Travel Insurance FAQ's

Travel Insurance provides protection when unforeseen events occur whilst travelling and you incur unexpected expenses. Travel Insurance covers things like theft, accidents, or medical problems and is just as important as your passport. To find out more about the benefits of travel insurance, visit the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade website www.smartraveller.gov.au

Without travel insurance, you could be liable for thousands of dollars in medical bills, transportation costs in the case of cancelled flights, or the cost of replacing your personal valuables if your luggage is lost or stolen. 

The Australian Government handles more than 20,000 cases of Australians in difficulty overseas every year (check out Smartraveller's informative guide to travel insurance) – that’s why buying travel insurance should be an essential item on your pre-holiday to-do list. 

If you can't afford travel insurance, you can't afford to travel.

All of our RAC International travel insurance policies provide 24-hour worldwide emergency assistance and unlimited overseas medical treatment. We offer a number of travel insurance policy options with varying benefits and limits for both International travel and Domestic travel, as well as a rental vehicle excess only policy. We also cover your children and grandchildren free of charge, providing they are travelling with you, up to the age of 25 and not working full time. Please refer to the table of benefits in the Product Disclosure Statement for further details.

RAC Travel Insurance is issued by Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance Co., Ltd (Tokio Marine & Nichido) ABN 80 000 438 291, AFSL 246548. Its managing agent, Tokio Marine Management (Australasia) Pty. Ltd. ABN 69 004 488 455 (TMMA) is authorised to act on behalf of

Tokio Marine & Nichido to issue its policies and handle and settle claims in relation to those policies, subject to the terms of the authority. RAC is an authorised representative of TMMA.

As well as Travel Insurance, Tokio Marine & Nichido also work with the general insurance market through insurance brokers and provide insurance for commercial and corporate businesses in Australia. Tokio Marine & Nichido was founded in 1879 in Japan, operates in multiple countries and employees thousands of people worldwide.

Travel insurance cover is available to Australian Residents over the age of 18, provided:

• You purchase your  travel insurance policy before you begin your Trip; and

• For International cover your trip begins and ends in Australia; or

• For Domestic cover your trip must be wholly within

• Australia.

Temporary Residents over the age of 18, provided:

• You hold a current Australian Visa that will remain valid beyond the period of your return from Your Trip; and

• You hold a return ticket; and

• You have a home address in Australia that you intend to return to; and

• You purchase your travel insurance policy before you begin your Trip; and

• For International cover your Trip begins and ends in Australia; or

• For Domestic cover your Trip must be wholly within Australia.

This is an online set of medical questions (assessment) which you will need to complete if you wish to buy travel insurance but have pre-existing medical conditions which are not covered under the policy. You can complete this as part of your travel insurance quote at www.rac.com/travelinsurance or call 1300 655 179 for additional assistance. Upon completion of this assessment we will inform you if the Pre-existing Medical Condition is covered and any additional premium payable.

“Pre-existing Medical Condition” means:

a) any physical defect, condition, illness or disease for which treatment, medication, surgery or advice (including investigation) has been received or prescribed by a medical practitioner, dental or health professional in the 12 months prior to your purchase of this policy; or

b) any chronic or ongoing (whether chronic or otherwise) medical or dental condition, illness or disease medically documented prior to your purchase of this policy; or

c) any physical defect, condition, illness, disease or assessment that becomes reasonably known to You after Your purchase of this policy and prior to Your Trip departure as shown as the Period of Insurance on Your Certificate of Insurance

This definition applies to you, your travelling Companion, a relative or any other person. If you are unsure whether you have a Pre–existing Medical Condition, please call1300 655 179 for assistance.

The following list of Pre-existing Medical Conditions are automatically covered by travel insurance with no additional premium provided the below criteria are met;

• They are not associated with any conditions you list as part of the medical screening process; and

• You have not been hospitalised (including day surgery or emergency department attendance) for that condition in the past 12 months; and

• Specific requirements below are met

If you were not aware of any symptoms of the medical condition or were not seeking treatment for the medical condition before you bought your travel insurance policy, we may cover you for cancellation costs if you have to cancel the trip prior to your departure due to this medical condition. 
 
