Southern Cross has published their top 10 most expensive claims for 2017.
I sometimes get asked whether travel cover is worth the cost and hassle. Naturally, I think it is.
But it’s not just me saying that. The Government’s Safe Travel website rather bluntly says that if you can’t afford travel insurance you can’t afford to travel.
They are not wrong.
In their financial reports Southern Cross say they issued over 300,000 travel policies and paid claims on 40,000 of them.
That’s more than 1 in 7.
Not all of them turn into a mega-dollar drama but it shows the sheer scope of risk for things to go wrong. And it doesn’t have to be a heart attack or broken bone that stuffs up your holiday plans. Even if you are very healthy and super careful, a simple crash blocking a motorway can make you miss a flight.
If you have plans to travel, please make sure you talk to us about travel insurance.
THE TOP 10
Says it all really
Source: www.safetravel.govt.nz
$682,000: Heart attack, which included an extended hospital stay and an air ambulance from Europe to New Zealand.
$212,000: Bowel illness in the US.
$182,000: Heart attack in the US.
$176,500: Pneumonia, which required an air ambulance to South America from Antarctica.
$141,000: Broken hip in South America.
$140,000: Leg injury in the US.
$135,000: Ankle injury in the US.
$134,750: Leg injury after falling, which required an air ambulance back home from South East Asia.
$110,000: Hip injury after falling down stairs on a Pacific Island, which required an air ambulance home.
$106,000: Respiratory and heart failure, which required an air ambulance home from a Pacific Island.
