Travel insurance claims add up for Aussies overseas thanks to falls, bites and stolen bags

Monkey bites, falls and stolen luggage have accounted for some of the biggest travel insurance claims of the year, with one overseas destination home to the most claims.

Monkey bites, falls and lost or stolen passports have accounted for some of the biggest travel insurance claims of 2024 with Australians visiting Indonesia the most likely to need cover overseas.

Data provided by Medibank showed the value of taking out travel insurance for a trip abroad, with the highest number of claims actually made in Australia for cancelled holidays.

For those who did make it to their destination, Indonesia was the most popular place to visit overseas as well as being the source of the most insurance claims in a foreign country.

Medibank also saw plenty of claims from the US, including the company’s most costly payout — of $275,000, for a customer who fell during a holiday and ended up in hospital.

Other notable claims included $10,600 for a traveller who had a run in with a monkey in Bali over a pair of stolen glasses.

As the holiday-maker tried to retrieve their spectacles, the monkey bit the person, with the wound requiring immediate medical attention to prevent serious infection.

Medical treatment in the notoriously expensive US health system resulted in another claim for close to $5000 for a sore foot that turned out to be a broken toe.

And a visitor to Italy whose luggage, passport and travel documents went astray while waiting for a train, was reimbursed $16,000 for the ordeal.

Medibank chief customer officer Milosh Milisavljevic said there was no end of things that could go wrong on holidays, making travel insurance a must.

“Your travel insurance policy can help cover you for many things including lost or stolen luggage, additional expenses which might occur as a result of an unexpected incident, right through to medical coverage in international hospitals outside of Australia,” said Mr Milisavljevic.

He said the fact that most claims were made before even leaving Australia, showed the importance of taking out insurance at the time of booking a trip.

“Many of these trips are cancelled before customers departed on their holiday and that means the claim or the reason not to travel, happened in Australia,” he said.

Lost or stolen passports continue to be a big problem overseas particularly in the UK, Italy and France. Picture: Alan Place.

Australian Passport Office data showed lost or stolen passports occurred at a rate of 82 a day, or a total of more than 30,000 for the 12 months to June 30.

The US and UK were the countries where Australians were most likely to lose their passport, while holiday-makers in Italy, France and Greece were most at risk of having their passport stolen.

Throughout the year, over 2.5 million passports were issued, down on last year’s record 3.1 million, with 230,000 people paying the $290 fee for priority 2 day processing.

Since the introduction of a new $100 “fast-track” service on July 1, about 13 per cent of passport applications have been processed in five days.

The APO revealed more than 15 million Australians now have a current passport, or over 55 per cent of the population, compared to 53 per cent a year ago.

Originally published as Travel insurance claims add up for Aussies overseas thanks to falls, bites and stolen bags