nib travel insurance

It’s all fun and games until someone eats a dodgy prawn, or life on the high seas messes with your tummy and seasickness joins you on your cruise. Depending on where your cruise is heading, Medicare may not be accepted even off the coast of Australia waters.

What would you do if your flight is delayed and you don’t think you’ll be able to join your cruise on time?

Your bags containing that sequin gown and slingbacks for your Captain’s dinner is accidentally lost, stolen or damaged.

You might be retrenched from your permanent employment in Australia before you start your cruise.

An unexpected storm means you miss a pre-paid shore excursion because your cruise is delayed.

All nib travel insurance plans include cover for medical evacuation and repatriation if nib agree it’s medically necessary, up to the relevant benefit limit.

Cover for some coronavirus-related events is available on nib's plans (excl. the Cancellation and Additional Expenses Plan), but the types of benefits and benefit limits vary depending on the plan you choose.

The Coronavirus Travel Costs benefit is available on the International Comprehensive, Australian Travel and Annual Multi Trip plans. These plans can provide cover for several coronavirus related events, including cover for quarantine expenses and trip cancellation if you are diagnosed with coronavirus, up to the relevant benefit limit.

Even when cruising just off the coast of Australia, for example one of nib's international plans will need to be chosen in order to have cover on board for medical treatment. nib domestic plans can offer cover for inland river cruises within Australia.

nib will help if you’re sick overseas with their Overseas Medical Benefit. All nib International Travel Insurance plans include cover for overseas medical expenses. As always, these are subject to the terms, conditions, limitations and exclusions around existing medical conditions.

An annual multi trip policy permits an unlimited number of trips, but none can be longer than 45 days in length.

Have a think about how many trips you intend to take over the next 12 months.

 If it's more than one trip, or if a trip will be longer than a month, then an annual multi-trip may work out cheaper than single trip policies. 

​A Single Comprehensive Trip policy for a few weeks for a couple in their mid 50's will cost several hundred dollars. If that trip is up to a month, it might end up costing $1,000, so an Annual Multi-Trip policy may be the better option.

The price of your quote will go up or down depending on when you purchase it.​

Example: You have a trip planned for 6 months from now - you have two options:

​1. Pay for your insurance today to start on the day of departure, or;

​2. Wait to pay for exactly the same insurance just prior to the departure date.

Purchasing insurance in advance of travel will increase the price even if the policy is for exactly the same duration. 

This is because when you pay for insurance you get a Certificate of Insurance. A certificate of insurance provides protection if any 'covered event' detailed in the policy (e.g. if a car accident that causes an injury that prevents travel) occurs between the date of purchase and the date of departure.  There is more risk to the insurance company and even though your trip is the same length, the insurance risk is over a longer period of time. 

If you had instead decided to wait until a few days prior to departure, then that same car accident, if it had happened prior to the purchase of the insurance, would not offer any cancellation protection. That is why exactly the same policies purchased in advance will cost more than those purchased just before departure simply because nib offer protection from the time you secure a certificate of insurance.

​When should you purchase?

Only you can make that determination based on what you consider to be your own level of acceptable risk, but a useful rule of thumb to consider is, at what date is the cost of the insurance, more (or less), than any cancellation penalties you stand to lose?