Travel alerts

Important travel insurance information

Issued 8 July 2020

As of 1 July, we are now only selling online TravelCare policies with a start date of journey from 1 September 2020. This is due to the official ongoing government advice that Australians ‘do not go overseas’ at this time.

We will continue to monitor and respond to the latest advice from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT).

For more information on travelling during the COVID-19 pandemic, please visit the Smartraveller website.

Travelling by exception before 1 September 2020

We are now no longer selling TravelCare policies to travellers, who have had an exception to the ban on travel approved by the Australian Border Force Commissioner.

Important travel insurance information

Issued 18 June 2020

We are now selling TravelCare policies for overseas trips which depart on or after 1 September 2020.

Please note that if you purchase a policy you will not be covered for:

any event relating to COVID-19; or
any event related to a ‘do not travel or ‘reconsider your need to travel’ advisory by the Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade (DFAT), except for under Section D1.6 of the TravelCare Combined FSG and PDS.

Our policy however still provides cover for many other events unrelated to the pandemic, subject to the usual terms and conditions of your policy.

Before you depart, we also highly recommend that you regularly check the travel advice for the destinations you’re visiting on the Smartraveller.gov.au website.

Should you wish to cancel a single trip travel insurance policy before your start date of travel, we will refund your premium and waive our $35 cancellation premium. However, you will not be able to lodge a claim once a policy has been cancelled.

Travelling by exception before 1 September 2020

We are also now selling TravelCare policies for travel before 1 September 2020 if you have an exception to travel approved by the Australian Border Force Commissioner.

Please note that if you purchase a policy you will not be covered for:

any event relating to COVID-19; or
any event related to a ‘do not travel or avoid non-essential travel’ advisory by DFAT.

You will need to call us to purchase a policy and provide a copy of your Australian Border Force Commissioner exception.

Important travel insurance information

Issued 19 March 2020 12.25pm (AEDT)

As of 19 March 2020 12.25pm (AEDT), we are temporarily ceasing to issue new travel insurance policies based on the advice of the Australian Government not to travel overseas.

The Department of Foreign Affairs Trade (DFAT) travel advice for Australians has been upgraded to ‘Do Not Travel’ (Level 4) for the entire world.

We’ll continue to keep a close eye on this situation, so please check back regularly if you have a trip booked for a later date.

Existing policies remain in effect, and our customer service teams are ready to help. However, we're experiencing a high volume of calls, so our wait times are longer than usual. We apologise for this and thank you for your patience.

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Important travel insurance information

Travelling by exception before 1 September 2020

Important travel insurance information

Travelling by exception before 1 September 2020

Important travel insurance information

Current travel alerts

Novel coronavirus outbreak - Worldwide (except Mainland China)

Novel coronavirus outbreak - Mainland China

Novel coronavirus outbreak - Hubei Province

Novel coronavirus outbreak - Samoa

Australian bushfires

Taal Volcano, Philippines

Typhoon Hagibis, Japan

Hong Kong airport protest

Stromboli Volcano Eruption, Italy

Mount Agung volcanic eruption, Bali

Popocatepetl Volcano Eruption, Mexico

Tropical Cyclone Idai

Tropical Cyclone Oma

Extreme cold weather, USA

Ambae Island volcano, Vanuatu

Airport strikes, Germany

Mount Agung volcanic eruption, Bali

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