Crisaus

Greetings from an expat now living in Aus for 36 years!
My mum is 90, she used to come out for a year at a time, on a 6 month re entry visa, visit NZ before 6 months were up, return etc.My only child is getting married on Oct 2nd and she wants to come out, probably for her last visit. Medicare has a reciprical arrangement and she has a Medicare card. The problem is the cost of insurance for the flights to Aus and back to UK. She only needs cover for 3 or 4 days each way. The only insurance she seems able to get is for a max of 87 days at a cost of 1100 pounds! They say she has to return on the last day of insurance policy.
What I wonder is; can she get an open return and just have insurance for the duration of the flights and can she get a visa without definite travel dates?
Does anyone have any information or could help with how to find out please?
Thanks in anticipation
Crisaus

Bermudashorts

I don't understand how a one way ticket solves the insurance problem?

It isn't really a good idea to travel on a one way ticket on a tourist visa. I wouldn't say it is not allowed, but it is not a good idea and could cause issues.

Crisaus

Thankyou Bermudashorts,
Most insurances seem only to cover holidays, therefore there is a return date and so people need to be covered for the whole time away. Maybe she hasn't been asking the right questions, I have called her travel agent in UK and they are looking into visa requirements, ie is return flight booked necessary to get a visa?
Basically, all she needs is a few days cover for the Aus flight and a few days for the return. I enquired here about getting a few days insurance for the return and it is possible. I don't know why her travel agent can't just get her a few days to come here.

Pollyana

I'm interested in how she has a Medicare card?
Plus reciprocal Medicare is only supposed to be for emergencies, and would not cover (amongst other things) repatriation if it were needed (as far as I know). I guess its a risk you'd all have to weigh up - to travel with or without insurance.

Pollyana

You do not need to have a return flight in order to get a tourist visa, though it is a good idea and DIBP may ask about it when she enter the country.

Crisaus

Thanks Pollyanna,
She has been out here many times so has a medicare number, which she reactivates when she visits, although she hasn't been out since 2001.
The cost of repatriation would be less than the insurance for 87 days, she has been quoted 1100 pounds which is more than a return flight.
She wants insurance for the travel between UK and Australia, not whilst she is here.

Grayling

The cost of medical repatriation can cost many tens of thousands of pounds as can a mid air emergency requiring a plane to divert.

Your mother being taken ill in somewhere like Singapore etc. could be phenomenally expensive.

Be careful

mikelincs

Repatriation for medical reasons from Spain to the UK, £10,000, so from Aus, think £25,000 minimum, depending on what sort of care she might need on the flight. Repatriation isn't just the cost of the flight, think of someone needing nursing care during the flight, needing to be on a stretcher etc, many of the repatriation flights have only the single passenger, so the whole of the cost of the air trip is charged.

Suck it up and pay the money, or risk being bankrupted to get her back to the UK.

spouse of scouse

How lovely that your Mum is coming out for the wedding, I'm sure it will make a special day even more special

Travel insurance for a 90 year old is always going to be hellishly expensive, unfortunately. Has every avenue been followed to find a policy that will last for the entire time your mum is in Australia?

For 'difficult' insurance situations, I'd strongly recommend an insurance broker. Your mum won't pay any more than if she bought the policy direct from the insurer, and if anyone can find the policy she's looking for, it's a broker.

I agree with others that it's way too risky for your mum to just have insurance covering the period she's flying. To be honest, I haven't heard of a policy that will give full medical and other cover just for the flight period, but I could be wrong. Even if there is such cover available, if it's going to cover every possible medical/health scenario for a 90 year old, including extended care in a transit country and repatriation, it's going to be awfully expensive.

I don't know what sort of Medicare cover she has, but I'd be really surprised if it's 'full' cover. That might be worth investigating further? I'm an Aussie citizen who's only lived in the UK for 6 months, but I'm visiting Oz this month and still took out full travel insurance even though I still have full Medicare cover. I'm just not prepared to risk everything I own if something untoward happens.

My best suggestions are get an insurance broker to find the most comprehensive cover for your mum at the best price, and find out what she is and isn't covered for during her visit to Australia. Best of luck with the wedding!

Crisaus

Thankyou Grayling, mikelincs and spouse of scouse,
Great place Liverpool!! Almost where I'm from, Birkenhead... and thankyou for your kind words!
I've never had travel insurance, just been lucky so far I suppose...
That said, mum does need travel insurance.
I suggested an insurance broker too. The travel agent says a 6 month visa is OK, but can't talk to the person at the Aus High Commission(?) till Monday now.
spouse of scouse:- can you suggest an insurance broker by any chance?
I'm grateful for everyone's replies and suggestions, it does help to have support and more than just my fuddled brain (suffering a migraine) working on this!!
Many thanks again, I'll try to keep you updated.

spouse of scouse

I went through a broker for car insurance as I wanted our no claims bonus from Oz recognized, can't remember who they were but I'll have a look through my emails and post back, he was great.

We're in New Brighton, so not too far from Birkenhead. I like the markets there, they're great. We had intended on buying in Liverpool itself but couldn't find what we wanted, where we wanted, for the money so we're now officially wools I think we'll end up back in Liverpool though, scouse keeps looking longingly across the Mersey to 'home'.

No wonder you have a migraine, all this visa and insurance stuff is a right pain in the arse. I'll get back to you when I find the broker we used. Have a cup of tea now!

spouse of scouse

Well I just found out I'm a liar. An unintentional one though! We used the insurance broker for house insurance and they don't do travel insurance, sorry about that. I'm back in Oz to visit Mum, so I plead jet lag

If no one has a recommendation, it might have to be a case of looking a few up on the 'net, and checking out their reviews, length of time in business etc. Hope you get it sorted soon

Crisaus

Haha, thanks wool!!
Jet lag is acceptable for extra wooliness!
Migraine seems to be gone this morning, fingers crossed!
I found one broker online and have emailed, probably closed for the weekend though.
I'm off to do a market in sunny Kyogle this morning and will do more investigation later today.
Thanks all

quoll

Actually, for a 90 year old travelling to the other side of the world £1100 is actually quite a reasonable quote! My aged ones were going to be stung hugely when they planned a week in Jersey so that didn't seem out of the ball park to me. Good on her for contemplating the trip, I know it would be beyond my mum now, dad could possibly do it at 92 but he would be knackered by it.

spouse of scouse

The Medicare card thing was puzzling me so I looked it up - your mum probably has a yellow Medicare card, which is given to those from reciprocal health agreement countries. All the restrictions of the reciprocal health agreement apply.

As a UK citizen, your mum is entitled to medically essential treatment for injuries or ill-health that occur while she's in Oz, and which require treatment before she returns home. Anything that is deemed non-urgent/not essential won't be covered. Some additional services not covered under the reciprocal agreements are home and extended care nursing, ambulance, podiatry, hearing and eye services. Probably worth putting all that into the mix when making a decision on travel insurance