Here’s what I learnt the hard way about travel insurance…

I was so excited. I’d booked the trip of a lifetime – a 12-night cruise – and I couldn’t wait. My husband and I were going with another couple we knew. It was a dream come true and once we got on the ship, we couldn’t believe how fantastic it was. For 3 days we were at sea when suddenly, my son messaged me on Facebook and told me that my mother had died. My heart stopped and sunk into the pit of my stomach. As we had no Wi-Fi and it was very expensive on-board, the message was two days old. I wrote back in a flurry and asked how this could be – I was shattered. We had a sea day in Vanuatu the next day and my husband and I decided we’d need to fly home, as devastating as it was.

We were a mess as we made arrangements and told the cruise staff. We booked two tickets on the next plane to Sydney, where my mother had passed, and waited at the airport. I could hardly stand from grief. I looked out the window the whole flight home, even as it grew dark. I was numb and as we landed, I couldn’t believe our dream holiday had come to an end so quickly.

The funeral went by and we had to go back to our lives. Naturally, I contacted our insurer to ask what we needed to do to get our money back for our loss – flights, accommodation, the rest of the cruise. The man advised me that as my mother was 87, I was not covered for the loss of money – if your family member dies and is over 85, this is an exclusion. I could not believe it. I had lost quite a lot of money. But when I read my Product Disclosure Statement, all of the information was there. I read the thing but like anyone, who can be bothered the read from page to page? Now I wish I had. I’m still down money and haven’t been on my dream cruise, but I do want to warn others to double check their policies.

By coincidence, my youngest daughter got a job with a travel insurance underwriter. It is her job to approve or deny claims and while I wished she could sneakily process mine, I have since gained so much valuable information on travel insurance and what is and isn’t included. Here’s what she’s told me – some of it will shock you.

1. Anyone over 85 is not considered a family member

Yep, there is usually a general exclusion in most travel policies that says that if your immediate family member (mum, dad, brother, sister, aunt, uncle; brother, sister, father or mother-in-law; grandmother, grandfather) dies and they are over 85 and you need to come home to arrange or attend the funeral, you will not be covered for any expenses or losses.

2. Unless you have a receipt, you can’t make a claim

Imagine going to a department store and saying your toaster broke but you don’t have the toaster or the receipt. The sales assistant would just laugh at you, even if you had a picture of it. If your luggage breaks or is damaged in transit, you cannot claim for the loss unless you have proof of purchase. It’s a different thing, though, if you lose your luggage and have evidence from the airline/cruise ship.

3. Most policies have an exclusion for existing medical conditions

If you had a medical condition before you went on your trip and need surgery or medical attention for it while you’re away, you may not be covered. There are some conditions that can be covered but you should check.

4. Suicide is not covered

As tragic as it is, any death from suicide is not covered in travel insurance PDS’, no matter what the age of the person was.

5. If you do not take care of your personal belongings, it cannot be covered

Say you’re at a restaurant and leave your bag on the floor, away from your legs. You look down after a few hours and it’s not there anymore. If you try to claim for this and admit to not taking reasonable care of your belongings and leaving them unattended, you won’t be covered. Always keep your things attached or very close to your body.

6. You may have to pay an excess

Sometimes it’s just not worth it to claim for loss when there can be an excess of $200 or more.

7. You won’t be covered if your plane is delayed due to a mechanical error

Pretend you’re at the airport looking at the boarding times and all of a sudden, your plane is delayed. You check with the gate staff and apparently, there’s a fault and they will need to check it before they can take off. This hour delay will make you late for your connecting flight…so you try to get compensated for it. Sadly, you can’t be – if insurances companies gave everyone money for a delay, they’d go bankrupt. Technical issues happen all the time so it’s your responsibility to allow for any delays when booking flights.

8. Don’t expect to be reimbursed if you need to book a new flight

Don’t be tempted to buy a first class ticket if you missed your flight and expect to be reimbursed for that – you’re taking unreasonable actions and this is not covered. You need to buy a ticket of the same flight class as the previous ticket.

I hope that this can help you. Obviously, don’t just take my word for it…read your PDS before you sign the dotted line.

What surprised you about travel insurance? Have you been caught out before? Tell us below.