She's On The Money - Talking Travel Insurance

Episode Date: July 11, 2022

With travel finally back on the cards, today we unpack travel insurance! Why do you need it, what level of cover should you consider, and what are some important things to remember when driving a car overseas or trying to safeguard yourself against Covid catastrophes? Dive into today's episode to find out.Acknowledgement of Country By Natarsha Bamblett aka Queen Acknowledgements.The advice shared on She’s on The Money is general in nature and does not consider your individual circumstances. She’s on The Money exists purely for educational purposes and should not be relied upon to make an investment or financial decision. Victoria Devine and She's On The Money are Authorised Representatives of Infocus Securities Australia Proprietary Limited ABN 47 097 797 049 AFSL - AFSL 236523.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hello, my name is Natasha Nabanunga-Bamblett. I'm a proud Yorta Yorta, Kernai, Wolperi and Awadjeri woman. And before we get started on She's on the Money podcast, I would like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land of which this podcast is recorded on Awadjeri country, acknowledging the elders, the ancestors and the next generation coming through. As this podcast is about connecting, empowering, knowledge sharing and the storytelling of you to make a difference for today and lasting impact for tomorrow. Let's get into it. She's on the money. She's on the money.

Hello and welcome to She's On The Money, the podcast for millennials who want financial freedom. My name is Georgia King and joining me as always is the lovely Victoria Devine. V, how are we? I'm well. I'm always still jarred when you say, oh, the lovely Victoria Devine. I'm like, well, that's showbiz because before you were like, oh, get better, V. And I was like, oh, I'm not sick. And you were like, no, you just need to get better. Like, I feel like there's this offline bullying versus online. Like, oh, Victoria Devine's so lovely. Like, don't lie, George, don't lie. Yeah, it's all lies. Guys, let's get into it. With travel back on the cards,

we want to unpack something today that, in your opinion, V, is even more important than remembering to pack your toothbrush or your undies. Because you can buy those things when you get there. Well, that's exactly right. Yeah, exactly. We are talking, of course, about travel insurance. It might sound a little dry, we'll admit it, but we were amazed by how many people messaged us through with questions after we spoke about insurance over on the SOTM Instagram page when you were preparing for your trip. So many personal DMs from people being like, oh, what one did you go with?

How did it work? What does this mean? And girl, I didn't just do my research. I saved all the PDSs and then control F'd and like looked through all of them to make sure that every single one had a policy. And I made a spreadsheet because that's the best way to track anything.

And that's how I picked my policy. And the She's On The Money team are already reaping the benefits. Yes. And hopefully today you will too, sweet listener. So today we will be answering a number of the questions that popped up from you guys, including how you can access what you actually need when you're heading away, what's just a waste of money, a bit of a rip off, and what is just downright unhelpful. There's a lot of things in insurance that you think would be important that actually aren't. Georgia King, what do you think the most important thing is when it comes to

travel insurance? Oh, top of my head, I would say, you know, things that you can break or easily lose. I'm thinking your bag, your phone, your laptop. We've all dropped phones when abroad and then they haven't worked. Oh, Alex Devine, my sister, your friend, we were standing in an airport in Nice and she dropped her Apple Watch. Oh no, she lost that thing. Yeah, she's obsessed with it. Like, she cannot take one step without that Apple Watch being on because you've got to track it, right? The entire face of the Apple Watch shattered. And I think I saw her soul leave her body. and then she was in a really bad mood for the rest of the day so I just avoided her

as a good sister I was just like subtly bullying her about it but yeah she had no watch for the rest of the trip how did she know what the time was how did she know how many steps she'd taken how did she know her rings had been closed but that's actually not the most important thing when it comes to travel insurance I feel like we all get super caught up on the extras especially because they're the shiny things that get put on the marketing material on the websites right they're like oh my god up to ten thousand dollars worth of luggage cover and you're like oh that's great no problems but at the end of the day if you lose your laptop real unfortunate money loss but you can replace that what if you broke your leg in the middle of thailand and you literally

