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If you and your team are on the road or in the air a lot, you need a corporate travel insurance policy to protect against any number of potential incidents.

This applies equally to trips interstate and abroad for business, where disruptions to travel, lost baggage and unexpected medical expenses are an all-too-familiar occurrence.

This is where buying an annual corporate or business travel policy, in your company’s name, makes sense. The policy will cover all your work trips, as well as any leisure travel you happen to do with your family. And because it’s an annual policy it’s ‘set-and-forget’, which provides peace of mind that everyone is covered for the year.

 

What are the most common incidents on business trips?

Hopefully you will never need to claim on your travel insurance, but life is unpredictable and having your flight cancelled or delayed for more than 12 hours is not uncommon. Missing a connecting flight or having your luggage lost, damaged or stolen are also incidents that are part of modern travel, as are theft and falling ill while you are away.

 

Understanding corporate travel insurance

Corporate travel insurance, or business travel insurance, is dedicated cover for business owners and their staff travelling overseas or interstate. If you take out an annual worldwide policy it will operate 24 hours a day, anywhere in the world, while any of your team are on a work trip. Most corporate policies will have features in common with a standard travel cover, including:

  • 24/7 support worldwide while travelling.
  • Unlimited overseas medical expenses.
  • Personal accident and sickness while travelling.
  • Missed transport and transfers.
  • Loss of deposit and cancellation and curtailment expenses.
  • Lost, stolen or damaged baggage.
  • Political and natural disaster evacuation.
  • Vehicle excess waiver cover.

Most insurers will also allow you to tailor cover for your specific requirements, and add business-specific features.

 

How is a corporate travel insurance policy different?

Travel insurance policies aimed at businesses also have additional features and broader cover, including replacement worker cover. This gives you the option for another staff member to travel and replace a colleague who has unexpectedly had to return home from a work trip.

Most policies will also offer you the option to increase the benefit limit on specified items – like laptops and mobile phones – for a small extra fee. In terms of getting cover for all your travelling staff, most business policies allow for group cover, so multiple people are covered under a single policy.

 

Always read the fine print

With the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) likely to conduct a review of travel insurance in the second half of 2019, it’s worth getting your policies in order now.

As with any other type of cover, it’s important to understand all aspects of your policy. Look for the product disclosure statement (PDS), which summarises your level of cover including critical info about the benefits (what is covered and for how much), benefit excess and exclusions (when a benefit will not be paid) of the policy.

Annual corporate travel cover saves you from having to take out a new policy for every trip and covers you continuously for multiple trips throughout the year. This is not only convenient but is likely to be more cost effective for most SMBs. If it sounds like a good option for your business, call your insurance broker today and see how much you can save.