Travel insurance covering missed flights when tramping in NZ

[izogi]

Hi everyone.

Are there any good travel insurance options within Australia that people can recommend, which would cover a return flight missed due to a planned tramping trip taking longer than anticipated?

As a kiwi who's been living in Australia for the medium term, I'm hopping back to NZ in a few weeks to do some things. As part of this I'm planning to go out tramping with some friends. Annoyingly I need to be checked into the airport at 5am the day after we're due back. This'll be fine as long as everything works out (I'll just be horrendously tired from scrubbing everything clean all night), but if we get held up behind a swollen river or anything of that nature, there's a chance I might miss the flight.

I wouldn't normally bother with travel insurance between Australia and NZ, but I really don't want to give myself another thing to worry about if we found ourselves trying to make a rational decision about everyone's safety. So I'm hoping I can pick up some cheap insurance which might cover the flight if I miss it due to an outdoor adventure gone wrong.

I checked the standard Air NZ insurance when I booked the flights (viewable at http://www.airnewzealand.com.au/shorthaul-travel-insurance-terms-and-conditions), but the terms they offered didn't seem to include such a scenario, so I didn't tick that box. They include all sorts of things like cancelling your flights due to a pre-paid tour being cancelled, or due to someone in the travelling party getting injured, or if you're summoned for jury service, and various other things, but it *doesn't* cover an issue with a non-commercial activity which prevented you from making your return flight.

Any thoughts, good or bad experiences? Thanks for any help on this.

[Rob A]

If you used your visa card to pay for the ticket it might be worth checking with the bank that issued the card.
Mine, like many of the bigger banks services, takes care of medivacs and associated costs, and a number of other travel related things. I cant recall specifically if they cover missed transfers and the like. While it wasnt something you could pay to extend, I recall it gave me a good idea what to chase.
After talking to them I took out an extended for expensive gear with my house and contents insurer.

[andrewbish]

Hi izogi

I am also a kiwi in Oz and returning across the ditch shortly to do a bit if walking. I'm off to Arthur's Pass in a couple of weeks. You?

(No info on travel insurance to share, sorry, but may have a similar problem)

[Strider]

So am I, on the 30th. Will be doing some walks in Marlborough region.

[bernieq]

Given recent SI weather, Izogi, you ask a relevant question.

As I, too, am heading to NZ shortly, I've read (ie scanned) 5 policies and only one has included return airfare cover in the event of '20. delay due to bad weather or avalanche closure'. Unfortunately, the exclusions have this clause : We will not pay for events "That arise outside the period 15th December to 31st March in Northern Hemisphere resorts and 15th June to 30th September in Southern Hemisphere resorts - items 16 - 20"
(from Travel Insurance Direct)

Apparently, bad weather only happens in Winter.

The other policies I've read have a pittance for delay-expenses (eg $25 / 12 hr period) or no cover at all.

All humour aside, I think the answer to your question is no.
Some free advice (worth what you pay :) Read the policy carefully - it's amazing what they don't cover.

[izogi]

Thanks for the ideas. I used a very basic bank-issued Visa debit card for which I've never been told anything about insurance so I doubt there's anything in that, unfortunately.

I'm sticking to the North Island for this trip, as is usually the case because we typically have ulterior motives of catching up with family, etc, and towards the end of that I'm planning to meet up with some old tramping club friends in the Ruahines. (Awesome range, but not very touristy .)

That's Interesting about all the other insurance companies. I suppose few insurers want to cover you for making your own expert decisions, but if it's a commercial operator (meaning you had nothing to do with the decision) then they're less inclined to think you might just be taking advantage of the insurance.

I did stumble on TravelDirect late last night after posting here, but haven't looked closely at any others. It was the second on the list for a search like 'travel insurance tramping'. I hadn't seen that exception--what a wacky presumption about dates... at least for New Zealand! The plan, at least, is to be there over Easter, so in this specific case it might be okay. I don't think I'll buy anything without confirming with them in writing about the actual scenario.

They *do* say that if weather holds you up, they'll need 'a written statement from the appropriate authority'. It's not clear to me who that is, and that could be the biggest problem with making a claim. Authorities like the Police and DOC come to mind, but I'm not certain I'd be able to easily find the right, qualified person in that organisation and get a written statement, just so I can make my own personal insurance claim. Maybe I could find a contact in NZ LandSAR and get them to sign off with their position, but they still might not if they weren't following weather events at the time we'd actually had a problem. Technically it'd also be a tramping club trip, so maybe they'd accept a statement from the club, which would be easy to get, but I'd not be surprised if that wasn't enough.

