In the wake of Southern Cross announcing that they would be waiving the 'trivial' $100 excess from their travel insurance policies, they have also released the top 10 largest travel insurance claims from the past year, demonstrating just how necessary appropriate travel insurance can really be.
The list itself for the first time does not include only New Zealanders claiming from travel overseas. A claim totalling $236,000 was made by a foreigner who suffered a stroke while travelling through New Zealand and was forced into hospitalisation with an extended treatment. The CEO of Southern Cross Travel Insurance remarked that in comparison to any of these claims, the small cost of insuring your travel paled into insignificance.
The full list is as follows:
Highest value travel insurance claims for 2014:
1. $405,000 - surgery required for cancer in the USA.
2. $365,000 - air evacuation after a brain bleed and heart attack in North America.
3. $285,000 - blood clot while travelling caused a cardiac arrest on a plane, admitted to hospital in the US.
4. $236,000 - a tourist visiting New Zealand suffered a stroke requiring extensive hospitalisation and rehabilitation and transport to home country by air ambulance.
5. $193,000 - suffered a stroke in Europe, required air ambulance.
6. $177,000 - fell from a roof and fractured several leg bones in the USA.
7. $122,000 - family member of an international student diagnosed with cancer.
8. $120,000 - hit by a motorcycle in South East Asia.
9. $112,000 - heart attack while visiting New Zealand, required surgery and rehabilitation.
10. $105,000 - accidental fall resulting in broken bones in Europe
Source: Southern Cross Travel Insurance.
Whether you are travelling overseas, or you are a tourist looking to visit New Zealand, organising travel insurance should be the top of your priority list. Unless, of course, you have a spare $400,000 you're looking to offload.
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