Travel insurance for children travelling alone

International travel insurance when your children are travelling alone is different than the cover needed for a family holiday. When it comes to taking out a travel insurance policy for your child, there are a few different options:

• If your child is over 18, you’ll be able to find an insurer that can cover them as an adult.
• If they’re under 18 and travelling by themselves, you’ll still need to cover them with their own travel insurance policy.
• If they’re under 18 and a dependant of one or more adults travelling with them, many insurers will likely cover them at no additional cost under your (or the other adult’s) insurance policy. Some insurers will also extend the definition of dependant children to those under 25 years of age.

If your child frequently travels overseas, you might also want to consider the benefits of an annual multi-trip policy instead of a single trip policy to save on your trip travel insurance. However, bear in mind that there will be a maximum number of travel days per trip for an annual multi-trip policy.

There are a variety of ways that insurers define dependants. For example, some will allow dependants over 18 years of age to be covered under the adult’s policy as long as they don’t have full-time employment. You should always check the definition provided by your chosen insurer for age limits and other relevant details.

What you should include in your child’s travel insurance policy depends on what their journey will involve. If they’re just flying from point A to point B in Australia, you may wish to include cover for delayed and cancelled flights. Should your child be spending some time overseas, you may want to get a policy with more inclusions including cover for:

• Medical expenses including repatriation and medical evacuation
• Lost or stolen belongings
• Overseas emergency assistance
• Additional expenses.

Your child’s travel insurance cover will likely have exclusions just as regular travel insurance does, such as winter sports like skiing or if they have pre-existing medical conditions; however, you may be able to purchase additional cover for these situations at an extra cost. Check the insurance policy’s PDS for the full details on the level of cover included and what can be purchased for an additional premium.

In the event something does go wrong, contact your insurance provider for assistance.

There are very few differences between travel insurance for a child or an adult. Since your child is being insured by their own cover, they’ll likely be covered to the same extent as you are when you travel. However, some exclusions may apply depending on the age of the traveller.

The only real difference is when you’re travelling with multiple children; in this situation, most insurers will cover multiple dependent children under the family travel insurance policy. Before taking out a policy, read through the policy’s PDS or speak directly to the insurer for full details on their coverage to ensure your cover suits your needs.

Every parent’s nightmare is something going wrong on their child’s journey. The flight could be delayed or there may be cancellations due to bad weather. Once they’re overseas, they could get injured and require medical treatment, or lose their belongings. This isn’t to say these things will happen; however, it’s important to be prepared for these scenarios.

It may be prudent to have a copy of the insurance policy for your child to take with them in case something goes wrong so they can present it to an authority figure. You could also send it to the family member or trusted adult meeting your child at the airport too so they can help sort out anything that goes wrong on your child’s trip from their end.

Many travel insurance companies will have 24/7 global assistance on hand to help in case something goes wrong. The phone numbers for these assistance services are designed to be reached from anywhere around the world.

Medicare and Australian private health insurance can’t help when you’re overseas, which is where a travel insurance policy with medical cover can ensure both your and your children’s safety and medical treatment overseas.

Some insurers may cover several pre-existing medical conditions automatically. However, others won’t, so checking the policy wording before purchasing can be important. As such, make sure you reach out to the insurer to tell them about your child’s pre-existing conditions before you purchase your policy, as they may be able to cover these conditions at an added cost.

If you don’t tell the insurer and you need to make a claim related to your child’s condition, they may reject your claim.

If you’re organising a group that’s travelling (whether it’s a group of children under 18 or adults), you can typically cover everyone under one policy, similarly to how travel insurers can cover an adult and their children in one policy. A group policy can be beneficial if you’re travelling as a tour group, school trip, business trip or sporting club. Learn more about group travel insurance and other travel insurance options here.