Whether you need to have your return journey booked before travelling depends on your CoverForYou policy type.
CoverForYou travel insurance is designed for temporary trips that start and end in your home area, but the booking requirements can differ between Single Trip, Annual Multi-Trip and Backpacker policies.
Yes.
For a Single Trip policy, you must have your return journey booked before you leave.
Your trip must:
Start in your home area.
End in your home area.
Take place within the dates shown on your policy schedule.
Be covered for the full duration of your journey.
If you are planning an open-ended trip without a booked return journey, a Single Trip policy is not suitable.
No.
A Backpacker policy can allow more flexible travel arrangements, so you do not need to have your return flight booked before you leave.
However:
Your trip must still be intended to end in your home area.
You are responsible for arranging and paying for your ordinary journey home.
The policy does not automatically pay the normal cost of a return journey you had not already purchased.
If you become seriously ill or injured abroad and the Emergency Medical Assistance Service determines that repatriation is medically necessary, arrangements may be made for your return home.
If you did not have a return ticket booked, the policy allows the insurer to deduct the cost of an economy-class flight home, based on the cost on the date you return, from the repatriation costs it has incurred.
Find out about Emergency Medical Assistance
You do not need to have a return flight booked when purchasing an Annual Multi-Trip policy.
However, each trip must:
Start in your home area.
End in your home area.
Be within the maximum trip duration allowed by your policy.
Meet the other terms and conditions of your cover.
Annual Multi-Trip insurance is intended for temporary trips rather than permanent relocation or one-way travel.
If an insured event means you need to return home early, the amount payable may depend on whether you already had a return journey booked.
Where your claim is covered, the policy may consider eligible additional travel costs needed to return home early, subject to the relevant benefit limits and conditions.
The unused cost of your original ticket is not additionally payable where you or the insurer has paid for your early return.
Different rules apply depending on the reason for your return.
For medical repatriation, if you did not have a return ticket, the cost of an economy-class flight home may be deducted from the repatriation costs paid by the insurer.
For other curtailment claims, return-home costs are not normally covered where no return ticket had been purchased unless the Emergency Medical Assistance Service has agreed to them.
Policy type | Return journey required before travel? |
|---|---|
Single Trip | Yes – a return journey must be booked before departure |
Annual Multi-Trip | No – but each insured trip must start and end in your home area |
Backpacker | No – but the trip must still be intended to end in your home area and you remain responsible for the ordinary cost of returning home |
If you are planning:
A flexible itinerary.
A long Backpacker trip.
Travel without a confirmed return date.
A journey where you may not return to your home area.
Please contact CoverForYou before purchasing so we can explain the applicable policy requirements.
You can also get a travel insurance quote.
Important: All cover is subject to the policy terms, conditions, exclusions, cover limits and any applicable excess.
