Comparing 6 Top NZ Travel Insurance Companies
(38 votes, average: 3.34 out of 5)
Loading...We have contacted six of the top Travel Insurance companies to know their norms and terms regarding their area of coverage. We have requested for an online travel insurance quote and a comparison of all collected information can be viewed in the table below to help find the best travel insurance rates.
| 1Cover | Tower | AA | Southern Cross | State | World Nomads | |
| Individual person 32 days, worldwide | 175.5 | 219 | 247.00 | 285.00(20% off online) | 214.2 | 169 |
| Excess | 100 | 100 | 75 | 75 | 100 | 100 |
| Personal Baggage | 5,000 | 10,000 | 25,000 | 25,000 | 20,000 | 2,500 |
| Medical Expense | unlimited | 100,000 | unlimited | 100,000 | unlimited | 5,000,000 |
| Accidental Death & Permanent Disablement | 25,000 | 50,000 | 50,000 | 100,000 | 100,000 | 12,000 |
| Loss of Deposits, Cancellation & Curtailment |
unlimited | unlimited | unlimited | 100,000 | 100,000 | 10,000 |
| Liability Protection | 500,000 | 2,000,000 | 2,500,000 | 2,000,000 | 2,500,000 | 2,500,000 |
| Travel Delay or Missed Connection |
1000 | 2,500 | unlimited | 5,000 | 5,000 | No Cover |
| Strikes & Hijacks Terrorism |
5,000 | 10,000 | 100,000 | 10,000 | unspecified | |
| Rental Vehicle Excess |
3,000 | 2,000 | 4,000 | 3,000 | 2,500 | unspecified |
| Money | 250 | 500 | 500 | 1000 | 750 | No Cover |
| Travel Documents/ credit card/ travellers check | 5000 | 2000 | 3,000 | 1000 | 3,000 | 500,000 |
| Rating – Standard and Poors | AAA | A- | A+ | A+ | AA | A |
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Do I need Travel Insurance?
Many of us consider going away overseas whether it be for a holiday or to work. There are many things to consider and one of these things is travel insurance.
Is Travel Insurance really necessary or can you travel without it?
To be frank there is no law that says you have to have travel insurance however you do take a big risk travelling without it. For example lost luggage or cancellation of flight can make a holiday memorable for all the wrong reasons. And of course you can always fall sick whilst your away and falling sick can be quite a big expense for you if you consider the costs of say having to be flown home for surgery or medical treatment. If you take precaution from the start and take out travel insurance it just means that you can relax more and be covered.
Many companies provide Travel Insurance and there are a lot of cheap deals out there?
There certainly are cheap deals and not many people know this but a lot of banks offer a credit card that provides Travel insurance. The way it works is that you purchase the tickets on your credit card so that the total cost or 75 percent of the cost of the ticket is through your card and automatically you are approved for travel insurance. The downside to this is the credit card fee you pay every year can be quite high. I think its $100 with Westpac gold card.
What’s important is that you actually do your research and check out what really is a good deal for you. You can do your research on the internet and read what other people have to say about the travel insurance company, compare the policies on offer and prices.
What about people with Pre-Existing Medical Problems?
Some policies don’t cover pre-existing medical conditions like World Nomads for instance, so if you do have a medical condition check your policy to make sure it actually covers your pre-existing medical condition.
What about things that cause inconvenience to you such as lost or stolen luggage?
This is a pretty common scenario and you’ll find most policies will offer cover for that under personal baggage claim. what is imperative is that your most expensive items, such as your laptop, jewellery, camera, that you take with you. Therefore it is advised that you find out the level of cover that you have on your policy for those items incase you have to take out extra cover. Most importantly ALWAYS read the fine print especially looking at what the actual criteria is around the travel insurance paying out.
Claims Paying Ability
Insurance Companies (Ratings & Inspections) Act 1994.
Does your insurance company have the financial strength to be able to pay out on any claims you might make? That’s the question which big ratings firms like Standard & Poor’s or AM Best ask. Each of the six travel insurance companies reviewed here have been given a letter rating shown in the table above.
The rating scale is:
AAA Extremely Strong BB Marginal
AA Very Strong B Weak
A Strong CCC Very Weak
BBB Good CC Extremely Weak
R Regulatory Action
The ratings from ‘A’ to ‘B’ may be modified by the addition of a plus or minus sign to show relative standing within the major categories.
November 7, 2013
Thanks for the write up, some great travel insurance rate comparisons here.
When I planned my trip for Europe earlier this year I found my bank ANZ also has some great travel insurance rates and packages. Definitely worth a mention to check your banks especially since most of us already have good relationships with our banks, often they will beat or match their competitors rates if you ask.
February 23, 2014
You appear to have omitted to mention that 1cover provides unlimited cover for medical emergencies overseas. Not sure where you get the 5k from? No I am not an employee of 1cover, but I am a customer and have found them to be very good. Hence I was confused by your comparisons.
Thanks
October 18, 2014
Hi Phillipa, thanks for pointing that out, i have contacted them and verified the medical cover. I have updated my comparison.
December 18, 2014
Thanks for this helpful website, although we nearly didn’t get 1cover because you have their liability protection as $500,000, but we discovered it is actually 5 million. Cheers
March 29, 2015
A word of warning: I was given the incorrect departure time by Webjet, missed the plane, had to purchase a ticket hastily to get my connection flight in Sydney, injured my knee badly in the process of running to catch said plane, lost my luggage. I was insured with Southern Cross – they refused to pay anything on the basis that all was due to the service provider’s fault. (Webjet, of course, did not even bother to respond.)
September 17, 2015
Also a word of warning that also relates to Southern Cross refusing to pay: my mother required an emergency coronary bypass 7 days before departure. We had to cancel our family trip to Niue. She had seen her GP for breathing issues 4 months beforehand, but never diagnosed with a heart problem. They refused to pay for the cancelled trip as they stated that she had a pre-existing condition….even though medically this was not diagnosed. It appears that Southern Cross are now apparently doctors. This will proceed to the Ombudsmen, but could do without the hassle quite frankly. They are not inclined to do the right thing.
December 11, 2015
Hi
We are going on a world trip 2016 for around 50 days we are age 56 and 60
our main concerns are what if we have to cancel due to an unforeseen event
and return to new Zealand, also pre existing things will they cover them.
What is the best company to use with these things in mind we normally use
tower insurance but i see you recommend southern cross anyway your thoughts would be greatly appreciate.
Kevin Nicholson
email- nicholsonkevin56@gmail.com