Insurance Cover for Luggage and Travel Documents

Whether you’re travelling for work or fun, luggage insurance cover may be good to have if you're taking valuable items and personal documents.

If your luggage is stolen, luggage insurance benefits can help provide cover for the cost of replacing your items by providing reimbursement based on the value of the items affected.

Things can go wrong when you’re travelling, no matter how well prepared – or well packed – you are. Airlines can lose your suitcase, your passport could be stolen while you’re on a public bus, and your phone could be taken while you’re walking through a busy market. This is where luggage insurance cover can help, and why it’s important to consider a travel insurance policy with travel document and luggage cover.

To discover our full range of travel insurance benefits, read this.

All our international travel insurance plans (including our Inbound Plan) include luggage and travel documents cover for when you’re travelling abroad.

Our Domestic Comprehensive+ and Domestic Comprehensive Plans also include luggage insurance cover for your travel documents and personal items. There is no luggage cover on our Domestic Basic Plan.

The maximum luggage benefit limit depends on which plan you choose, and there are limits on how much you can claim per item. Please see the PDS for details on item limits.

If you are a Cover-More policyholder and your cover includes luggage and travel document benefits, our payment for claims will not exceed the original purchase price of an item with a limit for any one item, set or pair of items including attached and unattached accessories of. The item limits for our plans are as follows:

For items purchased within the past 0-24 months, no, we do not deduct depreciation.

For items older than 24 months, the depreciation applied to items based on age is as follows:

This means depreciation will not be deducted from items less than two years old at the time of loss. Items greater than two years old will have the percentage amount shown above deducted.

Please refer to the PDS for full details on depreciation.

Luggage depreciation claim example:

A phone purchased for $1,300 was 28 months old when it was stolen. An excess of $100 applies. A claim would be calculated as follows.

• Item: Phone cost $1,300 when purchased over two years ago.
• Depreciation: Minus $780 depreciation ($1,300 x 60%) = $520
• Excess: Minus policy excess $100 (where applicable)
• Total: Claim amount payable is $420

Our payment will not exceed the original purchase price of an item with a limit for any one item, set or pair of items, including attached and unattached accessories. For example, a camera, camera accessories, lenses, and tripod (attached or not) are considered one item. A necklace and pendant are considered one item.

Where an additional premium has been paid to increase the item limit for a single item, the claim will be assessed based on the item limit specified on the Certificate of Insurance. For multiple items, the overall increase in limits cannot exceed $7,000.

If you’re travelling with valuable items, our Cover-More customers may be able to increase the item limits on their policy by paying an additional premium under the luggage cover benefit.

For multiple items, the overall increase in limits cannot exceed $7,000.

Receipts or valuations (less than 24 months old) must be available if requested by our team.

You must report any loss or theft of luggage, personal effects, travel documents or money to the police, the transport provider or accommodation provider as soon as possible and within seven (7) days of first becoming aware of the loss or theft.

You should obtain a report confirming the incident to submit to us with your claim.

An Airline Property Irregularity Report (P.I.R.) is also required if your items were lost or stolen when travelling with an airline.

If your claim is approved by our team, we will pay you for the cost of replacing travel documents and credit cards lost or stolen on your journey. We will also pay for your legal liability arising from their illegal use. You must, however, comply with all the conditions of the issue of the document prior to and after the loss or theft.

When you’re at home, you look after your belongings. When you travel, it should be no different.

We see many claims for loss or theft that are caused by people being careless with their belongings. Your claim may be declined if you fail to take care of your personal possessions while you’re travelling. Please note not all belongings are covered by our travel insurance policies.

How to help keep your valuables safe so they may be covered under your luggage insurance:

• Keep valuables with you (where security regulations allow you to do so) rather than checking them in with the transport provider. See our definition of “valuables” under the heading below.
• Items left unattended in any motor vehicle (for example, a car, campervan, or motorhome) or towed land vehicle during daylight hours are not covered, unless they are stored in the concealed storage compartment of the locked motor vehicle or towed land vehicle and forced entry was gained. A limit of $500 per item and a maximum of $2,000 in total applies.
• Don’t leave items unattended in ANY motor vehicle or towed land vehicle overnight, as they’re not covered.
• Don’t walk away from or leave your belongings unattended in a public place. They’re not covered by us.
• Don’t check in your valuables – keep them with you as they’re not covered by us when checked-in with the transport provider (unless security regulations meant you were forced to check them in).

When we refer to the term “valuables”, we mean articles made of or containing gold, silver, or precious metals; binoculars; jewellery; mobile phones; photographic, audio, video, tablet computer, computer, and electrical equipment of any kind (including but not limited to devices such as drones, computer games, portable navigation equipment or media); precious stones; smart phones; telescopes, and watches.

When we use the term “public place", we mean any place the public has access to, including but not limited to airports, bus terminals, buses, cruise ships, planes, stations, taxis, trains, wharves and beaches, galleries, hostels, hotels, hotel foyers and grounds, museums, private car parks, public toilets, shops, streets, restaurants, and general access areas.

For your information “unattended” means not on your person or within your sight and reach.

Travel insurance is designed to cover unexpected events, and it can’t cover absolutely everything. If you’re thinking about protecting your trip with a Cover-More travel insurance policy, there are several conditions and exclusions you need to be mindful of.

This includes when you need to report lost, stolen or delayed belongings, the conditions surrounding stolen items left unattended in a vehicle or public space, what it means if your luggage or documents are damaged by weather, how we deal with information stored on electronic devices, and more.

For the full details on what we won’t cover, please refer to the PDS.