needed surgery what you're gonna do george oh god i'd trade my laptop for the flight that you need to take back to australia to get that done because you can't just jump on a plane and come home There's so many different levels of thought that need to go into this when it comes to insurance. And we've had money diarists before, like remember the money diarist where her husband was in Bali and had a scooter accident and had to be medivaced back to Australia for surgery. And it's now put them in a position where they're in more than $100,000 worth of debt

because of this. That, my friend, is why we have travel insurance. It's not because we are like, oh my God, we might lose our laptop while we're away. like yes those things are important to insurer if you absolutely cannot afford to lose them and I'd argue if there's something you can't afford to lose please don't take it but the only insurance we should ever get and this is probably financial advice but I think I'll get away with it is comprehensive like please don't just get third party you need to protect yourself as much as everybody else if you're getting anything less than that I do genuinely think it's a bit of a

waste of money. Like I don't care if you damage someone's property. I get it. Like there's obviously going to be a financial implication, but it blows my mind that people don't protect themselves. Like you're so willing, G, to put yourself in a position where you're like, oh, my $3,000 laptop need to insure it. And I go, yeah, great. Good idea. Georgia, what if you come home and you can't work ever again? Dear God. But like, why aren't we insuring our own person, our own ability to generate income, our own ability to be self-sufficient? Like if something really bad happens, I know this is really dramatic and this is why I'm so passionate about insurance. Like you're done. Like we need so many things in place to make sure that you're

okay. And travel insurance is one of those things that I do think you should be spending the money on. And I've had a conversation with a few people in my DMs recently where like, oh my God, yeah, I'm going away. I looked at travel insurance and it's too expensive. I'm like, well, I feel like this is such an entitled position to be in. But like, if you can't afford insurance, probably don't go. Like if you can't afford, and don't get me wrong, insurance is now a little bit more expensive than it used to be because of COVID and because of everything else going on in the world. I get it. But that's an investment. It's not just about the cheap flights. It's like, all right, well, what is this actually going to cost me to go on my trip to Bali, right?

Okay. So super interesting there, because I feel like for me, I definitely, as I said, I'll just be like my lappies. That'll probably get smashed, probably get that covered. But I would never be like, well, I could die. And it's not because travel is so much more risky, right? It's because you don't have the private health or even the health system that we have in Australia covering you. Yeah. So with this V, just before we get into the thick of things, would you say travel insurance is necessary for like an eight hour trip to Mildura? No, mate. As compared to going to Europe or something like that? Like how do you know what's necessary? No, no, no. So I would be considering travel insurance if you're planning on leaving the country, which means

you're leaving our medical system. I wouldn't be considering it if you're going to Mildura for the weekend or you're off to Chukar for a girl's weekend. It's just not what it is for. Travel insurance is to cover you while you are out of our country and don't have access to Medicare or the health insurance that you actually have on your person at the moment, right? So it's all about making sure that you're okay while you're out of Australia's hands. Perfect. Yeah, that makes sense. Okay. Just before V, you said that the only insurance we should get is comprehensive insurance. Entitled opinion. I totally understand that, but we are putting you in the best possible position when I say that, right? Like my job is to make sure you are okay. Cause I'd love to think

I'm like your finance mom. Yeah. Big sister. Big sister. Yeah. Big sister. That makes me feel younger. But like I'm your finance big sister. I want the best for you. So that's the advice I have, right? So what actually is comprehensive? But why? Yeah. So tell me what it is. Yeah. Okay. So comprehensive travel insurance is the highest level of cover you can get. Obviously there's a lot of, when you go to like a travel insurance website and you start doing your comparisons, they'll be like, here's the entry level, here's this, this, this, and this. You don't need like the creme de la creme, like covers $50 million worth of X, Y, Z. What you need is to make sure that you and your third party is covered. And it means that it's not just covering you having an

