Fears for New Zealanders travelling without insurance

A report shows a worrying number of Kiwi travellers lack cover.

Travel Insurance News - 04/10/2010

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A news report shows an alarming percentage of New Zealanders are venturing abroad without travel insurance. According to the report, as many as 500,000 trips abroad are undertaken by Kiwis without insurance. The dangers have resulted in the New Zealand government issuing warning about the risks of the practice.

The report by 3news in New Zealand includes details of one example of how failure to carry sufficient travel cover can go badly wrong. One man, eager to get to Fiji for the funeral of his recently-deceased brother, forgot to even consider the need for travel insurance.

Suresh Narayan took his family to Fiji after his brother died of a heart attack there. Within days, his four year-old son had developed a mysterious illness that left him in a coma. The cost of emergency transport back to New Zealand reached $50,000.

Mr Narayan’s son died little more than a week later. Despite the help of fundraising, it has taken Mr Narayan 18 months to pay back the transport bill. He is hoping that sharing his story will help people to see the need for travel insurance and avoid the potentially-crippling cost of an emergency abroad.

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