Travel insurance exclusions

Your insurer will likely refuse your claim if a loss arises from you breaking the law or infringing any rules and regulations at your destination.

Some examples of where breaking the law may impact your ability to claim include:

• You ignored local road or driving rules and your hire car was damaged as a result, and you tried to claim for the rental vehicle excess.
• You drove a particular vehicle without a licence or without wearing the appropriate head protection and you were injured and wanted cover for medical expenses.
• You got into a bar fight and injured another person and submitted a personal liability insurance claim.

Government bodies may issue advice and guidelines around international travel. For example, the Australian Government may announce a travel ban due to potentially dangerous circumstances or recommend specific vaccinations for certain countries.

While these guidelines aren’t law, they’ve been implemented to keep you safe. As such, if you ignore these guidelines, your insurer may reject or reduce claims for incidents that resulted from you going against government advice.

Examples of situations where your insurer may void your claim include:

• You knowingly travelled against government advice to a country or region within a country with an active travel warning (such as ‘Do not travel’).
• You fell sick because you didn’t get vaccinated before leaving Australia (Smartraveller highlights which vaccinations you should get before travelling).

Snow and adventure activities can pose an increased risk for injury, which is why getting the right level of cover is important. For example, if you’re going skiing or kayaking, you may need add-on coverage (snow sports or adventure cover) for those activities and situations.

These add-ons will help ensure that you have some financial protection (up to your policy’s limits) from unforeseen accidents that can happen with these activities.

Situations where your insurer may reject your claim include:

• You were injured while snowboarding or skiing and you didn’t have snow sports coverage.
• You didn’t take out adventure cover before participating in a risky activity covered by the policy (e.g. bungee jumping, rafting, scuba diving), and your base cover does not cover these.
• You decided to go on a cruise without including cover for cruising in your policy and later needed to claim for a cruise-related issue.

Most travel insurance policies will only provide cover for unforeseen events, meaning your policy won’t cover you if it’s a ‘known event’. That is, if a reasonable person in your circumstances would have been aware of an event at the time you purchased your policy; once mass media covers an event or a travel advisory is issued, it’s assumed that you were aware of it.

Examples of situations where your insurer may reject your claims include:

• You decided to travel despite government warnings on Smartraveller about an erupting volcano, and lost your tour deposits due to heavy ashfall.
• There were severe storms or flooding disrupting flights, but you decided to take the risk and travel. Your connecting flights were cancelled due to these weather events, and you consequently missed your accommodation bookings.
• In cases of a pandemic, you travelled after the disease became a ‘known event’ (if you travelled before it became a ‘known event’, there’s a good chance that some insurers may cover you for any financial losses for medical expenses and cancellations).

However, if you cancel your trip altogether after unexpected extreme weather, natural disasters or a pandemic occurred, some insurers may provide compensation for some of your losses.

Most insurers don’t cover circumstances that are preventable through common sense and reasonable safety measures. Furthermore, if you don’t report the crimes you’re claiming for within a reasonable timeframe, your insurer may not process your claim.

Other examples of situations where your insurer may deny your claim include:

• You left your luggage, personal belongings, credit cards or valuables unattended in a public place and they were stolen.
• Your luggage was damaged when you collected it at your destination and you didn’t advise your airline of the damage for several days.
• You changed your mind; for example, you decide to cancel your trip because you don’t want to go anymore or decided to go somewhere else.
• A pickpocket stole your wallet, and you didn’t alert the authorities within 24 hours of finding out (reporting your stolen belongings to authorities is seen as a logical step when someone suffers a genuine loss and gives insurers access to the relevant medical or police reports).

If you put yourself in danger, you risk not being able to claim on your insurance. As such, your insurer won’t cover you for injuries you receive from reckless behaviour like parkour, especially if you were under the influence of drugs and alcohol. One exception to this (depending on the insurer) is if you’re trying to save a person’s life.

Examples of situations where your insurer may deny your claim include:

• You were under the influence of alcohol or drugs at the time of an incident that resulted in a loss.
• You deliberately went off-trail during a hike or activity and suffered injuries and wanted to claim on medical expenses.
• You participated in an activity where you ignored the tour guide’s advice, didn’t wear the appropriate or recommended safety gear or chose a company that was unlicensed, and you suffered a loss.
• You rode a motorbike or scooter that went over a certain capacity or without a helmet and was injured.

