Travel Insurance
Travel Insurance for Campervan & Motorhome Hires in Australia
Do you need travel insurance for campervan or motorhome rental?
Most international travellers coming to Australia will obtain travel insurance simply because they are travelling overseas. The risk of not having health cover while travelling in a foreign country is too great to ignore. They will also have airline tickets, accommodation and perhaps tours booked that will require full payment in advance or at least substantial deposits to be paid.
If they are hiring a campervan or motorhome as part of their holiday then the travel insurance will most likely also cover cancellation fees due to unforseen events or loss of security bonds should an accident occur.
Some international travellers will not obtain travel insurance which, considering the relative low cost of insurance, is far too great a risk. The downside, if anything should go wrong, may be substantial so the need for insurance is obvious. They definitely require travel insurance.
Domestic Travel
Less obvious however is the need for travel insurance for an Australian or New Zealand resident when planning a local campervan or motorhome holiday.
An Australian may think “I am covered for any medical matters with my Medicare or private health insurance so why would I need travel insurance?” Hospitalisation as the result of an accident would be covered so the risk is not as great. However there may be many other things that travel insurance may cover such as accommodation for uninjured family members during recovery or evacuation back home for the injured person.
The main reasons an Australian or New Zealand resident would require travel insurance would be to cover cancellation fees or disruption of travel plans. Should some personal or family emergency or illness require the hire to be cancelled prior the hire commencing suitable insurance may cover this. Travel arrangements to get to the hire commencement location may also be cancelled or delayed substantially.
For example someone from Cairns may have a motorhome booking commencing in Melbourne but are unable to fly out or fly into their destination due to some natural disaster. If they are unable to collect their motorhome then the booking may be cancelled incurring loss of the reservation deposit and possibly further cancellation fees. If they do not have travel insurance then the loss is theirs.
International Travel
In the past year or so there have been many natural disasters occurring around the world that have seriously disrupted travel plans, particularly airflights. Volcanic ash from eruptions have resulted in lengthy delays as all airlines can become grounded. If a traveller has a campervan or motorhome booked the rental company is not going to simply refund deposits because of travel delays. It is up to the individual traveller to ensure they are covered for such events. There has been serious flooding, tropical cyclones and earthquakes disrupting travel plans in recent times.
Traffic accidents can cause substantial damage to a motorhome or campervan. Unless the hirer has taken additional insurance with the hiring company to reduce insurance excess liability then the loss of security bond can be very costly. A typical modern motorhome hire in Australia will have a security bond of up to $7500 with the standard insurance. This is the amount the hirer will be liable for in the event of an accident. There are optional excess reduction plans available to reduce this but suitable travel insurance may cover it.
Travel insurance is actually quite cheap and is easily obtained online. A traveller should ensure they check the various levels of cover when obtaining insurance. Some credit cards may include travel insurance in certain circumstances but the exact levels of cover need to be investigated. Also ascertain that the cover includes motorhome and campervan hire specifically as some credit card travel insurance may only cover car hire.