Changes to ANZ Platinum Credit Card Complimentary Insurance

[aussielil]

Just received a notice of changes to ANZ Platinum complimentary International travel Insurance today.

I'm just checking to see if anyone else received the notice in the mail,  as I could be reading this incorrectly.

 

Insurable events before the 7th June 2024 don't change but events on and after 7th June 2024 some things will change.

International Travel Insurance:- Period of cover for Platinum Credit Card cardholders -(In 2023 the period of cover was six consecutive months) has now changed after 7th June 2024 to:- three months consecutive insurance for cardholders, their spouses and/or dependants. 

 

There are other changes but this one is more important to me if I was on the 113 day World Cruise in 2025.

thanks in advance.

 

[Over from NZ]

2 hours ago, aussielil said:

Just received a notice of changes to ANZ Platinum complimentary International travel Insurance today.

I'm just checking to see if anyone else received the notice in the mail,  as I could be reading this incorrectly.

 

Insurable events before the 7th June 2024 don't change but events on and after 7th June 2024 some things will change.

International Travel Insurance:- Period of cover for Platinum Credit Card cardholders -(In 2023 the period of cover was six consecutive months) has now changed after 7th June 2024 to:- three months consecutive insurance for cardholders, their spouses and/or dependants. 

 

There are other changes but this one is more important to me if I was on the 113 day World Cruise in 2025.

thanks in advance.

 

Interesting. ANZ Platinum card insurance clients in NZ have always got a rough deal compared to our Australian counterparts even though ANZ Australia owns ANZ NZ.. and ours is 90-days (although you can apply at their discretion for an extension up to 180 days). I've never trusted the free insurance and have always booked my own.. but as you say - if you were relying on the free card insurance and doing a world trip.. you better look elsewhere for cover. 

 

[Ethel6666]

Also a year or so ago, they reduced the cancellation insurance to $20,000. So that made it not very useful for a long trip either. 

[LittleFish1976]

On 3/11/2024 at 5:30 PM, aussielil said:

Just received a notice of changes to ANZ Platinum complimentary International travel Insurance today.

I'm just checking to see if anyone else received the notice in the mail,  as I could be reading this incorrectly.

 

Insurable events before the 7th June 2024 don't change but events on and after 7th June 2024 some things will change.

International Travel Insurance:- Period of cover for Platinum Credit Card cardholders -(In 2023 the period of cover was six consecutive months) has now changed after 7th June 2024 to:- three months consecutive insurance for cardholders, their spouses and/or dependants. 

 

There are other changes but this one is more important to me if I was on the 113 day World Cruise in 2025.

thanks in advance.

 

Just received mine in the post. I notice they have a different number of months of consecutive cover for Black versus Platinum cards (6 versus 3). The key word being consecutive - if you were on a world cruise and commencing on the other side of the world (it's possible a person might want to) you could book the cruise in segments and get yourself home in between. For example, when it visits your home city you could go home for a quick visit and then go back to the ship to re-board under your new booking number. For the amount you'd save on paying for insurance, you'd probably lose benefits of booking your world cruise as one voyage though. Still, three months is 90 days which is very close to your 113 day WC. 

 

The limitation of total cancellation cover as mentioned by @Ethel6666 would be more of a concern - wouldn't even touch the sides of the cost of a world cruise, would it?

[Peal]

On 3/11/2024 at 6:46 PM, Over from NZ said:

but as you say - if you were relying on the free card insurance and doing a world trip.. you better look elsewhere for cover. 

I used Westpac Platinum Card free travel insurance for a recent South Pacific cruise. Never again. I'd already registered for travel insurance & had a "Letter of Eligibility" from the insurance provider. However, I became seriously ill, then found out we had to provide heaps of documents to prove we had paid for the cruise with the credit card, passport photos, Release of Information authorisation, etc Like this -

 

To confirm that you have met eligibility criteria and activated your insurance cover please provide the following:

·       Your Credit Card Statement showing your full name, address and the first 6 and last 4 digits of the credit card number

·       Flight itinerary which confirms the dates that you departed and returned to Australia

·       Tax Invoice or Receipt for travel arrangements showing the last 4 digits of your credit card

·       Contact details for your travel agent if you wish for us to contact them on your behalf to confirm this information

·       Flight itinerary for all travellers on the policy

·       Passports

 

This OK when you have a minor heath issue & can remain onboard, then do the insurance claim when you get home. In my case, I was in a third world hospital for one night, before a medi flight back to an Australian hospital. I'm fairly sure if I had had an insurance policy direct with the company, this would have avoided the local hospital - where I've picked up some antibiotic resistant bacteria (CPE).

So for me, no more free card travel insurance for international travel.

