Fast Cover Travel Insurance - Basics

Absolutely the worst insurance company I have ever dealt with. I have been fighting with Fast Cover for over two months just to get my travel insurance medical claim processed. Every time I sent them exactly what they asked for, they came back asking for more documents. It never ended. It honestly felt like they were dragging the process out… Read more

instead of trying to help.

What really crossed the line was when they wanted me to sign forms giving them access to extremely personal information, including my medical records, hotel stays and other private details through overseas organisations that I had never even heard of. There was no way I was comfortable signing away that much of my privacy.

Instead of treating customers fairly when they need help the most, I felt like I was constantly being put through hoops and pressured to hand over more and more information. My experience has left me with zero trust in this company.

I've had enough. I'm now taking this matter to court and lodging a formal complaint with AFCA because I believe the way my claim has been handled has been completely unacceptable.

If you're thinking about buying insurance from Fast Cover, I strongly suggest reading the claims process very carefully before making your decision. I certainly wish I had.

Never again.

Good basic policy at a fair price with website easy to use anf follow. Show details ·  1

You don't need it, until you need it...and we did! – We have just returned from the trip of a lifetime, 12 months travelling (backpacking) overseas to ring in our retirement. There are not too many companies that offer 12 months, most only do 3 months cover. I did my research to determine what we really 'needed'. Fast Cover ticked all our boxes and with a competitive price point. So we signed up. Of… Read more ·  1

course you don't want anything to go wrong and even though the 12 months flew by, of course we did have a hiccup. A five night stay in a Dubai Hospital with pneumonia was not on our itinerary, even though we were only ever planning a few days ahead at a time. I consider myself a capable person and alone in a foreign city would not normally phase me, but when your partner is extremely ill, it gets a little tough. I could not fault Fast Cover, from the get go they had me organised, kept in daily contact, even after being discharged, took control of medical reports, payments to the hospital and follow up consults. They were BRILLIANT. I cannot recommend them highly enough. They are our first choice from here on in. Thank you to all the staff who assisted us and made a very dark few days, bearable.

Still my go-to company four years on – I started using Fast Cover about four years ago when my previous go-to budget insurance company (1-Cover) suddenly jacked their prices up. I've reviewed Fast Cover positively twice before during those years, but after a long Covid-induced break from travel for two and a half years, I did some shopping around to make sure they were still the best… Read more ·  1

bang for the buck and I'm glad to say they are. Here's what I like about Fast Cover:

They're not the absolute cheapest, but they are the only company among the cheap ones that has an up-front and easy to understand PDS (Product Disclosure Statement; the rules governing what they will pay for and what they won't). All the other cheapies have deliberately confusing and difficult-to-read PDS' and once you read the fine print you'll see that the others have loopholes that they'll use to wriggle out of paying in the event of a claim. The worst offender for this is Budget Direct. Go and have a look at their reviews to get a glimpse of the nightmare scenarios that happen when a company leads you to believe you're covered for certain things when in fact you're not.

I also like the user-friendly website and the big, chunky layout which makes it easy to compare policy types, check the PDS, get quotes, buy policies and extend them once overseas. Some of the other companies have fiddly websites which make this a real pain. I also like the colourful, fun theme of the website. Not only do websites like this brighten up your day a bit but it shows that the company prioritises user experience which usually tends to be an indicator of how your interaction with them will be in other areas. There's only one element of the website I don't like, but more of that later.

One of the main things I like is that if you have a query about a policy or want some advice before committing to a policy, you can ring their number AND SOMEONE IN AUSTRALIA WHO ACTUALLY WORKS FOR THE COMPANY WILL ANSWER THE PHONE STRAIGHT AWAY AND GIVE YOU THE ANSWERS YOU NEED. You won't be on hold for an hour, you won't end up talking on a scratchy line to a call centre in India only to not get your question answered.

Another big advantage of this company is that if you take out a lengthy policy (let's say a year), if you have to break your trip and come back to Australia for some reason, your policy stays active and will resume when you leave Australia to carry on with your trip. This is not how many of the other companies do it. You would think that if you bought a years worth of travel insurance, you'd be covered for a year, right?! But many of the other companies hide a clause in their PDS that says "Your policy starts when you leave your house for your holiday and ends when you return to your home". So that means that if you have a policy for one year and have to return home after 2 months, your policy dies the minute you arrive home. I almost learned this the hard way several years ago and realised to my horror that for years there'd been many times I thought I was covered when in fact I wasn't thanks to this clause. However, Fast Cover do it differently; briefly returning home won't kill your policy.

