For most Australians overseas travel is a wonderful experience.
Unfortunately, however, every day consular officers of the
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade at home and overseas
deal with human tragedies involving the death, injury or
hospitalisation of Australians abroad. Each year the department
handles over 20,000 cases involving Australians in difficulty
overseas. This includes over 700 hospitalisations, 600 deaths
and 100 evacuations of Australians to another location for
medical purposes.
In cases where victims are not covered by travel insurance,
such personal tragedies are further compounded by a long-term
financial burden. Hospitalisation, medical evacuations,
or even the return of the deceased's remains to Australia,
can be very expensive. Daily hospitalisation costs in Southeast
Asia regularly exceed $800; return of remains from Europe
in excess of $10,000. The cost of medical evacuations from
the United States regularly range from $75,000 to $95,000
and sometimes up to $300,000. The department has handled
medical evacuations from nearby Bali in which costs have
exceeded $60,000.
Unfortunately, not all of these cases involved travellers
covered by travel insurance. Travellers who are not covered
by insurance are personally liable for covering incurred
medical and associated costs. As a result, we have known
instances where families have been forced to sell off assets,
including their superannuation or family homes, to bring
loved ones back to Australia for treatment.
Despite these stark statistics, it is not the department's
intention to discourage Australians from travelling, which
in almost all cases is a very positive experience. Only
0.6% of Australians travelling overseas encounter difficulty
each year.
Instead, one of our key messages to Australian travellers
is that there are things you can do to help reduce the likelihood
of becoming one of the more unhappy consular statistics.
With accidents or illness often unavoidable, proper travel
insurance is very important in this context. Of course,
the all-too-common occurrence of theft and loss of personal
belongings is also something all Australian travellers should
insure against. Each year the department handles over 16,000
cases involving the welfare of Australians who have suffered
illness, theft, robbery or assault.
In choosing a policy, we would note some insurance policies
will not always cover claims made in those countries to
which the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade recommends
against travel. For up-to-date travel advice, we recommend
travellers consult and monitor www.smartraveller.gov.au/travel_insurance.html
| CASE
STUDIES |
| Following are some examples
of the kind of cases handled by the Department:
The reasons for Australians requiring hospitalisation
vary. Cases handled by the department have included
car and motorbike accidents, a simple misstep and
fall at a temple, and side effects from prescribed
drugs. The department advises 'if you can't afford
travel insurance, you can't afford to travel'. In
many of the cases it is the traveller's family who
have had to foot the bill.
- In Bangkok a man was hit by a car while riding
a motorcycle. He sustained a badly fractured leg and
was admitted to the nearest local hospital. His wife
was with him. He did not have any travel insurance,
and so had no choice as to hospital or treatment.
The hospital did not have the expertise to do anything
for him except clean the wound. After 3 weeks his
wife asked the Embassy for assistance as parts of
the shin bone had died and the fractured ends were
not healing. The Embassy assisted in having the man
medically evacuated to Australia for admission to
hospital, at very considerable expense to his family.
- In Bali, 5 Australians were injured in a mini-van
accident. Consular assistance was limited to support
and routine contact with next-of-kin (NOK), as all
the Australians involved had travel insurance. The
travel insurance company paid their hospital bills
and arranged their medical evacuation to Australia.
- A young man who worked in a US ski resort for
four months, then took time off to travel around the
US. He permitted his 12-month travel insurance policy
to expire just a few days before his departure for
home. He was hit by a car while crossing a road and
suffered serious head injuries. He was admitted unconscious
to intensive care and required highly intensive sophisticated
care until he was able to be flown back to Australia.
He was still unconscious and returned on a stretcher.
The cost to the family for the medical evacuation
alone was $80,000. They have taken out a second mortgage
on their house to raise the funds.
- A young Australian surfer went to the United States
for a surfing competition. Although an experienced
surfer, he unfortunately chose the wrong wave during
a practice session. The wave dumped him on a reef
and he sustained serious injuries. He was flown to
a local hospital and immediately underwent two major
operations. The hospital bill was AUD290, 000. Fortunately
the young manís parents had insisted he take
out travel insurance before he left Australia. The
insurance company covered the bill, and the young
man and his family were able to focus on his recovery.
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Don't forget, if you going to include adventure activities
in your trip abroad, make sure that the adventure activities
are not excluded from your Travel Insurance policy.
For more information concerning Adventure
Travel Insurance click here
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The material published on R&GIB's site is provided
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visitors. While R&GIB has tried to provide accurate
and timely information, there may be inadvertent
technical or factual inaccuracies and typographical
errors for which we apologies. Neither R&GIB
nor any of its employees or agents shall be liable
for any losses or injuries caused by negligence
or contingencies caused beyond its control in procuring,
compiling, interpreting, reporting, or delivering
the service and its information.
When considering insurance from information contained
on this website you should ensure that you have
examined R&GIB's Financial Services Guide (FSG)
-and- Statement of Advice (SOA) in relation to any
particular insurance product, the insurance policy
covering any insurance product and any other pertinent
information referenced or recommended.
A copy of the "Insurance Contracts Act",
along with the aforementioned material is available
to read and download from R&GIB's home page
or alternatively such can be forwarded by fax or
post upon request.If in doubt about any matter concerning
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references in this site to '$' or 'dollars' are
references to Australian currency unless otherwise
stated. |
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