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Travelling from one side of Australia to another can be tricky enough, but crossing the globe to Europe can present challenges on a larger scale.
For those misfortunes that hit the wallet, there’s travel insurance for Europe. From tripping and breaking a leg in Belgium to losing your luggage en route to Lithuania, a policy for Europe can cover a broad range of unfortunate events.
As Australia shares a reciprocal healthcare agreement with a limited few European countries, travel insurance may provide the only means for travellers to cover the hundreds (and often thousands) of dollars emergency treatment can cost.
Given the distance, and the time you’d likely want to spend in Europe to make the trip worthwhile, travelling to the Continent likely won’t come cheap. However, with a suitable policy in place, you can have peace of mind that should an emergency—such as a family bereavement—cause you to cancel your plans, lost expenses can also be recouped.
We break down exactly how travel insurance for Europe works below.
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1
Fast Cover Travel Insurance
Medical cover
Unlimited, 24/7 Emergency Assistance
Cancellations
Unlimited, (Trip Disruption $50,000)
Key Features
25-Day Cooling Off Period, Australian Based Call Centre, 4.6 Star Product Review Rating
2
Cover-More Travel Insurance
Medical cover
Unlimited, with a $2000 limit to dental
Cancellations
Yes, amount chosen by customer
3
Southern Cross Travel Insurance
Medical Cover
Including medical treatment, doctors’ visits, prescribed medication, specialist treatment & medical transport costs
Cancellations
$2,500 with option to increase to unlimited
What Is Travel Insurance For Europe?
Once you’ve booked your European getaway, it may be tempting to put your holiday preparation on hold until you’re ready to start packing. However, taking out travel insurance can be a crucial next step to ensure you’re protected should anything go wrong with your trip.
When purchasing a policy, you’ll need to specify where you’re heading. If you’re taking a one-off trip within the space of 12 months, a single trip policy will do. When applying for this type of policy you may need to state the country or countries you’ll be visiting individually, or state your destination as ‘Europe’, depending on the insurer.
For cover for multiple trips throughout the year, you may want to opt for an annual multi-trip policy, which can be more cost-effective, and requires less paperwork than taking out an individual policy for each trip. Annual multi-trip policies usually provide cover for areas of the world, rather than specific destinations. Typically, insurers offer cover for Europe, or allow travellers to choose between worldwide cover that includes the US and neighbouring destinations or worldwide cover that excludes them.
The latter would cover your trips if not venturing to the US. This type of policy is typically the cheaper option owing to the lower medical and liability costs at destinations in parts of the world such as Europe, compared to North America.
What Countries Does Travel Insurance For Europe cover?
Before taking out the policy it’s best to check your holiday destination is definitely covered by looking through the fine print, or contacting the provider, as definitions of ‘Europe’ can differ between insurers. Some may exclude countries such as Turkey, or cover destinations such as Egypt and Morocco under their policies for Europe.
What does travel insurance for Europe include?
Australia shares a reciprocal healthcare agreement with only a few European nations:
- Belgium;
- Finland;
- Italy;
- Malta;
- The Netherlands;
- Norway;
- The Republic of Ireland;
- Slovenia;
- Sweden; and
- The United Kingdom.
While some medical costs are covered for Australians visiting these countries, other costs—such as private care or dental treatment—may not be. It’s therefore advisable to take out travel insurance to be safe.
With a basic policy in place, travellers can also claim for emergency medical treatment for injuries or illness, and medical evacuation and repatriation, while in other European countries not listed above.
Among a range of other benefits, travel insurance can cover the loss, theft, damage or delay of your baggage and personal possessions, and trip cancellation for reasons such as if you or a close one fall seriously ill, or a close relative or business partner dying.
Comprehensive policies usually offer a broader range of cover including, for example, personal accident cover should you sustain an injury during your trip that leads to permanent disability or death. They can also cover travel delay if your scheduled transport is late by at least 12 hours, or a minimum of six hours in some cases.They also usually provide higher cover levels.
