Going overseas without medical insurance isn’t a ‘she’ll be right’ matter — here’s why

With Euro summer behind us, you might be getting ready to plan your own big trip for 2025. Or you might be finalising the details of your hard-earned overseas holiday over the Christmas and New Years period. You’ve got all the goods sorted — passport, luggage, the book you think you’ll read on the flight over — even though you’ll definitely just conk out.

But do you have your insurance?

It can be easy to look at something like travel insurance and think “she’ll be right.” How likely is it really that you’ll get crook or hurt yourself, anyway? Well, she’ll be right — until she’s not.

Travel insurance can be often overlooked, but it really should be looked at as a crucial element of any overseas trip. In fact, an alarming amount of Aussies do overlook getting travel insurance. According to research undertaken by the Insurance Council of Australia in 2023, 1 in 6 Aussies weren’t covered by insurance on their last overseas trip.

That number is much, much higher for Australians under 30, with a huge 60% of them travelling overseas without cover. We know rawdogging flights is a trend, but taking on entire overseas trips without protection is just asking for trouble.

On top of this, according to Smart Traveller, 68% of travellers mistakenly believe the Australian Government would ensure they get medical treatment if they need it overseas, and 43% believe the government would pay their medical bills.

Couple this with what plenty of us are doing overseas — adventuring, surfing, hiking, snowsports etc. — and how easy something can go wrong. Doing this without insurance is a risky, risky game.

This is where insurance can help.

Here’s where Southern Cross Travel Insurance (SCTI) can come in handy. Some of SCTI’s insurance options can keep you covered in the face of a wide array of issues you might run into while overseas. If you elect for International Comprehensive or Medical Only travel insurance, you can be covered for a trip lasting as long as 12 months.

SCTI’s International Medical Only insurance can provide cover for medical treatment, doctors’ visits, prescribed medication, specialist treatment and medical transport costs, 24-hour emergency assistance, and support from qualified medical advisers.

You might not think of it now, but being in a doctor’s office in another country where you don’t speak the language or know how the medical system works can be a stressful experience. You don’t need the added pressure of figuring out how you’re going to pay for it as well.

And, look, we get it. A big reason you might be averse to travel insurance is because travelling itself is already expensive. Studies say 86% of travellers want to keep costs of their travels down, and insurance might be one of the first things for people to forgo to save money.

But, with Southern Cross Travel Insurance’s International Medical Only option, you can save yourself the cost of taking out a full comprehensive policy, but still keep your butt covered should anything go awry abroad when it comes to medical, evacuation and personal liability.

Just to give you some scope of how much SCTI can cover your butt, there are real-life examples where travellers were able to take a slight breather thanks to taking out coverage. Take this 28-year-old travelling America, for instance, where we all know medical care can be astronomically expensive.

They presented to the hospital with severe chest pain, which led to a claim paid for a staggering $45,000 AUD. Imagine if that traveller didn’t have that coverage?

Making the US traveller’s claim look like pennies, another customer of SCTI needed emergency care in Mexico. They live with hyperglycemia, and were careful to declare it as a pre-existing condition when taking out the policy.

And they’re probably very grateful they did — the claim paid was $150,000. Yep, $150,000 AUD.

While medical insurance can cover most accidents you have overseas that lead you to a doctor’s office or a hospital bed, not all accidents have to do with your health. In fact, many accidents overseas have to do with our phones. Between January and August 2024, SCTI had received claims for over 700 lost or damaged phones.

If you’re famous in the group chat for always losing your phone, then it might be worth considering getting International Comprehensive insurance. Your whole life can be on your phone while travelling—visas, boarding passes, insurance details etc. It’s important to make sure you’re in the clear should anything happen to your phone.

To make sure your next overseas trip is as bump-free as possible, head to Southern Cross Travel Insurance’s website and learn how their range of insurance policies can give you peace of mind, without breaking the bank.