Probably the biggest positive of Fast Cover is the easy way you can extend your policy online once you're overseas. I tend to travel frequently for long periods, and I rarely have set plans so I like to keep things flexible. Therefore what I do is take out 1 month's travel insurance and then extend it month by month while I'm over there. Doing it this way ends up being the same price as if you had've bought the full policy up-front. For example, let's say 6 months insurance is $500. Whether I buy the full policy for $500 upfront or buy one month then extend month by month totalling 6 months, the price will be the same ($500). Using the extension system, it would work something like this : 1 month = $175, 2nd month = $125, 3rd month = $100, 4th month = $50, 5th month = $25, 6th month = $25, GRAND TOTAL= $500. Just DON'T FORGET TO EXTEND BEFORE THE POLICY EXPIRY DATE OTHERWISE THE POLICY WILL DIE AND STARTING A NEW ONE COULD BE DIFFICULT IF YOU ARE ALREADY OVERSEAS.

Now, I should qualify my review by saying that I've never had to make a claim with Fast Cover so I can't comment on what their performance is like on that front. I did have occasion to contact their medical hotline after being bitten by a dog and received advice and instructions including the best place in my area to receive medical treatment, but in the end the cost of the treatment was less that the $200 excess on the policy meaning it wasn't worth lodging a claim. But given the conscientious way the company behaves in other areas, I'd be surprised if paying claims is any different.

Now for the only thing I don't like. I've previously mentioned this in other reviews but unfortunately the issue remains. If you have previously used Fast Cover, you become eligible for a returning customer 5% loyalty discount when you buy your next policy. To claim this discount you have to log in to your account and start the quote from there. However, to log in you have to enter a pervious policy number, which could mean searching your emails and finding an old policy number. It'd be much easier if they just allowed you to set up your account with a username and password. Maybe it's a security measure doing it the other way, but it's a bit of a hassle. What I've done now is just save my very first policy number in a document that has all my passwords etc and I use that to log in, but I'd prefer username and password. It's not a huge deal I guess, but it's just a bit clunky when everything else about the user experience on the website is so seamless.

My final bit of advice for anyone choosing any travel insurance policy is to never go on price alone; you need to get into the PDS and have a good look what you are actually covered for. There's no point having the cheapest policy out there if their policy is so full of loopholes they'll wriggle out of paying any claim. I've heard horror stories of people who go overseas thinking they've automatically got travel insurance from using their credit card to buy their tickets, only to find out when it's too late that the policy is so limited and restrictive that they're hardly covered for anything. Many years ago I was hospitalized twice overseas with Dengue Fever from a mosquito bite and almost died. The hospital bill came to $100,000 but luckily I had a good travel insurance company and I was covered (not Fast Cover; this was long before their time). But I've heard plenty of stories of other people who had similar things happen to them who ended up with relatives having to mortgage houses to pay hospital bills. The consequences are too dire to not get your travel insurance choice right. I've researched the hell out of a lot of companies and Fast Cover is my choice. However, if for some reason you don't use Fast Cover, please do your homework. 15 minutes of reading through a PDS could literally be the difference between life and death down the track. People don't realise that without a guarantee of payment from a travel insurance company (or another source), hospitals in many countries WILL NOT TREAT YOU. I know it's hard to fathom that a hospital would let someone die in the triage room because they're not sure if they're going to get paid or not, but this is exactly what happens. So, take the time and get it right.

Read the policies and follow up – I called to lodge a claim as my flight has been cancelled by the airline due to mechanical issue in the plane . the gentleman on the phone explained that fast travel insurance and other insurers policy don't support claims made for trip interruption or cancellation due to airline malfunctions ( which was quite strange but I accepted it) … Read more

following the above , I requested to adjust my policy to total of 7 days instead of 9 days hoping that I will get a different total cost for the policy ,the gentleman said he will forward it to the sales team and they will call me on the day I made the call but no follow up since them.

so I basically bough a flight ticket for a malfunctioning aeroplane , booked a hotel that I can't usefor at least 2 days !! and an insurance policy for ~$240 that don't accept claims in that regards

the morale of the story is , 1- read the policies of insurers and airlines before you travel because the headlines meanings are inclusive but the fine writing waives their responsibility

2- when companies take your money is easy , but to pay you back even a portion of it for a service that hasn't been rendered is kind of impossible

We had a small medical claim with the medical centre at Changi airport. The claim was settled quickly and efficiently. Even though it was small it inspires confidence in the product. Show details ·  1

