Basic travel insurance

Basic travel insurance is a type of travel insurance designed to provide cover if you mainly need overseas emergency medical assistance. It’s the lowest level of travel insurance available and isn’t offered by every travel insurer.

The difference between a basic medical-only policy and a comprehensive travel insurance policy lies in the level of cover you get, along with the cover options and optional extras available under each policy type. Comprehensive policies typically offer the highest level of cover, whereas basic policies offer the lowest level of cover.

Both types of policy will typically let you pay an additional premium to add on certain types of optional cover. However, comprehensive policies usually provide a wider range of optional covers than basic policies. Some basic policies will not allow you to add cover for pre-existing medical conditions.

The key difference between basic travel insurance and medical-only travel insurance is that basic travel insurance policies may sometimes offer cover for lost or damaged luggage, and may even offer cover for cancellation costs, whereas medical-only policies will only provide medical cover.

That being said, some travel insurers give their basic and medical-only travel products different names, meaning you could compare five differently-named travel insurance policies that offer the same category of cover.

Other names you might see used for medical-only travel insurance are ‘travel medical insurance’, ‘international medical-only insurance’ and ‘essential travel insurance’.

A basic travel insurance policy may suit different types of travellers, including students and backpackers and those on a tight budget. Basic travel insurance policies will typically be the cheapest travel insurance plans available, making them a valuable option for those travelling on a tight budget.

A basic travel insurance policy covers you for overseas medical and hospital expenses, and some basic policies may also include:

• 24/7 medical emergency assistance
• Repatriation back to Australia
• Cover for pre-existing medical conditions (you may need to pay an additional premium to get cover for a pre-existing condition)
• Cover for funeral costs if you die overseas
• Emergency dental expenses.
• Personal liability cover

Be sure to read the Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) and Target Market Determination (TMD) of any given policy for the full details of what’s covered, and whether the policy might be suitable for you.

Under a basic travel insurance, while you may have a degree of cover for trip cancellation and/or lost or damaged luggage, the level of cover won’t be as high as it would be on a comprehensive travel insurance policy.

Additionally, some insurers and policies may not cover dental expenses or pre-existing medical conditions as part of their basic travel insurance policies.