So it's time to read your travel insurance policy documents, and let's guess, your eyes start to glaze over and you're suddenly distracted by the TV?
We know there's a lot to get your head around, and it's not the most interesting read. However, do you know that some words and phrases you'll find in your Product Disclosure Statement have a special meanings?
That's why we've highlighted some of the most important definitions you'll need to understand. Believe us, some words don't always mean what they seem!
Keep reading to learn the meaning of these phrases to better understand your policy and avoid rejected claims.
Accident
is commonly defined as an unexpected, unintended, unforeseen event causing injury. The accident must happen while you are on a trip and covered under a policy.
Arises or Arising
this term is commonly defined as directly or indirectly arising or in any way connected with.
Carrier or Carriers
is commonly defined as an aircraft, vehicle, train, vessel or other public transport operated under a licence for the purposes of transporting passengers. This definition may exclude taxis.
Chronic
is commonly defined as a persistent and lasting condition in medicine. Your chosen insurer may not consider chronic pain to be 'constant' pain. In many situations, it has a pattern of relapse and remission. The pain may be long-lasting, recurrent (occurred on more than 2 occasions) or characterised by long-suffering.
Close Business Colleague
is commonly defined as an associate of yours in the same employment and resident in your country of residence whose absence from work necessitates the cancellation or curtailment of the trip as certified by a senior director of the company for which you work.
Close Relative
is commonly defined as your spouse, child, parent, grandparent, brother, sister, parent-in-law, son/daughter-in-law, grandchild or fiancé, who is resident in your country of residence.
Dependant
is commonly defined as your children or grandchildren not in full-time employment who are under the age of 19 and travelling with you on the journey.
Domestic Trip
is commonly defined as a holiday or journey within your country of residence.
Epidemic
is commonly defined as a sudden development and rapid spreading of a contagious disease in a region where it developed in a simply endemic state or within a previously unscathed community.
Excess
is commonly defined as the amount which you must first pay for each claim arising from the one event before a claim can be paid under your policy.
Home / Country of residence
is commonly defined as the place where you normally live in Australia.
Hospital
is commonly defined as an established hospital registered under any legislation that applies to it, that provides in-patient medical care.
Immunosuppressive Therapy
is commonly defined as drugs prescribed to inhibit or prevent activity of the immune system. Clinically, they are used to:
- prevent the rejection of transplanted organs and tissues (e.g. bone marrow, heart, kidney, liver)
- treatment of autoimmune diseases or diseases that is most likely of autoimmune origin (e.g. rheumatoid arthritis, myasthenia gravis, systemic lupus erythematosus, Crohn's disease, and ulcerative colitis).
- treatment of some other non-autoimmune inflammatory diseases (e.g. long term allergic asthma control, and
other respiratory diseases solely and directly by violent, accidental, visible and external means, which happens at a definite time and place during your period of cover and does not result from any illness, sickness or disease.
Injury
is commonly defined as a bodily injury caused solely and directly by violent, accidental, visible and external means, during your period of cover and which does not result from any illness, sickness or disease.
In-Patient
this term is commonly defined as person(s) who are admitted to a hospital or clinic and stay for at least 24 hours, for the sole purpose of receiving medical treatment.
Intrinsic Value
this term is commonly defined as the actual cash value of the item at the time of loss or damage including appropriate deductions for wear and tear.
Journey
is commonly defined as the time from when you leave your home to go directly to the place you depart from on your travels, and ends when you return to your home.
Locked Storage compartment
is commonly defined as a boot, trunk, glove box, enclosed centre console, or concealed cargo area of a sedan, station wagon, hatchback, van or motor-home.
Luggage and personal effects
is commonly defined as any personal items owned by you and that you take with you, or buy, on your journey and which are designed to be worn or carried about with you. This includes items of clothing, personal jewellery, photographic and video equipment or personal computers, or electrical devices or portable equipment. However, it does not mean any business samples or items that you intend to trade.
Medical Adviser
is commonly defined as a qualified doctor of medicine or dentist registered in the place where you received medical services.
Normally Earn
is commonly defined by the following:
- if you are an employee, your average weekly base rate after tax over the 12 months before your journey began.
- if you are not an employee, your average weekly income from personal exertion after deducting income and all
tax-deductible expenses over the twelve months before your journey. However, if you have not been working
continuously for that period, it means the average for the time you were working continuously.
Open Water Sailing
is commonly defined as sailing more than 10 nautical miles off any landmass.
Overseas
is commonly defined as any country other than your country of residence.
Pandemic
is commonly defined as a form of an epidemic that extends throughout an entire continent, even the entire human race.
Personal Money / Documents
this term tends to include the following: passport, travel tickets, currency, travellers cheques, petrol coupons and credit vouchers, cheques, postal and money orders, driving licence, banknotes and coins, being carried by you or whilst in a safety deposit box or locked safe.
A pre-existing medical condition is defined in the following ways
- an ongoing medical or dental condition of which you are aware, or related complication you have, or the symptoms of which you are aware;
- a medical or dental condition that is currently being, or has been investigated, or treated by a health professional (including dentist or chiropractor);
- any condition for which you take prescribed medicine;
- any condition for which you have had surgery;
- any condition for which you see a medical specialist; or
- pregnancy.
See our guide on pre-existing medical conditions to find out more.
A Public Place
is commonly defined as any place that the public has access to, including but not limited to planes, trains, cruise ships, taxis, buses, air or bus terminals, stations, wharves, streets, museums, galleries, hotels, hotel foyers and grounds, beaches, restaurants, private carparks, public toilets and general access areas.
Relative / Close Relative
a common definition includes any of the following who is under 85 years of age and who is a resident of Australia or New Zealand. It means your or your travelling companion's spouse, de facto partner, parent, parent-in-law, daughter, son, daughter-in-law, son-in-law, brother, sister, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, grandchild, grandparent, step-parent, step-son, step-daughter, fiancé or fiancée, or guardian.
Sick or Sickness
Is commonly defined as a medical condition, not being an injury, which first occurs during your period of cover.
Travelling Companion
is commonly defined as a person with whom you have made arrangements to travel with you for at least 75% of your journey before you entered into your policy.
Unsupervised
is commonly defined in the following ways:
- leaving your luggage and personal effects with a person you did not know prior to commencing your journey;
- leaving it in a position where it could reasonably be taken without your knowledge; or
- leaving it at such a distance from you that you are unable to prevent it from being taken.
'We', 'our' and 'us'
is commonly defined as the Insurer of your policy, or its agent.
'You' and 'your'
is commonly defined as the person whose name is set out on their certificate of insurance and everyone else who is covered under their policy.
