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Insurance - Australia

I am going to Australia on a working holiday next week, for about 9 months. I was wondering if anyone on here had experience of getting insurance for this type of trip. It seems that most work places have to provide you with insurance, however i imagine all of my work will be un-contracted, just expenses paid, so insurance is unlikely to be provided. Any advice would be most appreciated. Thanks

Comments

  • I assume youre on a working holiday visa.....what do you mean by insurance? Medical? then the answer is no.

    Basically $50 will be payable for you to see a Doctor if youre ill. I dont think Australia has a reciprocal agreement regarding hospitalisation, although I may be wrong.....give Australia house a quick call or email to clarify.

    As part of your salary you will be entitled to workers comp...the company pays this into a fund as part of your salary. its 9.5% of your earnings. Any tax paid you can reclaim when you leave the country. However, youre more likely to get cash in hand jobs whereby you wont get any of the above. The working holiday visa is usually limited to working for any one firm for 3 months...if youre on cash then this wont apply of course. If you do 3 months rural work, you will be entitled to a second years stay if you like it here. My advice is if your seriously sick then fly home...if you take out holiday insurance this is normally covered. PM me if you need any other advice.
  • TEL said:

    I assume youre on a working holiday visa.....what do you mean by insurance? Medical? then the answer is no.

    Basically $50 will be payable for you to see a Doctor if youre ill. I dont think Australia has a reciprocal agreement regarding hospitalisation, although I may be wrong.....give Australia house a quick call or email to clarify.

    As part of your salary you will be entitled to workers comp...the company pays this into a fund as part of your salary. its 9.5% of your earnings. Any tax paid you can reclaim when you leave the country. However, youre more likely to get cash in hand jobs whereby you wont get any of the above. The working holiday visa is usually limited to working for any one firm for 3 months...if youre on cash then this wont apply of course. If you do 3 months rural work, you will be entitled to a second years stay if you like it here. My advice is if your seriously sick then fly home...if you take out holiday insurance this is normally covered. PM me if you need any other advice.

    We do have reciprocal medical benefits, UK citizens ARE covered here and vice-versa, although Australian health-care can be very patchy in quality.

    As for the working holiday Visa, I did this and a few employers enforce the three month rule but most don't know it and could not care less anyway so you can do what you like.

    However, you probably won't want to stick around for more than three months in one place anyway.

    You could get Travel Insurance to be on the safe side (most don't bother) depends on how much you are willing to spend on it.
  • I have no idea whether it's good value or not but the AA do something they call "backpackers' insurance" for these precise circumstances.
    The thing about holiday insurance is that it is not just medical costs that are covered. They also give you cover for stuff like possessions being stolen/going missing, cash being lost, legal fees, personal liability, etc, etc. All these things you should have cover for- Sod's law - and all that.
    And before buying you should check policy terms carefully to make sure any insurance actually provides you with the cover that's appropriate for you. Cheap insurance is cheap for a reason!
    The worst case scenario is probably having a bad accident that requires you to be flown home in a specialist aircraft with medical staff in attendance. In my opinion, you would be silly not to have cover for that as the costs can be enormous. One thing's for sure the insurance will actually only be a small part of your total costs and probably less than your lager bill.
  • This twat didn't have insurance and is costing his parents £120,000 and their house.
    bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-14188564
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