[AJCM]

On 3/11/2024 at 7:46 PM, Over from NZ said:

I've never trusted the free insurance and have always booked my own.

 

We’ve needed to claim ANZ Platinum insurance twice over the years on international travel. They were fantastic. Other than a slightly higher excess they provided cover as good as any other travel insurance. You’re dealing with (at the moment) Allianz, so there’s really no difference once you lodge a claim.

 

Interestingly, with the latest changes they are quite explicit that you should contact them before you spend any money. I assume some people may have spent considerably more, in anticipation of reimbursement, than the insurance will cover. So, they’ll only reimburse what they would have been prepared to spend if you had contacted them first. Seems fair enough to me.

 

They’ve also increased the excess from $350 to $500. We’ll still use them because fundamentally the insurance is free and we know from experience that it’s effective.

[Peal]

16 hours ago, AJCM said:

Interestingly, with the latest changes they are quite explicit that you should contact them before you spend any money. I assume some people may have spent considerably more, in anticipation of reimbursement, than the insurance will cover. So, they’ll only reimburse what they would have been prepared to spend if you had contacted them first. Seems fair enough to me.

That is fairly reasonable from the insurance company's point of view; and I can see why that is necessary to prevent some people ripping off the insurance company.

Not sure what would have happened in my circumstances. By the time the insurance policy kicked in, I'd already paid out a total of just under $5K AUD for the ship medical centre, ambulance transfer to the hospital & the hospital Emergency Dept admission. The ambulance transfer & hospital were arranged by the ship. We had no idea of the cost until after the service had been provided.

I'm assuming/hoping, I'll get the $5K back when the claim is finalised.

[cruiser3775]

17 hours ago, AJCM said:

they are quite explicit that you should contact them before you spend any money.

Bit hard to do if it is an emergency. What if you are off the ship on a shore excursion when something goes wrong?

[Belmont Babe]

On 3/11/2024 at 9:46 PM, Over from NZ said:

Interesting. ANZ Platinum card insurance clients in NZ have always got a rough deal compared to our Australian counterparts even though ANZ Australia owns ANZ NZ.. and ours is 90-days (although you can apply at their discretion for an extension up to 180 days). I've never trusted the free insurance and have always booked my own.. but as you say - if you were relying on the free card insurance and doing a world trip.. you better look elsewhere for cover. 

 

Have you been notified of any changes? I am also in NZ and haven't heard anything.

@AJCM says "They’ve also increased the excess from $350 to $500" We in NZ must be on a different set of conditions, or completely behind the 8 ball. My excess has always been $200.

 

Also, a little known fact - if you are going to incur a fee for paying by credit card, (Princess charge 1.1%) they allow you to pay by debit card, or internet banking, as long as the accounts are also held with ANZ.

[phoenixx]

On 3/14/2024 at 11:29 PM, Peal said:

I used Westpac Platinum Card free travel insurance for a recent South Pacific cruise. Never again. I'd already registered for travel insurance & had a "Letter of Eligibility" from the insurance provider. However, I became seriously ill, then found out we had to provide heaps of documents to prove we had paid for the cruise with the credit card, passport photos, Release of Information authorisation, etc Like this -

 

To confirm that you have met eligibility criteria and activated your insurance cover please provide the following:

·       Your Credit Card Statement showing your full name, address and the first 6 and last 4 digits of the credit card number

·       Flight itinerary which confirms the dates that you departed and returned to Australia

·       Tax Invoice or Receipt for travel arrangements showing the last 4 digits of your credit card

·       Contact details for your travel agent if you wish for us to contact them on your behalf to confirm this information

·       Flight itinerary for all travellers on the policy

·       Passports

 

This OK when you have a minor heath issue & can remain onboard, then do the insurance claim when you get home. In my case, I was in a third world hospital for one night, before a medi flight back to an Australian hospital. I'm fairly sure if I had had an insurance policy direct with the company, this would have avoided the local hospital - where I've picked up some antibiotic resistant bacteria (CPE).

So for me, no more free card travel insurance for international travel.

That sounds like a lot to do when you are unwell. Were you able to send them the documents they asked for?

[Peal]

On 4/7/2024 at 4:21 PM, phoenixx said:

That sounds like a lot to do when you are unwell. Were you able to send them the documents they asked for?

It was a lot of work, especially when I was taken off the ship. Local Internet connection was terrible. I had all the info on my laptop or phone, but had to send each item separately because of the poor internet. Fortunately our son back in Australia was able to do some of the paperwork & talk directly to the medical team in Allianz. 

Took about 14 hours to get approval for the medivac flight, and then another 12 hours before I was on the flight. I'm fairly certain that the 14 hours to get approval would have been much shorter, if we hadn't used the credit card insurance.