Our verdict: With comprehensive cover for COVID-19 and no age limit, COTA Travel Insurance is a good option all-round, but particularly so for older travellers.
COTA Travel Insurance has comprehensive COVID-19 benefits and may cover cancellation costs, quarantine costs, transport costs, medical fees, childcare costs, and pet boarding fees.
With no age limit and the option to take part in medical screening for some existing conditions, COTA Travel Insurance is a good option for older travellers.
Cons
Although COTA Travel Insurance covers cruises as standard, the PDS doesn't include information about cruise-specific risks so it's not clear exactly what's covered.
COTA Travel Insurance is not currently available via Finder. You can head to the COTA Travel Insurance website or compare alternative options available below.
COTA Travel Insurance offers strong COVID-19 protection. Travellers will be covered in a variety of situations including:
Overseas medical costs related to COVID-19
Cancellation or amendment costs if:
-you or a travelling partner is diagnosed with COVID-19
-a close relative or business partner is hospitalised or dies due to COVID-19
-you're permanently employed as a healthcare worker, residential care worker or law enforcement officer, and your pre-approved leave is cancelled due to COVID-19.
Travel and accommodation costs if a tour is cancelled due to your tour guide contracting COVID-19 or if your accommodation can't operate due to staff contracting COVID-19.
Travel, meals and accommodation if you're not permitted to board your scheduled public transport due to being suspected of having COVID-19.
Travel, meal and accommodation costs if you're required to enter compulsory quarantine due to COVID-19.
Childcare costs if COVID-19 renders you unable to care for your dependent children while on holiday.
Pet care costs if you can't travel back to Australia at your scheduled time due to COVID-19.
There are some scenarios that are not covered by COTA Travel Insurance including if you buy a policy knowing you already have COVID-19 or if you are not vaccinated against COVID-19.
What policies does COTA Travel Insurance offer?
COTA gives you the choice of four plans: Comprehensive, Essentials, Annual Multi-Trip, and Australian Travel.
Comprehensive
Essentials
Annual Multi-Trip
Domestic
The insurer of this product is Pacific International Insurance Pty Ltd. It comes with a cooling-off period of 21 days and choice of $250 standard excess for international plans.
Here's a breakdown of COTA Travel Insurance features
Self-inflicted injury or illness, suicide or attempted suicide
Make sure you review COTA's PDS for a detailed breakdown of what won't be covered, found under its list of general exclusions.
How to make a COTA Travel Insurance claim
You can download a claim form from COTA's website and follow the instructions.
If you need help, you can phone 1300 625 229 within Australia or +61 2 8263 0487 outside Australia. Alternatively you can email claims@nibtravel.com.
Here's the bottom line about COTA Travel Insurance
COTA offers strong travel insurance, particularly in relation to COVID-19 related expenses. It also extends cover for pregnancy up to 26 weeks, longer than some other providers, and will consider offering cover for existing medical conditions, if you complete an online health assessment.
With no age limit, it's a good option for a wide range of travellers. However, with limited information about how exactly cruising is covered, anyone setting sail might want to clarify the PDS with a CODA representative or consider a specific cruise travel insurance.
No. One of COTA's aims is to help older Australians but younger Australians are not excempt from its travel insurance policies.
If you cancel your policy within the first 21 days of buying it, you'll receive a full refund, as long as you haven't started your trip and you're not making any claims.
If you pay for your COTA travel insurance policy online or over the phone by credit card, you'll be covered as soon as you receive your certificate of insurance (which should be straight away).
Nicola Middlemiss is a contributing writer at Finder, with a special interest in personal finance and insurance. Formerly a business and finance journalist, Nicola has written thousands of articles helping Australians better understand insurance and grow their personal wealth. She has contributed to a wide range of publications, including Domain, the Educator, Financy, Fundraising and Philanthropy, Insurance Business, MoneyMag, Mortgage Professional, Yahoo Finance, Your Investment Property, and Wealth Professional. Nicola has a Tier 1 General Insurance (General Advice) certification and a Bachelor's degree from the University of Leeds. See full bio
Nicola's expertise
Nicola has written 239 Finder guides across topics including:
Personal finance
Personal insurance, including car, health, home, life, pet and travel insurance
If you are planning a getaway, ensure your financial safety with a comprehensive travel insurance policy. Comprehensive travel insurance protects both you and your travelling companion against an array of unforeseen events.
Review affordable backpacker insurance for your next overseas adventure and find the right insurance policy to cover commonplace backpacking travel risks.
Domestic travel insurance can provide cover for trip cancellation (domestic flights), loss or damage to luggage and expensive items, car rental excess charges and much more. Find out why domestic travel insurance is worth getting and compare policies from Australian insurers.
I am 67 and my husband is 76. Do you offer a multi trip 12 months travel insurance policy?
Finder
RichardAugust 25, 2014Finder
Hi Roz,
Thanks for your question. According to the COTA Annual Frequent Traveller Plan PDS its “… plan is for frequent domestic and/or international travellers. It
covers multiple trips of up to 50 days each during a 12-month period.”
If you are interested in getting in contact with COTA about taking out a plan, COTA’s number is 1300 1300 50.
I hope this was helpful,
Richard
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I am 67 and my husband is 76. Do you offer a multi trip 12 months travel insurance policy?
Hi Roz,
Thanks for your question. According to the COTA Annual Frequent Traveller Plan PDS its “… plan is for frequent domestic and/or international travellers. It
covers multiple trips of up to 50 days each during a 12-month period.”
If you are interested in getting in contact with COTA about taking out a plan, COTA’s number is 1300 1300 50.
I hope this was helpful,
Richard