Travel Insurance: Why you should bother

Words by: Victoria Ugarte

Travel insurance would have to be just about the most unglamorous aspect of any travel experience. In fact, if you’re anything like I was in my youth, your eyes would be glazing over right about now. But before you feel the urge to turn the page, hang on for a minute longer and read the following two stories below:
My first story involves an Australian man who went for a vacation in Asia. As many Australians do, he travelled without any insurance. I guess he didn’t feel the need to. After all he was healthy and probably felt secure in the fact that the Australian public health system is quite good in comparison to most countries. But while on his Asian vacation, this man was involved in a car accident and sustained some very serious injuries. He had to be repatriated to Australia so that he could receive the level of care that he required. While he did receive a better level of care in Australia, his life could not be saved. While his death was devastating for his family, the tragedy didn’t end there. His family were left with AU$200,000 worth of medical expenses to pay, forcing them to sell their family home to settle the debt.
Feeling rather healthy and determined to argue the point that nothing will happen to you on your travels? Here’s another travel insurance story, this time, showing how adequate travel insurance can salvage an unfortunate situation. This one hits closer to home for me.
Nine years ago, Peter, my husband, went on a journey of a lifetime to South America, a six-week motorbike adventure with a bunch of guys that took them across Chile, Argentina and Bolivia. He was fit, healthy, and had been planning and looking forward to this trip for years. Sounds amazing right? But Peter never made it passed the first leg of the trip. Having strained his lower back muscles while helping another traveller with their luggage in Santiago Airport (Chile), he thought the niggling pain would go away if he just did some stretches. However, his continuous riding, all day every day, aggravated the injury further. Ten days into the ride his back completely seized up, to the point where he was unable to get out of bed to go to the bathroom. Stuck in a remote town in Argentina, he had to be picked up by ambulance and transported to the city of Salta (Argentina). From Salta, Peter made immediate arrangements to fly back to Australia. The cost of his 16-hour ambulance ride: US$2,000, payable upfront, in cash. The cost of cancelling the trip in terms of pre-paid accommodation, food, and motorbike rental: US$13,000.