Sorting out comprehensive travel insurance should be one of the first tasks on a traveller’s pre-departure check-list.

When purchasing travel insurance, it is important to ensure that the insurance will cover:

  • all the places to be visited;
  • all the activities planned; and
  • any pre-existing medical conditions and current medical treatments

Travellers without insurance, or with insurance that does not cover them for their activities or pre-existing conditions, could pay potentially very expensive costs for emergency treatment and medical evacuation. The Australian Government cannot pay for a traveller’s medical or psychiatric services or medications.

The most recent Survey of Australian Travel Insurance Behaviour (2017) suggests that there remain significant misunderstandings about Australian consular assistance and travel insurance coverage. The survey found:

  • A third (33%) self-identify as having chosen the cheapest travel insurance quote available, without due consideration of other factors
  • 30% agreed with the statement that if an Australian person has a medical emergency overseas, the Australian government would arrange and pay for them to get home
  • 23% agreed with the statement it’s OK to go overseas without travel insurance as long as it’s to other developed countries like Australia
  • 23% agreed with the statement if an Australian person has a medical emergency overseas, the Australian government would pay their medical bills
  • 87% were not certain if travel insurance would cover all destinations

All travel carries with it inherent risks, even short-term travel to familiar local interstate and overseas locations for meetings and conferences. Risks from political tensions, terrorism, civil unrest, fraud, severe weather, natural disasters and security of corporate information exist in countries that are not usually considered dangerous.

Corporate travel insurance is designed to reflect the complexity of risks that come with business trips. There are also options for small to medium-sized business owners to include their business and leisure travel insurance under the same policy.

Some tips for increasing your staff’s travel safety

To increase the safety and ease of your overseas business travel, you can:

  • familiarise yourself with the local operating environment you are travelling to, such as business conditions and local laws
  • track the movement and itineraries of your staff whilst they are overseas
  • organise transfers for staff using known and reputable providers
  • keep alternative contact details for staff on hand, eg hotels and conference details, in case staff phones or emails aren’t working
  • keep contact details for staff’s next of kin
  • ensure staff inform you of any leisure activities they may be planning whilst overseas
  • ensure staff have contact details with them for all necessary company contacts and for Australian Consular assistance
  • ensure staff have travel insurance details
  • familiarise yourself with the country’s dress standards so staff are properly and respectfully dressed for any business meetings
  • encourage staff to be security conscious while they are travelling
  • be aware of cyber-crime whilst travelling overseas, it may be prudent to give staff laptops and phones which are not connected to businesses servers
  • prior to travelling check the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s Smart Traveller website for further business and travel tips

If you would like to talk through your business’s corporate travel requirements together in relation to your business activities, even if you are positioned with another brokerage, we’d be only too happy to sit down over a coffee and discuss your needs. There are options available to you should you wish to have Mitchell’s take over the management of your insurance program, allowing you the control of a strong insurance program that is positioned correctly to your requirements. More information on how that can be achieved is here.

At anytime though, feel free to call Mitchell Insurance Management on 02 6113 0478 or contact us. Again, we are only too happy and would enjoy the opportunity to talk through your potential business risks, proposing solutions that will fit and support your business activities going forth.

The information contained in this blog provides only a general overview of subjects covered. It is not intended to be taken as advice regarding any individual situation and should not be relied upon as such. Insureds should consult Mitchell Insurance Management regarding specific coverage issues. All insurance coverage is subject to the terms, conditions, and exclusions of the applicable individual policies. Mitchell Insurance Management cannot provide any assurance that insurance can be obtained for any particular client or for any particular risk.