Optional protection may be available to bolt-on to basic or comprehensive policies at an additional cost. This includes cover for lost or stolen devices and snow sports.
How Do I Find The Best Europe-Only Travel Insurance?
It can help to shop around, rather than settling for the first policy you find, if you want a deal on cover.
Remember to compare the policy price, cover levels and the excess the policy levies. This is the set portion of each claim amount payable by the policyholder. The more expensive a policy, the lower the excess typically is.
To find our leading picks for comprehensive travel insurance policies, click here. You can also find out how to lower your travel insurance premiums in our guide to cheap travel insurance.
You can then run quotes on the insurers’ websites of your choice.
As a rule of thumb, it’s best to purchase any travel insurance policy as soon as you have booked your holiday to be covered for trip cancellation as early as possible.
An insurer will likely reject any claims resulting from something that started, or took place, before you took out the policy.
Featured Partners
1
Fast Cover Travel Insurance
Medical cover
Unlimited, 24/7 Emergency Assistance
Cancellations
Unlimited, (Trip Disruption $50,000)
Key Features
25-Day Cooling Off Period, Australian Based Call Centre, 4.6 Star Product Review Rating
2
Cover-More Travel Insurance
Medical cover
Unlimited, with a $2000 limit to dental
Cancellations
Yes, amount chosen by customer
3
Southern Cross Travel Insurance
Medical Cover
Including medical treatment, doctors’ visits, prescribed medication, specialist treatment & medical transport costs
Cancellations
$2,500 with option to increase to unlimited
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Why do I need travel insurance in Europe?
Travel insurance is not compulsory for Australians travelling to Europe. However, it can be a useful financial tool, if you’re unsure how you would cover emergency costs or financial losses, if something should go wrong while you’re away. Emergency treatment abroad can be particularly costly, often amounting to hundreds and thousands of dollars.
How much travel insurance do I need for Europe?
The level of cover you choose should suit your personal requirements and travel plans.
Most travel insurance policies for Europe offer medical cover into the millions, if not an unlimited amount.
Your baggage cover limit should match the value of the belongings you are taking with you, while cover for trip cancellation should cover your total holiday costs.
What is Schengen travel insurance?
The 27 European countries which make up the Schengen area allow the free movement of their nationals across their internal borders without border controls.
Nationals from most other countries require visas to visit the Schengen area, and also are legally required to take out travel insurance specifically for their trip.
However, Australians are among the nationals of around 60 countries who can travel to the Schengen zone visa-free for up to 90 days within a 180-day period, and can therefore choose whether or not to purchase travel insurance.
A policy for Europe, or worldwide cover (excluding or including the US and surrounding countries) should cover a trip to any of the member countries, but it’s best to check the policy fine print to make sure your particular destination is covered.
The 27 Schengen countries are: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.
Will travel insurance for Europe cover pre-existing conditions?
Only some insurers offer cover for pre-existing conditions. These are medical conditions that you had before taking out the policy.
When applying for travel insurance you will need to declare any pre-existing conditions you have. The insurer may charge more to cover you, reflecting the higher risk that you’ll claim for medical costs due to your condition.
If you withhold information, and later make a claim relating to the condition, it could invalidate your policy.
What is snow sports cover?
Europe is known for its numerous ski resorts. If you plan to hit the slopes, make sure you’re covered for snow sports.
This cover usually is offered as an optional extra to add to your policy. It is also available from specialist providers as standalone insurance.
Typically it covers lost or stolen equipment, compensates for avalanche or landslide disruption and pays out for piste closure, among other benefits.
Can I change my annual-multi trip cover for Europe?
When purchasing annual multi-trip cover you’ll need to know in advance which destinations you’ll be visiting over the next 12 months.
If you decide at a later date, you would rather have a worldwide policy that includes the US and surrounding destinations, for example, you should contact your insurer. They may be able to change your cover at an extra cost. If not, you would need to buy a new policy.