accident and the costs that are incurred by the other person. So each company has lots of different nuances. So what you are looking for is 24-7 medical cover. So injury or illness, including hospital stays, surgery, dental is a really important one to make sure it's there. Because what if you come headfirst off a scooter, G? Your teeth are going to need that service. Prescription drugs, which can be incredibly expensive overseas, and doctor's visits. The other thing that I think is really important is medical evacuation and repatriation. So you might go, what the hell, Victoria? Like, what are you talking about? That is not what I was thinking when I thought travel insurance, but that is to get you home. So if something really bad happens,

Jean, like we all knock on wood, we don't want that to ever happen. But if something happens, I can get you home. And that to me is the most important thing because I have heard, and I guess this is the beauty of being in She's On The Money and, you know, running a community of financial advisors where, you know, if people are in a pickle, they do tend to come to me and go, V, what would you do? How would you do this? I've seen it so many times. They're like, my brother, my cousin, my sister, my aunt is stuck overseas because they had this thing happen to them and now they can't fly home or they have to stay overseas for eight weeks because they can't get on an actual commercial flight. They would need a medical evac to get

them home and that can't happen because it's $100,000. So I think that if something happens to you, getting home from my perspective is one of the biggest priorities and that's really expensive. The next is personal liability. So if something happens, you're insured for that. Cancellation cover is really important, but maybe not the most important thing for me when I was looking at travel insurance recently, because as you know, G, Jess and I just got back from Europe. Cancellation cover for me was important because we had so many connecting flights and if a middle flight got cancelled like what are we going to do just miss the next one I wanted cover for that but I also wanted to make sure we had COVID cover yeah which most travel insurance

policies are absolutely excluding at the moment because it's too hard I found one so we've got that but we can then be covered for family emergencies so something happens and you absolutely need to go home great covered for that but then it's also about things like the bells and source, which I would say are the things that are not necessary, but really nice to have, like lost or damaged luggage cover. Great. Really important to be covered for that. But my priority is making sure your body is okay, Georgia. And then alternative transport costs, which I think is kind of important as well, because we just want to make sure that we're not stung with thousands of dollars of costs while we're overseas. Brilliant. You mentioned there, V, I feel

like your main point was that medical evacuation and repatriation is the most important thing. So let's get into the nitty gritty now, because there are so many things when you're fit and healthy that you just don't think about. We really do take our health for granted. And I feel like as an Australian, we really take our health for granted even further. Did you know we are the most underinsured country in the world? Because we're just Aussies, we just trust it. We'll be right. Should be right, mate. We literally have the lowest level of insurance across the entire world because of our trusting nature and our medical system is so good that we are like, oh, she'll be right. It doesn't matter. Like, yeah, you're right. Don't

have private health insurance, but like, I'll just go to the hospital. Like it's one of those things that it blows my mind as a financial advisor that we are so underprepared, but it's a really nice reflection at the same time of how trusting we are. Yeah. Crazy. For sure. So on that note, what would you say are some of the most difficult and expensive things that we might come up against when we're overseas that we would want insurance to cover us for? So as I said before, emergency medical evacuation to make sure you can either get from your current location to a suitable hospital or to get from your current location back home.

Ambulance and emergency hospital stuff, so medical, surgical, hospital costs need to all be included. Overseas, it's really expensive. I mean, it's different in every state and territory here in Australia, but ambulance cover in Australia is also really expensive if you don't have AMBO cover. so definitely look into that the next is the cost of your return to Australia if it's earlier than planned and if this is medically necessary so we say stuff like this and you go yeah but I could

just pay for a flight it's fine I had a client who did their back like broke their back had gone to surgery it was in the UK the doctor said no problems like all done dusted thankfully they had travel insurance so all their surgery was covered they got it fused we're good to go but the doctor then said, you cannot travel for six months. And if you do, and when you do, you need to travel in business class because you need a lay flat bed. You cannot sit up in a chair for the entire duration of a flight. Have you seen how expensive business class flights are at the moment? $17,000 to get her home. And that's just out of pocket. That's not covered. That's not anything. So this is why we care. It's not because, oh my gosh, V, that'll never happen.