I've asked a question about all this in the TravelDirect 'am I covered if...' section. It probably won't be answered until at least Monday, but I'll post back here when I hear from them. They've recently answered another NZ tramping question, telling someone that they'd pay for helicopter medical evacuations in NZ, so I'm not sure if they really understand the whole context there (rescue services aren't allowed to request payment in NZ). If I can get what I want in writing, though, I think I'll feel better.

[izogi]

Oops, @bernieq, I just re-read the exclusion you pointed out and realised I'd read the inverse of the period they specified. (They *only* cover weather issues in NZ during that period.). Crud. Oh well.

[bernieq]

I’m interested to hear the result of the ‘am I covered’ question.

Yes, I had read the bit about needing a written statement – thought the post was long enough already. I can't see any organisation being able to (willing to?) verify that you had been delayed by weather as they weren’t there (unless a rescue was required :(

What I didn’t understand in the bad weather exclusion clause was the final word ‘resorts’ – only applicable when people are weathered in at a resort???

[goanna]

If you want this type of cover it would be worth looking at the Suncorp Insurance policy. Section 1 covers '..cancelled travel and accommodation expenses due to any unforseen circumstances outside your control..'. The exclusions don't seem to rule out things such as unforseeable delay on a walk but you would need to read the policy yourself.

Goanna

[izogi]

Thanks. I''ll check it out. I'm still waiting to hear back from Travel Insurance Direct. I think they're on holiday.

[izogi]

Coincidentally I've just received the response from Travel Insurance Direct. I can't find it on their website, but the text of the email I received is below. Unfortunately it still sounds ambiguous and doesn't inspire confidence. The search and rescue stuff doesn't concern me because it's always free in NZ, but we're also not planning to be with "someone who knows the area" because we're planning to explore it independently, but getting "evidence from local park ranger / authorities that you were unable to travel", or trying to check in with them, still concerns me. NZ doesn't have a heavy presence of officials at ground level, except in the very tourist areas. There's also no mention of the 8.5 months of the year which are supposedly completely excluded from the policy, but the fact that it's in the *real* terms makes me not want to take it.

Oh well.

If you are hiking or trekking and unable to make a flight due to bad weather, you would need to provide evidence of this from the local park ranger/authorities to prove that you were unable to travel due to that event.

Please note that while the TID policy can provide cover while hiking or trekking, you should be doing so on marked trails and not mountaineering or rock climbing where you have required the use of support ropes.

If you intend to tramp through areas which do not have marked trails, please be aware that search and rescue is excluded from the policy so please ensure you are with someone who knows the area (local guide or tour operator) and you have checked in and registered with the park ranger/authority.

If you are hiking and require medical evacuation you (or someone you are travelling with) will need to contact our 24 hour emergency assistance team, provide your policy number and some information about what has happened.

I hope this has helped!

[Azza]

Speaking from experience with travel insurance claims and missing flights the chances of you successfully making a claim are probably going to be low.

e.g. Your going to have to prove that the river was flooded and that this event was unexpected and that you didn't head off into the area knowing that this might happen. You'll probably need some sort of letter from DOC stating that it was unsafe for you to walk out... You'll need to somehow prove that this event was totally unexpected - i.e. Weather forecast got it wrong.
The fact you flight is so close to your planned return time isn't going to help because you've knowingly done that..
Insurance doesn't usually pay out for daft planning.

With a cost of a flight back to Oz being only $300-$400 one way even in high season... and insurance polices generally having an excess $50-150.... you might as well just take the punt and accept the outcome if it goes south. You'll have to pay anyway and try to recover the costs with a claim... so its no good if you don't have the cash to bail yourself out anyway.

Sometime you can get luckily with a bit of grovelling to the airline they might take sympathy.
Helps if you have some poor uni student balling their eyes out, and some tattooed covered bogans who also missed the flight to create a scene at the airport...

I use IHI Bupa - In Denmark if I am doing anything a bit extreme.. they are one of the few insurance companies that will cover things like Back Country Snowboarding and associated Rescue Costs. Most of the Australia insurance providers are underwritten by one of the big insurers.. so there is actually only about a half dozen or so policy variants available in this country..