Long Term Travel Insurance: Cover, Cost & Options

Quick summary for busy readers:

• Most standard single-trip travel insurance policies in New Zealand cap out at 12 months. If your trip runs longer, you’ll need to specifically look for a long-term or extended-duration policy.
• A smaller group of insurers offer policies covering 18 months to two years, and some let you extend an existing policy for a second year before it expires.
• Always compare what’s covered and what’s not between different long-term travel insurance policies as it’ll vary between insurers.

 

Whether you’re heading off on a two-year working holiday, studying abroad for a year or just want to backpack for as long as you want, standard travel insurance often won’t cut it. Most single-trip policies in New Zealand are capped at the 12-month mark.

Never fear, if you’re looking for long-term travel insurance, below we’ve covered what to look for in a policy and which insurers will cover you for more than 12 months.

What is the longest you can get travel insurance for?

It depends on the insurer, but most standard single-trip policies max out at 12 months. If you’re planning a longer trip, you’ll need to look specifically for a long-term or extended-duration policy.

What does that mean? Well, by long-term travel insurance we mean the few insurers that do offer cover for 18 months to two years. And by extended-duration, we’re referring to insurers who won’t sell you a two-year policy outright but will let you extend an existing 12-month policy into a second year. Just be aware you’ll likely need to do this before the first policy expires.

What is the best long-term travel insurance?

Obviously, there’s no “best” policy, since it all depends on your trip, your budget and what you’re actually planning to do overseas. To find the best long-term travel insurance for you, you need to understand what long-term policies typically cover, and where the gaps usually sit, so you can compare options against your own situation rather than a generic recommendation.

What’s typically covered:

• Medical expenses. Cover for injury or illness while you’re away, including hospital stays, surgery, dental treatment, prescription medication and doctor visits. This matters more than people expect on a long trip, since everyday transport accidents cause more injuries than extreme sports do.
• Your belongings. Cover if your bag or its contents, like a phone or camera, are lost or stolen while you’re travelling.
• Trip cancellation. Cover for the cost of rearranging or cancelling your trip due to unforeseen circumstances such as illness, an accident, or severe weather.
• Delays. Cover for accommodation and other out-of-pocket costs if your transport is delayed for an extended period, commonly around six hours or more.
• Personal liability. Cover if you’re found legally liable for injuring someone else or damaging their property while you’re overseas.

What’s typically excluded:

• Unattended belongings. If something is lost or stolen while it wasn’t properly supervised, like a phone left in the back of a taxi or luggage left in a hotel storage room after checkout, it generally won’t be covered.
• Reckless behaviour. Deliberately putting yourself at risk, or an incident involving alcohol or drugs, can (and likely will) void a claim.
• High-risk activities. Sports like skydiving, boxing, competitive cycling and motorsports are commonly excluded unless you’ve specifically added cover for them.
• Some cancellations. Simply changing your mind about a trip isn’t covered, and neither are flight cancellations caused by mechanical faults, overbooking or an airline going under, since that responsibility sits with the airline.
• Pre-existing medical conditions. These are often excluded by default, though the rest of your policy will usually still apply, and any unrelated illness or injury is generally still covered.
• Unlicensed travel. Riding or driving something you’re not licensed for, like a scooter overseas, typically isn’t covered.

Given how much these inclusions and exclusions can vary between long-term policies specifically, it’s worth reading the Policy Wording closely rather than assuming a longer policy automatically covers everything a 12-month one does.

Is there international travel insurance available for 12 months?

Yes, in fact most New Zealand insurers will cover you for 12 months. So, if you’re going overseas for a year or less, you’ll have plenty of policies to choose from without needing to look for a specialist long-term provider.

But if your trip is set to go longer than 12 months, you will need either long-term travel insurance or a policy that comes with the option to extend beyond 12 months.

Currently the only travel insurer in New Zealand that we have found covers travel periods over 12 months is TINZ. TINZ offers cover for trips of up to 18 months for travellers aged 69 and under, while travellers aged 70 and over can be covered for trips of up to six months.