If you want to proceed with your trip (and the medical condition isn’t listed as an automatic pre-existing condition) you must contact us on 1300 655 179 for a medical assessment to check if coverage will be available and if any additional premium will apply. If you do not advise us there may be no cover for any claim resulting from or related to this medical condition.

Yes, your children and your grandchildren are covered by your travel insurance policy, provided they are travelling with you, up to the age of 25 and not working full time. They must be listed on your Certificate of Insurance and are covered for free provided they do not require a medical assessment for a Pre-existing Medical Condition. If you choose our Ski and Winter Sports option, they’ll be covered for this as well. If you have omitted to list them, please contact us before you leave.

We will cover a variety of sports and activities in your travel insurance policy. Most amateur sporting and adventure activities are covered at no extra cost. There are some sports that have conditions of cover and some that we do not cover at all. 

Whatever sport or activity you choose to do, it is a condition of cover that you act in a responsible way to protect yourself. Check which activities are covered check the PDS or click the link below.

Yes, you should list all countries to confirm that travel insurance cover is available for the countries you are travelling to. You need to check www.smartraveller.gov.au as we do not provide travel insurance cover for any country listed as “Do Not Travel”.

If you are going on a cruise which is only in Australian waters or calling into ports in Australia you will still require a travel insurance policy which includes medical cover whilst you are on board the ship (check with your cruise provider) as the medical providers are not registered with Medicare. You will therefore need to select Australian Cruise as your destination. This will then allow us to give you medical and evacuation cover whilst at sea but not if you go to a medical provider whilst in port in Australia. Please note the Domestic travel insurance policy does not include any medical cover as we are a general insurer and cannot cover medical costs in Australia. Therefore the Domestic travel insurance policy is not suitable for cruises.

When you purchase your travel insurance policy, we will either post or email your policy documents to you. Your documents include your Certificate of Insurance and your Product Disclosure Statement. It’s a good idea to carry a copy of your travel insurance policy documents with you when you travel. It is also a good idea to keep them in your email inbox so you can access them if you need to.

Cover for cancellation, lost deposits and financial default commences from the date you purchase your travel insurance policy, all other benefits commence on the trip start date you have stated when purchasing your policy.

Please contact us on 1300 655 179 as soon as you realise the error on your travel insurance policy so that we can review and amend where possible. You can also advise us by email at travelinsurance@rac.com.au with full details of the error and the correct details.

You have 21 days from the date of issue of this travel insurance policy (as shown on your Certificate of Insurance) to make sure this is the right policy for you, provided you have not started your trip and that you do not want to make a claim or exercise any other right under this policy. Simply advise us either by phone or by email if you wish to cancel your travel insurance policy and we will give you a full refund. 

You can extend your travel insurance policy free of charge if the delay is due to a reason that you could claim under your travel insurance policy, subject to our approval. This is for both our Single Trip (Comprehensive, Essentials, Medical only and Domestic) policies and Annual Multi–Trip travel insurance policies.

If you make a travel insurance claim you may be required to pay an excess. A travel insurance excess is an agreed dollar amount that is subtracted from each and every Insured Event. Our default International policy excess is $250 but this can be reduced to $100 or $0 for an increased premium at the time of purchase. Our default for our Domestic policy is $100 but can be reduced to $0 for an increased premium at the time of purchase. Your excess will be shown on your Certificate of Insurance.

Is there a maximum trip duration for an Annual Multi-Trip travel insurance policy?

The maximum days allowed on an Annual Multi-trip travel insurance policy per trip is either 30, 45 or 60 days. You must select the appropriate number of days that will cover any trip you may take during the 12 month period at the time of purchasing the travel insurance policy. The days allowed per trip can be increased to a longer duration during the period of the travel insurance policy and an additional premium will apply. Please contact us for assistance. 

If you have an overseas emergency, our  travel insurance Emergency Assistance team is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to take your call. 

Call +61 2 8055 1697 (reverse charges from the overseas operator).

It is always a good idea to register your details with Smartraveller before you depart, at www.smartraveller.gov.au.

No, our  travel insurance policies cover overseas medical costs only, which can be very high if you do not have travel insurance. There is no medical cover on a Domestic  travel insurance policy. As a general insurer we are prevented from paying medical costs in Australia and this includes any gap payments on any Medicare or private health insurer items.

You will find details on how to lodge a travel insurance claim via our online claim form, or by email or phone on the How to Claim page on our website.