you
Hi Amanda,
Thanks for visiting finder! While we are unable to recommend a particular product, you may use our comparison tool above to compare quotes from different brand. Our travel insurance guide on this page detailed the key features that you should look for in a policy.
Generally, travel insurance policies include trip cancellation, trip delay expenses, and lost/damage luggage and personal belongings covers. Moreover, recreational water sports like snorkelling are automatically covered. However, the extent of coverage and limits depend on the level of cover you’ll take.
As for natural disasters, the coverage differs between insurance brand but they generally cover cyclone and other extreme weather events listed on this page. In case you’ll also go for a cruise on Australian waters, make sure to indicate ‘Cruise’ as specific cover and ‘South Pacific’ as destination, as recommended by most brands to ensure coverage in case of emergency medical expenses.
Please make sure to read as well the eligibility criteria, features, benefits and limits of the policy before making a decision and consider whether the product is right for you. If necessary, speak to the insurance brand to verify any details.
Cheers,
Liezl
Hi Beis,
Thanks for your question. finder.com.au is a comparison service and we are not permitted to provide our users with personalised financial advice or product recommendations. Domestic travel insurance can provide you with protection for your prepaid expenses. However, in most cases, your car will not be covered.
To compare domestic travel insurance policies, please enter your travel details into the comparison tool above.
I hope this was helpful,
Richard
We are wanting insurance for travel within Australia using our own vehicle towing a caravan. We’ve booked many tours and caravan parks so were wanting cover for any unforeseen issues that may prevent us from going.
Hi Jacky,
Thanks for your question. If you enter your travel details into the comparison form at the top of the page, you will be able to see which policies offer cancellation cover and find the cover that is most suited to your budget. It’s important to remember that generally domestic travel insurance will only cover rental vehicles and not vehicles you own.
I hope this was helpful,
Richard
how do i get a quote for domestic travel. i am traveling to cairns and return
Hi Michael,
Thanks for your question. All you need to do is enter destination (Australia), your travel dates and your age into the quote engine. Once you’ve done that, you will be able to compare the travel insurance brands in our panel.
I hope this was helpful,
Richard
I’m going on a car trip and don’t have any roadside assist packages yet but am considering one. Can I get travel insurance that will cover additional costs such as car rental, should my car break down?
Hi Graham,
Thanks for your question. Generally, travel insurance will cover you for these costs if it’s a hire car, not your own car.
I hope this was helpful,
Richard
Re Westpac Black card travel insurance,does this cover domestic travel, and for international car hire does it cover CDW car insurance
Tks Harley
Hi Harley,
Thanks for your question.
The Westpac Black card provides interstate protection for: interstate flight inconvenience as well as rental vehicle excess insurance.
For international car insurance, unfortunately the PDS doesn’t reference to anything related to CDW. If you’d like you view the PDS here or speak to Zurich directly about your options or eligibility.
Cheers,
Shirley
I am going on cruise around south australia so not covered under medicare while at sea, need appropriate travel insurance
Hi Jen,
Thanks for your question. Unfortunately, finder.com.au is a comparison service and not an insurer. However, if you would like to compare policies from the providers in our panel and receive a quote, please fill out the form at the top of the page with your travel details.
The region of travel may vary from insurer to insurer but generally you’ll need to select something like ‘Pacific’ in order to get appropriate cover for cruises around Australia.
I hope this was helpful,
Richard