RACV Travel Insurance - International

Terrible experience, avoid this travel insurance company at all cost! My daughter became unwell in Japan and required ambulance transport and hospital care and was too unwell to return home for over a week. RACV travel insurance (Tokio Marine) provided little to no support to her during this challenging time, despite multiple phone calls to them.… Read more

She was ignored, brushed off to their “local office” (which we believe was imaginary). She was left scared, sick and alone and unable to get medical clearance without jumping through paperwork hoops, which was a requirement of the company in order for her to get a flight organised by them. Once home, She lodged a claim for expenses straight away which once again required a stupid amount of paperwork, and after a month they got back to her requiring even more paperwork. Another month and a half later and many phone calls to them and part of her claim was approved. It has been now three months since she returned home and still no payout.

Perhaps one of the worst (if not "The Worst") travel insurance experience that I have encountered. Horrible service, disconnected teams, rubbish rationale (i.e. they love to get your money upfront, but discard your receipts as they do not wish to pay back). Don't even bother talking to them, even a one star review is too generous. Show details

I have used RACV Travel Insurance on a trip before, and while it's quite easy to purchase a policy, making a claim is a completely different story. I submitted a claim in September 2024, and as of now, I am still waiting for it to be finalised. I suffered a horrific accident while travelling in Portugal last year. RACV made it extremely difficult… Read more

to contact them from overseas. As echoed in other reviews, they don’t respond to emails in a timely manner, you cannot call them via WhatsApp, and they don’t accept any other forms of calls that are not from an Australian number.

If you don’t have family in Australia to help you contact RACV, I strongly advise against purchasing their policies, they genuinely do not care. It took an excessive number of calls and emails just to get me back to Australia. RACV resists assisting you every step of the way, even when you're at your most vulnerable. Though they did finally budge and arrange a flight home.

Additionally, the underwriter and third parties RACV works with are far from ethical and employ the same stalling tactics to delay the claims process. Things were so bad that I had to involve the Australian embassy to help get me home. Despite that, RACV still delayed for two weeks while I remained in hospital.

To this day, RACV has not confirmed whether they paid for my surgery overseas, nor will they address the lost income that were both covered under policy. They consistently delay the process by requesting unnecessary information and impose an automatic two-week delay on all email responses.

I have never had to make a claim before and have had many trips. This time a few things went wrong and my claim was Prompt claim with no hassles. I totally will buy insurance from RACV again Show details

Friendly, professional and knowledgeable are the adjectives that spring to mind when I think about the service we received for organising and purchasing our travel insurance. Good job RACV. Show details ·  1

Successful outcome with 2 very friendly operators – Excellent assistance officers. Quick pleasant and effective. I can’t remember how often I have used RACV insurance. However, it is now the insurance of my choice. Show details ·  2

I was months and months out from our trip when I bought RACV travel insurance. It was expensive. Saw insurance offered by Insure and Go whom I'd used before and decided to swap. RACV charged us $1000 to cancel our plan. Bit of a costly exercise, hey? Show details

Never again. Six months to have claim settled and less than half considered. They wanted receipts for old items including one purchased in 1950! Who keeps a life time of purchase receipts. Had to call every two weeks to try and get anything done. Worst customer service ever. Why can’t we give NO STARS. Show details

Very disillusioned and disappointed with our treatment by RACV travel insurance. We rang for help and advice re travelling home after suffering a broken bone overseas. We were told we needed a Fit to Fly certificate and had great difficulty in getting to see a doctor. After calling for assistance, we were offloaded onto two other companies , and… Read more

had to repeat all information multiple times with different operators. We were then given conflicting information and the entire experience was very stressful , long winded and distressing. I mistakenly assumed that we would get help but the experience was anything but helpful. Eventually gave up on them and sorted out the issue ourselves. Have insured with them before but never had to contact them or use the insurance. Will never insure with them again. How can you tell how good your insurance company is begore you need them to help you ?

