Real Travel Insurance Stories

It pays to get travel insurance!

David and Jan travelled to Lima in Peru to visit their son Nick and his partner Amelia who were respectively employed in Peru as a journalist and as a teacher at an international school.

A couple of days after arriving in Lima, David woke at 2.00am with severe lower-back pain and stomach cramping. After a couple of hours of excruciating pain and no improvement, Jan decided the time had come to call a taxi to take David to a Lima medical clinic which was used by the school where Amelia taught.

Shortly after arriving at the clinic, David was examined and given painkillers by one of the clinic doctors. He was also examined by a urologist a few hours later who diagnosed that David was suffering from kidney stones.

Once the diagnosis had been made, David immediately contacted the Medibank Travel Insurance worldwide 24/7 emergency hotline back in Australia, where he was quickly advised what to do and issued with a case reference number. While at the clinic, David received a series of follow-up phone calls from operators at the Medibank Travel Insurance worldwide emergency service in Australia who reassured him that he was receiving appropriate treatment.

He made several visits to the clinic for pain relief, and to check in with the urologist for a CT scan. Thankfully the stone passed and David's health improved without the need for surgery.

After getting the all clear, David and Jan continued their trip to Cuzco, Lake Titicaca, Rio, Iguazu Falls and Buenos Aires. Unfortunately, the delay in Lima meant they had to bypass Macchu Pichu. Next time!

Arriving safely back in Australia, David is very grateful he had travel insurance. "The comprehensive Medibank Travel Insurance fulfilled its role and expectations in every respect and the claim was speedily and fully processed after the trip".

Kate and Jason travelled to Thailand to enjoy a couple of weeks which included a few days in Bangkok and Phuket and are grateful that they took out a comprehensive Medibank Travel Insurance policy before they left.

Within the first few days of their holiday Kate got ill resulting in the hotel having to call the nearest hospital to reach a doctor. The doctor was required to make an in-house service call as Kate was too sick to leave the hotel. Kate was administered with 3 different types of medications to treat her condition at a cost of over $400.

Within 24 hours Jason became ill and wasn't in a condition to look after Kate, so based on the hotel Manager's recommendations they both visited the nearest hospital which came with some trepidation. Fortunately they rang the Medibank Travel Insurance Worldwide 24/7 emergency hotline back to Australia and were quickly advised what they should do given their circumstances. This included giving advice and providing reassurance on which hospital to go to within close proximity to the hotel.

Upon receiving this information Kate and Jason were given the contact details of a 4 star rated hospital, so after a short ambulance ride, both Jason and Kate were at ease knowing they were going to a private hospital. This required proof of their Medibank Travel Insurance so they could be admitted into the emergency area immediately.

"They reassured us that they had people go out to every hospital they recommend and rate them based on numerous criteria. Knowing the hospital had 4 out of 5 star rating and speaking with them, made me feel considerably more at ease with going there". Kate

The hospital was fantastic

Kate and Jason were roomed together in a large room which included an in-room service and availability to on-call nurses to assist them and to ensure they were comfortable.

During their stay in hospital, Medibank Travel Insurance (Mondial Assistance) constantly liaised with the hospital nurse to ensure the care they were receiving was up to Australian standards as well as touching base with Kate and Jason's family to reassure them they were in safe hands, even assisting their families so they could register with the Australian embassy at the same time. Their Medibank Travel Insurance comprehensive policy paid for everything directly and it was just a case of Kate and Jason having to sign the discharge documents.

Diving into a swimming pool is something most of us love to do while on holidays - but a split second decision to dive into a pool at an overseas resort might have cost *Jess, a young Australian travelling on her first overseas holiday, more than $125,000 in medical expenses if she didn’t have travel insurance. Lucky for Jess she had taken out a comprehensive Medibank Travel Insurance policy.

It was a shocking accident and one that required a dedicated air ambulance to bring Jess back to Australia for further treatment and surgery.

Jess’ comprehensive Medibank Travel Insurance policy covered the following expenses:

• Medical expenses, including surgery incurred overseas
• Additional accommodation and travel expenses for a family member to travel to be with her
• Medical repatriation by a dedicated air ambulance to Australia
• Cancellation expenses of original travel itinerary
• Out of pocket expenses for medical treatment and pharmacy costs.

Jess avoided approximately A$125,000 in medical expenses.

Travelling is exciting as you meet people from different places and different cultures, but having personal items stolen while travelling is not. It’s infuriating as *Paul, one Aussie tourist found out when a young female approached him and started casually flirting with him as she stole his cash, passport and iPod.

Luckily Paul had a comprehensive Medibank Travel Insurance policy which enabled him to receive financial and accommodation support until a replacement passport was issued.

Paul’s comprehensive Medibank Travel Insurance policy covered the following expenses:

• Cost of a replacement passport
• Additional accommodation and transport expenses to travel to a consulate to obtain a replacement passport
• Cash settlement for the items stolen including replacement costs of passport
• The stolen cash replaced up to the policy limit.

Paul avoided approximately A$2,756 in expenses.

Note: * Names have been changed to protect privacy.