You may only be compensated once for any incident. This means that you can only make a single claim per event (even if you have multiple travel insurance policies), and your claim will be rejected if any other company or service has already reimbursed you the full amount.

Examples where your travel insurance claims won’t be approved due to prior compensation include:

• You have already made more than one claim on a single incident through the same or separate travel insurance policies.
• Interruptions to your travel plans that caused cancellations, delays or changes to bookings have already been compensated by your tour operator, airline or relevant company.
• If your hospital expenses or medical treatment were covered by the Reciprocal Health Care Agreement shared between Australia and 11 other countries.

Your travel insurer may not cover medical or cancellation costs for incidents involving war, invasion, civil war or terrorism.

If you’re impacted by one of these events and want to claim, here’s a few examples of exclusions you might run into:

• The destination you planned to visit was invaded by another country and you chose to travel anyway and suffered a loss.
• While overseas, there was civil unrest at your destination, and you decided to attend a protest and were injured.
• Due to terrorist threats, the government issues a low-level travel warning, and you want to cancel your trip due to fear; however, as no attack has occurred nor has a ‘Do not travel’ warning been announced, you’re not covered for cancellations.

Some policies may cover some costs for flights or accommodation if those companies go bankrupt, but you most likely won’t be covered for any losses from your travel agent going into insolvency.

Examples where your travel insurance claim may not be approved due to insolvency include:

• While on holiday, your airline company goes into voluntary administration and your flight home is cancelled, and your insurer doesn’t cover insolvency.
• If your travel agent goes bust and aren’t able to refund your trip (in this case, you may be eligible for a credit card chargeback).

Now all of the general exclusions have been covered, let’s take a look at some of the inclusions of a comprehensive policy:

• 24/7 emergency assistance
• Medical cover including medical evacuation or repatriation
• Luggage cover for lost, damaged or stolen belongings
• Cancellation cover for pre-paid bookings if you’re trip is unexpectedly disrupted
• Personal liability cover.

Depending on your policy, extra inclusions may be added to your policy automatically or able to be purchased for an additional premium, like:

• Rental excess cover
• Adventure cover
• Cruise cover
• Winter sports cover
• Motorcycle, scooter and moped cover.

Keep in mind that limits and sub-limits to your policy will also apply.

What medical conditions are not covered by travel insurance?

Coverage for pre-existing medical conditions will vary between insurers. Many insurers cover a limited number of conditions automatically, while other conditions may be covered after completing an online medical assessment and paying an extra premium.

Unfortunately, not all medical conditions can be covered; serious or terminal conditions may be excluded by your travel insurance. However, always check the PDS to understand exactly what cover your insurer can offer.

Examples of situations where your insurer may reject your claim include:

• You forget to or intentionally don’t declare your pre-existing condition
• You didn’t get the appropriate level of cover for your pre-existing conditions
• You travelled against medical advice.

Keep in mind that this includes mental health conditions. Often, travel insurance providers won’t cover hospitalisation or medical assistance for these conditions.

For a list of what conditions may or may not be covered, visit our page on pre-existing medical conditions.

Coverage for pre-existing medical conditions will vary between insurers. Many insurers cover a limited number of conditions automatically, while other conditions may be covered after completing an online medical assessment and paying an extra premium.

Unfortunately, not all medical conditions can be covered; serious or terminal conditions may be excluded by your travel insurance. However, always check the PDS to understand exactly what cover your insurer can offer.

Examples of situations where your insurer may reject your claim include:

• You forget to or intentionally don’t declare your pre-existing condition
• You didn’t get the appropriate level of cover for your pre-existing conditions
• You travelled against medical advice.

Keep in mind that this includes mental health conditions. Often, travel insurance providers won’t cover hospitalisation or medical assistance for these conditions.

For a list of what conditions may or may not be covered, visit our page on pre-existing medical conditions.

If you’ve already left the country before getting travel insurance, there may be a few additional scenarios that your insurer may not cover. For example, it may be difficult, if not impossible, to get cover for pre-existing medical conditions if you’re already overseas, even if you’re willing to pay an additional price.

Furthermore, if you purchase a policy while you’re already overseas, your insurer may only commence coverage 48 to 72 hours after you pay for the policy.

Find out more about getting travel insurance while you’re already overseas.