yeah I hope it never happens but for those of you who it does happen to this is so important like I can't stress enough I feel like it's the one thing that people like oh did you sort out travel insurance you go oh forgot don't worry about it next trip haha like it's not a haha situation the next thing as well G is to allow you to return to Australia and for someone to stay with you and travel home with you if you're not from Australia and you need help and then emergency assistance so for example keeping your friends and family back home updated obviously with your permission telephone interpreting and document translation and if you're in hospital in a non-english speaking country this is way more important than you think it is and then

gee what happens if you have kids like we need to return those kids back to australia to be looked after if something really serious has happened to you and then also sourcing emergency prescription drugs like sometimes that is far harder than you think it is and i know that i'm being really dramatic, but it happens. And it happens more often than we would like to think it does. Keeping on with the dramatic theme, Bea, what happens if I'm overseas and I pass away? This happens. This happens and you will get home. That's okay. But it does happen and it's really upsetting. But I guess such is life in a way. And that's why we have travel insurance to make sure we're okay. But if you do pass away while you are traveling overseas, travel insurance is going to

make sure that you can either have your body or your ashes returned to Australia. That could cost up to $20,000 for your family if you don't have that. Or if your family decides to have a funeral or a burial in the country which you passed away, that will be covered as well. So I think it's interesting to think about, a bit morbid, but it's a big part of travel insurance. It really is because that could cost your family thousands. Yeah, and you don't want to lump that on them when they're already grieving your loss. All right, on that morbid note, VD, let's take a little break morbid morbid the best podcast that's not she's on the money oh yeah you love this i'm obsessed morbid true crime or something haven't checked that out do that in your break also come

back to us because after this we're going to talk more about travel insurance covid and all of those spicy things what more could you want maybe their podcast better this time all right straight back into it we had a number of questions about covid which makes a lot of sense. And you said before that not a lot of insurers do cover it. What's the go there? Yeah, because it's so prevalent, right? And it kind of makes sense for them to go, all right, well, if you're going to travel, you know COVID exists. You know it's been around for a while. That's a risk that you have to wear. So it pays if you're planning on getting travel insurance and want to be covered for that to take that into consideration. Several insurers have

literally now been like either we're not doing travel insurance for the meantime because it's too much risk on them, we are going to limit cover. So we're going to exclude anything related to COVID. Or if they do have COVID included in their policy, there's a really strict guideline as how that can be used or abused essentially. So some policies only cover medical and repatriation costs if you get COVID overseas, while other policies actually provide limited cover for cancellation costs and medical costs and repatriation costs and stuff like that. So I think it's important to take this into consideration as to how important this is for you, because having this conversation with Jess and, you know, the girls before we went on our holiday, I was like, well, what happens if one of us get COVID? Obviously, we have to isolate and do what that country needs us to do. How would that work? So we'd thought about it a lot, but it was really important for me on a expensive, let's

be honest, Europe trip with a group of girls to be covered so that we weren't completely out if one of us did. I mean, we're crazy. So we traveled with like a box of 50 rapid tests because we were like, we aren't going to take any risks. Jess coughed one day and I was like, rapid, get it, go. And like, we were all just testing to make sure that we were okay. I think we're also really over the top with it because we're traveling with someone who was

pregnant. So I was like, there is no chance I'm going to even be party to giving a baby COVID, like not a chance. But it's really important to understand that there will be costs if you get COVID overseas and they could be big, they could be small. It could be, you know, having to extend your accommodation so that you can stay in the one place and isolate. Could be Uber Eats deliveries because you can't just like cook in a hotel room, right? Like where are you going to get food? Are You're going to get Uber Eats or you're going to get room service or how is this going to work? It could be cancellation. So like loss of, you know, that boat tour you were going to go on that you now can't go on. So there's a lot to it, but it's worth considering if it's important to