Hans was absolutely wonderful to deal with. He went out of his way to help me with my travel insurance. I was going to get another quote but didn't bother as the service was excellent. Can highly recommend Hans for all your travel needs Show details ·  1

As a retired man, I didn't have to worry about loss of income and many other items. At my age, I was only thinking of medical insurance. Fast cover was the company which gave that insurance. It was affordable compared to other insurances. After COVID, I didn;t travel much. I used Fast Cover last year when I visited Sri Lanka last year Show details ·  1

There always some reason why insurance companies find a reason not to pay I needed help last year a plane delay left me missing a cruise stranded in Sydney I asked for help from insurance company it’s what you pay it for with accommodation and the situation I was in and there was no help I have since asked for my money back but they have refused should of went with southern star insurance Show details

Easy to purchase , great set up , but when we went to make a basic claim , which was a Dr visit on a cruise ship and medication, the claim became complicated. Fast cover wanted forms fill out by our normal GP , which was another cost of $120 and totally unnecessary. Cost of excess , plus a GP visit on a claim of $360 … Show details

Hmm... will do more shopping around – I did not make a claim as they have pandemic exemption clause. but I did ask for unused travel portion of premium to be refunded. This was declined citing an undisclosed actuarial formula (offered 10% discount on next purchase). So i have my doubts to their fairness level in future. Also it's not so flexible to amend. You can add packs, but not… Read more

drop any, even if it's a net increase in premium.

After review on this site, was refunded the small amount of prorata unused premium. Thanks [Name Removed]. If only the contact centre took the time to be a bit more reasonable, could have avoided this post.

This was the first time I bought Travel Insurance from Fast Cover Travel Insurance. Being a healthy traveller, and because my trip was only for one week, I chose only a Basic Cover. It was good value. Show details ·  1

Again have signed up with fast cover. Happy with the sign up experience very easy and simple process. So far we have not been required to claim however have use fast cover for all our trips since first sign up and luckily have had no need for any insurance claims which means my family had a wonderful holiday but return to fast cover based on reviews suggesting if we should have a problem this cover is best in market. Show details ·  1

Very easy to arrange online. Have used them before and will use Fast Cover again. Travelling with my mum, it's always good to have peace of mind when on holiday for those not so welcome ' things happen' but to know you're covered just in case, adds that extra layer of comfort when away from home enjoying ourselves. Show details ·  1

We like the simplicity of the process. We have used Fast Cover many times now, on several Cruises and a five week trip to Japan including land and cruise content. No dramas. Show details ·  2

Quick efficient service. Reasonable premium and the first time we have used this company as the NAB Visa Card has stopped providing Travel Insurance with retrospective affect. Show details ·  1

First tome we have used this company. The plan choices were well laid out making picking the right plan for us. Pricing was also good compared to other quotes obtained. Show details ·  1

I had trouble finding cover for my daughter from Japan to the US & Mexico, returning to Australia. Layla on the phone was amazing, she was so helpful and we managed to get her coverage, which included unlimited medical. Most other travel insurance companies required departure from Australia, which didn’t work given she was already in Japan about… Read more ·  1

to finish a working holiday. She is insured under another company and was expected to return to Australia, but decided to meet me in the US for a 3 week holiday. Other insurance company were unhelpful so decided to check Fastcover and I’m glad I did. This review relates to the enquiry and application process only. I will update the review once travel is complete in June. Fingers crossed there will be no need to claim and test that side of the policy, but I’m feeling much better about travel now.

Process of purchasing Fast Cover travel insurance was very convenient, took only a few minutes and was easy to follow. It was the most economical travel insurance I found. Show details ·  1

Hans created a trusting environment for me through his thoughtful approach. The product was well defined and clarified. I understood my responsibilities and rights and I appreciated his personal approach. Overall, I feel confident about the choice and quality of the product I have purchased. Show details ·  1

Super easy purchase, took out the required cover for my destination and didn’t need to buy unnecessary covers. Was also able to increase my excess to reduce premium. Show details ·  1

The travel insurance options were suitable for me and I could provide details of my pre existing medical condition to include in my cover. It was easy to navigate on the website. Show details ·  1

I thought I was dealing with Allianz, in whom I place a lot of confidence. It was fruitful speaking with Hans on the phone, who helped me work out what to buy. It was easy going through the process online. It would have been helpful to learn that this is an Allianz policy. This is the first time I have used Allianz for travelling. Show details ·  1

I always use Fastcover, this time I didn't do the screening correctly, was able to call, and staff helped me finish the screening and make the additional payment, I refer all my family and friends onto Fastcover. Show details ·  1