Irish person buying new travel insurance in Australia - confused!

trav3a

Hi,

Sorry if this has been asked before but I searched and couldn't find an answer. I am Irish but have been living in Australia for the past 16 months. I will be leaving in May and travelling home via Asia, and need to buy travel insurance for the trip.

I originally intended to be away from Ireland for less than a year in total, and got annual travel insurance before I left Ireland. This insurance ended in October and I haven't had cover since. I should have tried to renew it before it ended but I was out bush at the time! I am anxious to buy another travel insurance policy as soon as possible but am confused.

Australian sites require me to be an Australian resident. I am resident for tax purposes but not a permanent resident so I don't think I can buy one of these policies. Meanwhile, Irish sites seem to require that I be in Ireland when buying the insurance.

Has anyone encountered this confusion? If so, what was the solution? I need insurance that will cover me for the rest of my time in Oz as well as for Asia.

Thanks in advance!

BuffyBot

Resident doesn't nessecarily mean permanently resident. If you've been living there for some time you may qualify. Have you thought about calling them up and finding out?

Batgurl

no, trav3a is correct. Australian policies won't cover you unless you have PR and irish policies won't cover you if you're not in the country when the policy commences.

I used this crowd: http://www.insure4less.com.au/

They insure non-PR's in Australia. I got an annual policy for about $300 - not too bad.

Siobhan_d13

I have another question re: travel insurance. I'm in same boat as OP, but we're getting sponsored and due to reciprocal emergency healthcare agreement, I don't want an annual policy. Going home for a month in May, and will want insurance to cover flight delay, cancellation, baggage etc, but don't need to be covered for medical expenses at home. Anyone know how I can insure us for flights only? How about getting 2 separate short policies to cover the days when we're flying? Cheers

munchkin_utd

Siobhan_d13 wrote: »

I have another question re: travel insurance. I'm in same boat as OP, but we're getting sponsored and due to reciprocal emergency healthcare agreement, I don't want an annual policy. Going home for a month in May, and will want insurance to cover flight delay, cancellation, baggage etc, but don't need to be covered for medical expenses at home. Anyone know how I can insure us for flights only? How about getting 2 separate short policies to cover the days when we're flying? Cheers

what do you need cover for a flight for?

If you miss a connection through no fault of your own (airline delay) then the airline will rebook you.
If the airline looses your luggage (which presumably wont be stuffed with precious jewels anyhow) they must compensate you.
If the airline damages your luggage then they will replace it.
If you get delayed through an extradorinary event AND book a ticket from an EU based airline then you also get accomodation and living expenses for wherever you are stuck.

sometimes insurance is a cod and unnecessary, and this is one of those times I would say.

Siobhan_d13

Why do you assume my bags won't be filled with priceless gems?

Cheers for the advice, just being over cautious I'd imagine but not having to pay for it sounds good to me! Thanks.