you or not. Are there cooling off periods for COVID cancellation cover? Yes. And it is best to buy your travel insurance at the same time as you book your trip. So some insurers only cover cancellation if you test positive to COVID and their policy was purchased 21 days before your scheduled departure date, which you go, oh my gosh, wouldn't everyone do that? No Georgia King, because Jess and I and the girls, we decided to go on our holiday with less than 21 days to book. So like we were covered by that. Thankfully, we didn't get COVID. Money win. Thank goodness. Do cancellation policies usually cover extra expenses for like quarantine costs? Yes, they do.

But there are a fair few exclusions and limits to look out for in your policy and not all policies are created equally. So you do need to have a look, especially when it comes to COVID cover. Not all cancellation policies cover cancellation or extra expenses for quarantine if you're deemed a close contact overseas, which I thought was really important. I was like, well, what if one of the girls get COVID? That's going to impact the rest of the trip. Like, how does this work? And many policies cover the cancellation and extra expenses to as little as $2,500 combined. So in my situation, combined was the active word there. That wouldn't have worked for us. because we were like, well, $2,500 across five girls for needing to be in quarantine for a week,

that's going to do basically nothing. And then travel insurance policies are very unlikely to cover cancellation if you're unable to travel due to general travel restrictions. So stuff like lockdown at home or at your planned destination. So it's literally only if you have it, if that makes sense, because you shouldn't be booking a holiday if you're in lockdown. Yeah, yeah, for sure. I feel like that's a sad holiday. Just a little PSA from me as well. It's really important to remember that even though the ban on international travel for vaxxed Australians has been lifted, transit and destination countries still may apply restrictions on your entry, such as quarantine on entry. Yeah, it was really interesting. Obviously,

we will make sure that those are linked in our show notes, but your vaccination status does impact or can impact your travel insurance cover, which is important to note because, you know, if you've chosen not to be vaccinated, that's, you know, something you would need to take into consideration. But also traveling around the different countries was really interesting as well because you need to get your international COVID certificate. So we had to download that and I had that on my phone and I had a PDF version of that. People did check it, but there were also different rules and regulations. So for example, George, we went from London to France and we had to have had a second booster within three months. And if it

was more than three months we had to have a full PCR test beforehand so there was actually a lot of logistics that went into changing country and traveling because some of us had had our booster and one of us was triple vax but it had happened like four months ago so therefore we needed to organize a PCR and that's actually quite an expensive process when you're in the middle of London and you need it in four hours so it's worth considering and making sure you're there but then also the plane. I can't remember if they checked. I don't think they checked, but they definitely made sure that everybody on the plane was, you know, hand sanitizing and wearing their masks for the entire time. But once you were there, you definitely didn't feel it. So it sounds very

dramatic. And I know that, you know, it's actually really important. I know the entire She's on the Money team is vaxxed and very pro-vax, so we're not having this conversation. But I think it's important to understand what those hurdles were, even for us as fully triple vaxxed people trying to get into another country, it was, you know, a fair few hurdles to get over and prove. And they were scanning our VAC certificates and checking them and doing temperatures at the airport. So I think it's, to be honest, I'm really glad they're taking it seriously because it's for our safety. Yeah, 100%. It can be quite overwhelming as well. So we're going to link Smart Traveller into our show notes, which kind of, it tells you where, I think 177 countries, it tells you what

you need to do to get into them. So that makes it much easier. And travel tip, right? Check Smart Traveller before you literally book anything anywhere. Like it is the go-to website. Like this is not sponsored. It's just good practice. Like check that before you even check flight prices because they'll tell you whether you can or can't travel or if there's any safety warnings or there's a tsunami that's happened that you haven't been privy to. Like it's so important. So COVID has definitely thrown spanner a spanner, a couple of spanners, big spanners into the works me, what are your top tips for figuring out what we need? When it comes to travel insurance or like when it comes to looking after yourself for COVID, because I've had COVID, can I give you some hot

