Travel Insurance for New Zealanders

[markmcilroy]

We are planning our 3rd Camino in 3 years (Le Puy this time) and have just been checking out our travel insurance options. I checked a site that rates travel insurance products and the insurance from Countdown was rated very highly.....however on checking the policy wording any Hiking / trekking etc over 6000 meters ie 6 kms is an exclusion!! It is also underwritten by Cigna which in my past experience charge for any pre existing conditions which many of us approaching middle age have.

So even though the Countdown product gets a great rating it is NOT suitable for any Camino pilgrims.

I have used Worldcare travel insurance previously but with no need to claim so I can't say how good it is, are there any NZers that can suggest a good travel insurer?

thanks
Mark

 

[Robo]

Thanks Mark.

I might add that it is useful to check which countries have reciprocal health agreements with your country of domicile.

After our last Camino Pat ended up having emergency surgery in Italy.
And we didn't have to pay a cent!
That made her day

 

[Kiwi-family]

We have used 1Cover and had NO trouble at all getting refunds for transport and and an extra night in a pension and even a meal out - as well as the medical costs - when my daughter broke her arm at O'Cebreiro. We were only thinking of claiming for the hospital expenses, but the form we filled out asked for all the other details so we provided them and were told they would have expected it to have cost us more! If I'd known they would be so good I might have taken a taxi instead of faffing round with two local busses!
We always keep receipts when we travel and so were able to provide these - if you had an issue I'd recommend having the receipts because they certainly support your claim.

 

[Hiawatha]

My family and I were reimbursed for an extra ten days enforced stay in Paris
We were insured with Cover More through Flight Centre , no quibbles at all , the costs of the claim were a huge amount that covered emergency accommodation , clothing , toiletries and other incidentals such as phone calls and taxi fares and minor medical costs . Meals were not included though .
Cover More has been criticised in the past and I am sure that they are not a ' Benevolent ' society however they treated us well and paid every claim . The time it took to reimburse was quite long though .

 

[GettingThere]

We are planning our 3rd Camino in 3 years (Le Puy this time) and have just been checking out our travel insurance options. I checked a site that rates travel insurance products and the insurance from Countdown was rated very highly.....however on checking the policy wording any Hiking / trekking etc over 6000 meters ie 6 kms is an exclusion!! It is also underwritten by Cigna which in my past experience charge for any pre existing conditions which many of us approaching middle age have.

So even though the Countdown product gets a great rating it is NOT suitable for any Camino pilgrims.

I have used Worldcare travel insurance previously but with no need to claim so I can't say how good it is, are there any NZers that can suggest a good travel insurer?

thanks
Mark

I used Southern Cross travel insurance. Partly because I get a discount as I also have SC health insurance, and partly because they were one of the few I found which would readily insure someone over 80 (my mother). They exclude some of the more extreme outdoor activities, but definitely no problem with hiking. I've never needed to claim on the travel insurance so can't comment on how they handle that, although I've had a number of claims on the health insurance which have always been handled efficiently and quickly.

Hope that helps - buen Camino!

 

[Lynda Millington]

We are planning our 3rd Camino in 3 years (Le Puy this time) and have just been checking out our travel insurance options. I checked a site that rates travel insurance products and the insurance from Countdown was rated very highly.....however on checking the policy wording any Hiking / trekking etc over 6000 meters ie 6 kms is an exclusion!! It is also underwritten by Cigna which in my past experience charge for any pre existing conditions which many of us approaching middle age have.

So even though the Countdown product gets a great rating it is NOT suitable for any Camino pilgrims.

I have used Worldcare travel insurance previously but with no need to claim so I can't say how good it is, are there any NZers that can suggest a good travel insurer?

thanks
Mark

Hi Mark

I have always used Southern Cross with no problem. when are you doing the Le Puy. We are going to do that route from 8 June.

Lynda

 

[markmcilroy]

Hi Mark

I have always used Southern Cross with no problem. when are you doing the Le Puy. We are going to do that route from 8 June.

Lynda

Hi Lynda, thanks for that, we are starting around the 7th May.

 

[Jill81]

We are planning our 3rd Camino in 3 years (Le Puy this time) and have just been checking out our travel insurance options. I checked a site that rates travel insurance products and the insurance from Countdown was rated very highly.....however on checking the policy wording any Hiking / trekking etc over 6000 meters ie 6 kms is an exclusion!! It is also underwritten by Cigna which in my past experience charge for any pre existing conditions which many of us approaching middle age have.

So even though the Countdown product gets a great rating it is NOT suitable for any Camino pilgrims.

I have used Worldcare travel insurance previously but with no need to claim so I can't say how good it is, are there any NZers that can suggest a good travel insurer?

thanks
Mark

Hi Mark,
I think the limit of coverage of 6000 metres is ALTITUDE, not distance, so that won’t be a problem within Europe. It’s common for insurance companies to set the limit at 6000 M, (although many restrict coverage to 1500 M — check the fine print!) as it covers most trekking routes in the Himalayas.

 

[gittiharre]

We are planning our 3rd Camino in 3 years (Le Puy this time) and have just been checking out our travel insurance options. I checked a site that rates travel insurance products and the insurance from Countdown was rated very highly.....however on checking the policy wording any Hiking / trekking etc over 6000 meters ie 6 kms is an exclusion!! It is also underwritten by Cigna which in my past experience charge for any pre existing conditions which many of us approaching middle age have.

So even though the Countdown product gets a great rating it is NOT suitable for any Camino pilgrims.

I have used Worldcare travel insurance previously but with no need to claim so I can't say how good it is, are there any NZers that can suggest a good travel insurer?

thanks
Mark

I use the free one available to Visa Platinum holders. They exclude pre existing conditions but have paid out on a couple of occasions. Got smoke inhalation in Vietnam and had to come back early from Le Puy route as my husband had a stroke.

 

[donalomahony]

That’s 6,000m Altitude. Check number of days cover for one trip. For many policies it’s 30
days. Not enough for a long Camino.

 

[Tincatinker]

any Hiking / trekking etc over 6000 meters ie 6 kms is an exclusion!!

@donalomahony got there before me but the 6k exclusion is height not distance, and pretty generous. Most 'standard' travel packages exclude anything above 3k. Either is of course a bit of a bugger if you trip over your boot laces on your way to the loo on the 'plane.....

And just wait till you have to declare a heart condition: "Can you walk more than 100 metres without getting out of breath?" "I'm planning to walk about 750km over 30 days, and yes." " Can you walk up a flight of stairs without getting out of breath?" "I refer you to my previous answer...."

 

[markmcilroy]

.....yes, you are all right it is 6000m in height not distance, but the policy wording doesn't say height it says "NOT COVERED Hiking /Trekking/Tramping over 6000 metres" hence my assumption it was distance...duh!

I do appreciate the information given so far.

 

[MikeyC]

Just a word of caution about pre-existing medical conditions. All insurance contracts require "utmost good faith" from the insured (uberimmae fidei). This means full disclosure of existing medical conditions at the time the contract is taken out. It doesn't always mean a higher premium though this depends on the condition. Non disclosure and a subsequent claim that uncovers this could void the contract.
Although the focus here is on travel insurance don't forget your home insurance - I lose cover if I leave the house uninhabited for more than 30 days.

(I guess most pilgrims always do things in utmost good faith!)