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Australia lulls people into thinking cover is optional, because the UK has a reciprocal healthcare agreement with it. That agreement is real, and it is genuinely useful, but it is nowhere near a substitute for travel insurance, and the assumption that it is can be an expensive mistake.
We arrange travel insurance for Australia that fills exactly the gaps the reciprocal agreement leaves, from the long-haul flight home to the longer trip lengths Australia tends to involve.
No. The UK and Australia have a Reciprocal Health Care Agreement that gives UK visitors access to medically necessary care in the Australian public system. But it does not cover repatriation home, private treatment, or trip cancellation. The Australian government’s own travel service is blunt that the agreement is not a substitute for insurance, and that medical evacuations, which it does not cover, cost thousands.
A repatriation from the other side of the world is the single largest cost a trip to Australia can produce, and it is precisely what the reciprocal agreement leaves you to fund. That is the gap the insurance closes.
Australia is rarely a short trip, and it is often part of a wider round-the-world route. Standard annual policies cap individual trips at 31 to 45 days, so a longer stay needs the right trip length built in from the start. If Australia is one leg of a bigger year of travel, an annual worldwide policy may be the better fit.
Declare them. The reciprocal agreement may cover a flare-up in a public hospital, but not repatriation, and not on a policy that does not reflect your history. Our travel insurance for pre-existing medical conditions page explains how we handle it.
Send us a message and our team will be in touch to help arrange your cover. We will take the time to understand where you are going and match the policy to your trip.
No. It covers medically necessary public care but not repatriation, private treatment, or cancellation. The Australian government states it is not a substitute for travel insurance.
It is strongly advised. A year-long stay, non-office work and regional travel need cover a standard holiday policy does not provide. Arrange cover matched to the trip length and activities.
Annual policies usually cap a single trip at 31 to 45 days. A longer stay needs the trip length set correctly at the outset, or a long-stay policy.
Yes, a proper policy covers medically necessary repatriation, which the reciprocal agreement does not. From Australia this is the largest potential cost, so the medical and repatriation limits matter.
Renewed my property insurance yet again with Norton Insurance Brokers. Always a great service from knowledgeable polite staff at affordable prices. Thank you Norton.
Reece Hill, the agent who handles my account came back to me when he said he would and was very helpful and patently talked me though the whole proses. H Larkin