tips? Green Cottie's Cordial. Green Cottie's Cordial, 10 out of 10, if you know, you know. The sparkling version? Chef's Kiss. Chef's Kiss. But the one thing I would do is do your research. So the first thing I would do is, again, head to Smart Traveller, have a look. What is the Smart Traveller advice level for the countries that you are travelling to? And can we make sure that your travel insurance policy covers you for those things. If not, you're going to have a very clear gap, right? So I remember traveling way back when to Bali, like it was around the time that there was a tsunami had happened a couple of years ago. And they said in my travel insurance policy, we won't cover you if this happens, because it's essentially a global event. And it was way too

big for the travel insurance company to cover. And I was like, oh, interesting. But that will really quickly show you the gaps of whether it's worth the risk or not worth the risk. And it will let you know whether it's a good idea to travel there or not. So G, on Smart Traveller, if your destination that you're going to is an advice level three, it will mean that you need to reconsider travel and not all travel insurers are going to cover that because they're like, don't be dumb and go to a travel destination that's going to put you at significant risk. I can get behind that policy. Kind of makes sense. Absolutely. But then also does your destination require proof that you're insured for COVID-19 medical related expenses? So interestingly, if you wanted to

go to Singapore, you actually have to make sure that you have COVID-19 travel insurance and a minimum coverage amount of 30,000 Singapore dollars. Like, would you have known that if you hadn't gone to Smart Traveler? Absolutely not. No. But then also you might have just gone, all right, I'm just going to get some cheap travel insurance. You would have got to their border and they would have been like yeet home my friend because you weren't covered the next is are you covered for the full duration of your trip and can you extend your cover if you're overseas for longer than planned due to a cancelled flight so I don't know if this is travel hack or just me being anxious but I always book my travel insurance to start the night before and end the

night after I get back because I just don't like the idea that you know if my flight was delayed and something happened and I was in an airport like this is Victoria Devine's thought pattern like she's an anxious girl but that helps you right yeah so like my anxiety is channeled into bettering the community yeah so if I got back at like for example I can tell you exactly I was meant to get back on Saturday morning at like 6am or something so I actually made sure that 6am on Sunday my cover finished because I was like I just don't want there to be any wiggle room of me being in the wrong here if something did happen so yeah that's anxiety gal love it trying to help you out and then also are any stopovers on the way to your destination covered like if there's a restriction

on the amount of time that you can be in a stopover location that needs to be taken into consideration and what happens if you remain stuck in that location for an extended period of time speaking of stopover destinations and being triggered georgia king what let's play a quick little guessing game of how much money did stopping over in Dubai cost Victoria Devine in international roaming fees? Oh, I'm nervous. So I did my research. My phone network allows $5 roaming overseas. I'm like, money win. You've nailed it. Five bucks. I have nailed this. Get to use my existing data for only five bucks a day. I'm not even going to think about it. Get to Dubai, turn on my phone to tell my mom, hey, mom, this is sick. I'm in Dubai. And my phone starts racking

up $700. $700 international roaming fees, two hours in Dubai, $700 because this very charitable individual was like, don't worry, Alex. Don't worry, Steph. Don't worry, Rose. I've got $5 roaming tethered to my phone. So they all used my internet. I used my internet. And now I have a $700 phone bill, which is a money loss. And I'm currently talking to them about trying to get out of that because that was not communicated to me. But maybe that's my stupidity. I should have known. You can't be perfect in every way, Adele. Well, I looked it up and then to be honest, I think I've got this loophole, right? So sorry if you're my phone provider and you're listening to this. Halfway through, they send you a text message and they say you're $100 over. And I was

