Travel insurance with cancellation cover

Travel cancellation cover usually includes reimbursement for travel costs if you need to cancel or reschedule your trip, such as deposits, pre-payments and cancellation costs for accommodation or activities.

If you have appropriate cancellation cover, you could be financially assisted (up to the benefit limit) for theses types of costs if you need to cancel your trip:

• Accommodation
• Activities
• Costs for hired equipment
• Transport
• Travel agent cancellation fees

Cancellation cover helps to limit your financial losses if an unforeseen event disrupts your travel plans. However, if you cancel because you change your mind, you usually won’t be covered unless you have additional ‘cancel for any reason’ cover. With cancel for any reason cover, cancellation for a greater number of reasons – such as a relationship break up – may be covered.

Even if your policy includes cancellation cover, it can still be a good idea to check with your insurer before cancelling your trip so you understand what know exactly you will and won’t be covered for if you go ahead and cancel.

Depending on the specific policy, what type of cancellation reasons are covered may vary significantly. always check your insurer’s product disclosure statement (PDS) for details, and the target market determination (TMD) to check if you’re eligible for the policy.

If your travel insurance policy includes cancellation cover, you will generally be covered for costs arising from unforeseen circumstances such as illnesses, redundancy or extreme weather events. Cancellation circumstances that are usually covered include:

• Suffering from an unforeseen illness, injury or death. This can extend to your travelling companion or family member (who you booked the trip with) as long as they’re an Australian resident.
• Being made redundant from your full-time job.
• A fire, storm or burglary at your home within a certain time before your departure date.
• A natural disaster or significant weather event at your intended destination.
• Your travel documents are stolen just before your departure.
• Pre-arranged leave is cancelled by your employer and you’re in permanent employment or a member of emergency services.
• A “Do Not Travel” travel alert warning is placed on a destination by Smartraveller after you purchase cover.

In any circumstances, you’ll need to provide documentation and supportive evidence (i.e. a medical certificate or police report) that proves what happened for your cancellation claim to be accepted.

Yes, your travel insurance may cover you if your flight was cancelled or if you missed it due to unforeseen, unvoluntary circumstances, but the specifications will depend on your insurer and policy. But if you miss your flights simply because you were disorganised, you are unlikely to be covered.

If your flight was cancelled and the airline company doesn’t reschedule your flight, you will likely be covered. Your insurer may also cover you if the airline company doesn’t reimburse you or offer you a flight voucher, or if it only reimburses part of your expenses.

If you miss your flight, your insurer can cover you if an unexpected event impacts your plans, such as:

You were involved in a motor vehicle accident.

• A natural disaster, severe weather, riots or civil unrest started after you purchased your policy and caused you to miss your flights.
• You have a doctor’s note stating that you are unfit to continue with your trip. The reason you are unfit to continue the trip can’t be because of a pre-existing medical condition, unless this was previously disclosed and covered by your insurer.
• If you purchased a flight with frequent flyer points that’s cancelled and your airline doesn’t compensate you, your insurer may also cover the cost of a flight equivalent to the retail price of your missed flight.

Common cancellation exclusions include pre-existing medical conditions, a visa rejection or airline cancellations and delays. All travel insurance policies will have certain exclusions in relation to cancellations, and exactly what is excluded will vary between policies.

General exclusions to your cancellation cover may include:

• Cancellation because of a pre-existing medical condition unknown to the insurer.
• Your visa is denied, or you don’t have the right documentation with you while you’re travelling.
• Flight cancellation or delay due to an event within the airline’s control (e.g. a mechanical issue, rescheduling, overbooking) as the airline will typically compensate or reimburse your travel expenses.
• Cancelling because of an unforeseen illness, but you didn’t see a doctor before cancelling the trip.
• A missed flight due to your own negligence in organising yourself and your trip.
• You broke up with your partner and no longer wish to travel together.
• Claiming for snow-related expenses without having purchased winter sports cover as an additional extra.
• COVID-19 related losses, unless you have COVID-19 (coronavirus) cover that includes cancellations.

Beyond cancellations, your travel insurance policy will likely cover other instances such as medical cover, lost belongings and emergency evacuation. These will depend on your policy and level of cover, but often include:

• Medical cover for hospitalisation, injuries and illnesses
• Cover for loss of belongings due to theft, damage or loss
• Personal liability if you damage another person or their belongings
• Repatriation and emergency evacuation
• 24/7 emergency assistance

There’ll be policy limits for everything your policy covers, which will be outlined in your Product Disclosure Statement (PDS). We highly recommend you understand your policy’s inclusions before you take out cover.

Yes, when submitting a travel insurance cancellation claim, it’s important to include any documentation that supports your claim – whether that’s a medical certificate or a police report. Evidence might include:

• Medical certificates or hospital admissions paperwork
• Police reports
• Reports from your airline or cruise company
• Bank or credit card statements
• Receipts and invoices from pre-paid deposits

Standard cancellation cover is usually included in comprehensive travel insurance policies and generally includes reimbursement for travel costs should you need to cancel or reschedule your trip due to certain unexpected circumstances. This could include deposits, pre-payments or cancellation fees for accommodation or activities, deposits for hire equipment, unused transport tickets or rental vehicle charges and tour bookings or travel agent cancellation fees.

Travel delay cover is an optional extra that can help provide compensation for transport delays by covering meals or accommodation expenses you incur because of the delay. In most circumstances you will need to seek compensation from your transport company first.

If your transport is cancelled (whether that’s a flight, train or other public transport), travel delay cover likely won’t compensate you for the ticket costs, as the transport company will normally offer you an alternate option.

For delayed cruises to be covered, you will have to had purchased cruise cover as an add-on to your policy.

Cancel for any reason cover can help cover for a greater range of cancellation reasons than standard cancellation cover, such as your work leave not being approved, visa issues, a relationship breakdown with your travelling companion or simply changing your mind.

But because cancel for any reason covers you for more situations, adding it to your policy will mean paying a higher price. Please note that most insurers do not offer cancel for any reason travel insurance.

As with all policy types, there are still a few restrictions to consider. For example, you won’t be able to cancel within a certain amount of time before your departure date (usually 48-72 hours). Cancel for any reason cover also typically only reimburses part of your holiday costs, though the exact amount will depend on your policy and insurer.

To purchase this cover option, you’ll likely need to obtain it within a certain number of days after your initial accommodation deposit or the date you purchased plane tickets (usually 10-30 days).

If you need to cut your trip short because of an unforeseen event – such as a serious injury, illness or the death of a relative – a trip curtailment add-on will cover lost deposits, pre-paid accommodation and other pre-paid travel arrangements. You may even be able to make a travel insurance claim for any additional travel expenses if you need to return home. In most cases, you will need to have already paid for your return journey to make a claim.