like, no, I've got $5 roaming. Like that makes no sense. And my phone provider has a app. So I like logged onto the app and sent them a message and said hey like I just got this text message saying that I'm a hundred dollars over like I'm on five dollar roaming can you please confirm and they replied and said yeah just confirming you are on five dollar roaming so I thought that was an error not that I had a hundred dollar bill so I think that that loophole of them confirming that I wasn't five dollar roaming because I kept using it just assuming then maybe that's how they measure it I don't know what this is. Turns out I'm just really silly. Oh, girl. Girl, girl, girl. One out of 10. That was not covered on my travel insurance, Georgia King. Yeah. So you were

learning from your mistakes. Was there anything else you wanted to cover off here? There's obviously a lot of different tips and tricks and I might actually whack together a little blog post so that they're all there because I feel like I've done the research and you guys should benefit from that. But the other thing I want to point out is if you're a cruise gal and you're going to go on a cruise, you need to be extra careful because a lot of travel insurers might not offer COVID-19 for multi-night cruises, which I thought was a bit wild, but something worthy of consideration because I think at this point in time, a lot of people are going, oh, a cruise seems really easy, but also like a beacon for cultivating COVID. Yeah. Well, remember at the

start of the pandemic, what was it called? The Princess Swan or something. Oh, I don't know. The Ruby Princess. They have such interesting cruise ship names. Absolutely. They're very sexy. When we were in Monaco, when we were in Monaco, there was this like woman walking around with a flag and a plethora of Americans behind her and her flag said celebrity cruisers. And I was like, oh, those people don't look like celebrities. But they named cruisers real weird names. Absolutely. I love a good cruise.

Happy to have the boats back in. Have you been on a cruise? Yeah, with mum and dad when I was like 18. I was like, mango daiquiri, please. I felt like such a spoiled little bitch. That was the best. It was so good. Was it included?

Yeah. It was like all you can eat all week. It was the best. I would go on a cruise looking at our producer. She says no. She says no. But it is. It's very much an older demographic.

So we can make it fun. Back to travel insurance. Back to travel insurance. What's your next question, J King on tour? Lots of people on the IG wanted to know if their credit card company offers them default insurance when they travel. Is that a thing? It is a thing.

And it's a really nice perk. And it can, from my perspective, be a really nice perk for the cost of your travel. so say you booked your flights on your credit card usually then your credit card's like wow that entitles you to get free travel insurance from us but the thing I would be really wary of is what's included and what's not included because it's usually a very low cost group insurance policy that is probably not covering the things you need and too many times people just go oh my god but I booked on my credit card it's fine I have automatic insurance I'm like did you even look at the policy? Do you even know what's included? I'm sure there are some

credit card companies that have great travel insurance policies, but from my perspective, they're just not enough. They just don't cover enough of the stuff that I would want you personally covered for. And a lot of their priority is on, you know, making you feel good about booking your flights through your credit card. So it would cover loss of income if you missed your flights, or it might cover like loss of luggage or something, but they're not talking about expatriation, right? And that, to me, is the important part. Like, I just want to make sure that your body is safe and you get home in full, regardless of whether your laptop comes home with you or not. Sure. Speaking of danger. Danger, danger. Driving cars overseas. Often, you're on

the other side of the road. It's not that easy. Should we, is there insurance to cover us for that? Yes, there is. But did you know you also needed an international driver's permit? What? So, in addition to having your driver's license, you need an international driver's permit. And I promise they're really easy to get if you aren't on your P plates. If you actually have a full license, you just go through RACV or RACQ or whatever it is in your state. Just literally Google IDP or international driver's permit, but you actually need to have your Australian license and a complimentary international driver's permit to make sure that you are safe. And I say this not because you can't just go to France and hire a car. You can, but will your travel insurance

cover you if you don't have your permit? Probably not. So it's important to understand that the same thing happens. Like, you know how many Australians go to Bali? And they're like, I just got a scooter. Like, of course they're going to lease a scooter to you. Are you actually covered on your travel insurance? No. And that's what we saw in that money diary ages ago, where her husband had a scooter accident, wasn't covered because he didn't have a driver's license to drive that. So that is heartbreaking to think that you're like, oh, I'm just on holiday. It'll be fine. but if you apply for your international driving permit it's actually really easy you can do it all online I say that because I did it before I left we didn't end up hiring a car but I didn't

want to be stuck for choice because like the idea George of hiring a vintage French car to drive down the vintage French Riviera was very appealing but when we got there and realized how expensive it was I was like I will catch that train that is not an option but in my head it was good and I think it only cost me about $45. So that's a bit of a money win. I think it lasts for a fair while as well. So it's not like you need to get one every time. Yeah. So that's pretty good. And technically it's also a requirement for renting cars in lots of other countries. But I know, and this is why I've like disclaimed it, I know people are probably going to rent you the car anyway because they want the sale. So it's about actually protecting you, not necessarily looking

at what that car rental company will accept or not. It's actually about are you safe? That's the actual answer for me. There's also something about age in that. I remember when I was in Italy with my mates and I was 24, but my mate was 25. It was much more affordable insurance wise for her to be driving the car. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think it's because you were really young and irresponsible and actually just saw your name come up and you're like, not her. We've heard about her. No, sir. No, sir. But yeah, over 25, I think it's over 25 or over 26, because the same thing happens in australia like once you're off your p plates and you have a full driver's license and you're over the age of 25 you're much better when it comes to like driving apparently you're safer it's the

reason why i could tell my sister she couldn't drive my car until she was over the age of 25 now she is i'm a bit disappointed because i've got no excuse i can't use that anymore i can't use that anymore brilliant before we wrap for the day vd do you have any last tips you want to lay on the ladies? Oh, so the one thing that I think people are going to think I'm a loser for, but you know what you want to do? You want to travel with your loser friend because they're the one keeping you in track. They're the one with the spreadsheet that I will share on my website at some point soon so you can download and use it. But create a little Dropbox and put a copy of your driver's license, your passport, your driver's permit, all your credit cards, all your travel

docs, pop it in there. I know it doesn't sound the safest, so probably spread them out so that they're not just in one location for a robber. I often email myself those documents so that I know they're sitting in my emails. But that means if anything goes missing, you actually have a copy of it on hand. And too many times with pickpockets and stuff like that overseas, like it's not just going to be you forgetting it. It might literally just get stolen from you while you're on the metro. So I think having a copy of that is going to mean everything's so much easier. Like if you need to cancel a credit card, you can just call up and cancel it. If you need to get a new passport, you can just go to the embassy and be like, this is a copy of my passport. Can you please help me

organize this? It makes their job easier, your job easier. And also, George, when I am traveling, I actually put my passport in the safe and I made some nice purchases. And they were like, do you want the tax back on that? And I was like, yes. And they were like, we need your passport. And I was like, oh, it's in the safe. And I was like, wait, I've got it on Dropbox. What? So that was really helpful. I didn't actually have to carry my passport around to go shopping that day, which makes me feel a little bit safer. Brilliant.

Those are my hot tips. That's all I've got. If you think that's all our travel content done forever, you're wrong because I'm going to stretch this Europe trip out as much as possible. Brilliant. Thanks, Faye. I feel like moral of the story is we need to make sure we have comprehensive insurance and that we're covered for repatriation and medical evacuation. Yes, absolutely. It sounds like I'm being a really dramatic nana, but I promise you those are the things that your friends and family are going to thank you for if something does happen. Yeah, for sure. All right, let's leave it there. Boring but important stuff. Let's get into it. The advice shared on She's On The Money is general in nature and does not consider your

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It would be so nice. All right, see you Friday, guys. Bye, guys. See you then.