My mother flat-lined after a standard operation due to an unrelated illness so we decided to cancel our trip and fly to where she is. We gave RACV the medical abstract, death certificate, test results, xrays, and yet 7 months after filing they are still requesting for further documents that cannot be obtained due to the time passing and the… Read more

hospital being overseas, we cannot simply fly back to get what they ask for. Mind you, they reply once a month even after multiple follow ups. This is so distressing to re-live every time they ask for something new and they have shown no humanity at all. The amount is just 7000 AUD and yet they choose to be cruel.

To start with - I would not give them one star. As frequent travelers, we started using RACV a few years ago. So for our next two trips, we booked our insurance again with RACV. I had what I thought was just a stomach upset that we seem to have from time to time due to various reasons. This was six days before we purchased the policy. After… Read more

visiting the doctor, he suggested I do some tests - which unfortunately came back with a gut condition (that I had never heard of before). I was then hospitalized a 10 days later due to the condition, and the doctor advised that I do not take the trip, until I saw specialists and obtained a diet. Much to our disappointment we did not go on our cruise.

The underwriter for RACV (Tokio Marine) after taking 2 months and requesting the same documentation multiple times, refused my claim using some obscure ambiguous clause in the fine print. This clause does not have anything to do with my condition! They take ages to respond and do not return phone calls.

While I understand that the RACV is just selling their policies for which they receive a commission, they need to ensure that their members are treated fairly in times of difficulty. I look forward to the RACV reviewing this case, as we should not have to go through these lengths.

23/04: So after lodging a complaint with the RACV about the insurance, I received a reasonably call from an RACV representative. She was pretty sympathetic to start with, but all she had to say in effect was they would forward my feedback to Tokio Marine, and that would be the end of it as the RACV does not have a "claims license" - they only sell this insurance, and that's it. If I felt that the response I receive from Tokio Marine is unacceptable, I would have to approach AFCA. LESSON LEARNT: RACV put a name and a face to this insurance, but one is at the mercy of Tokio Marine!

13/05: So another month has almost passed, I have received an email from Tokio Marine indicating they are going to take another month. As you can see this unacceptable situation still continues. They seem to be determined to spend their resources in time and money uselessly trying to defend claims and losing goodwill, rather that of maintaining the RACV customer base.

17/05: So after sending them an email admonishing them for delaying, they responded on time, denying the claim. I'm now off to AFCA. Proceed with CAUTION with RACV insurance. Don't say you have not been warned!

I will update any progress on the status.

Not Happy as due to my husbands sudden health issue before leaving on our Cruise we could not travel. After providing all the relevant documents. Two months later they tell us it is was a pre-existing condition and refuse the claim. It wasn't as we were not even aware of the condition. Tried to call back and left msgs to call back. No response.… Read more

Please Call us, we have taken insurance on several of our trips and this is the 1st claim. Very very disappointed.

I lodged a claim with RACV Travel Insurance in September 2024 however when I call for updates, they always say, someone will call me next week however after 5 months, I am still awaiting for their next week to come. Poor Service. Show details

I lodged my claim Dec 2024. I was sent an email stating that my payment 'bounced back' and to update my bank details via the portal. Even though my bank details were correct, I 'updated' them anyway. I have messaged via the portal and via email multiple times since then, asking for an update and have had silence. It is now March 2025! Super dodgy company, will be going to the ombudsman next. DO NOT USE RACV TRAVEL INSURANCE! Show details

No response – It's been over one months no response, send my documents, this company is hopeless won't be using Racv again for my travel insurance stay away not worth the hassle Show details

No coverage for leg injury! – Very disappointed in RACV ! After trying to help my Son’s Physiotherapy claim. (Currently in Japan) I was passed around to 8 different people. All over the USA and Asia Dealing with unwritten companies. Tokyo Marine and Oncall international. Having provided all documentation on 3 separate occasions. The claim of just under $2000 AUD was… Read more

rejected! The reason given. “ That Physiotherapy aids the recovery process. Most mild to moderate soft tissue injuries (As in this case) will most likely recover over a period of 6 weeks. So soft tissue treatments abroad are not medically necessary. Therefore there will be no coverage for the treatment” What a load of nonsense. Tell me RACV what ‘medical conditions are covered ??

Tough on worlds (and charging) but not on claims and service – I have taken RACV Comprehensive Travel insurance. During my travels, I had a minor dental issue (accident), which I repaired during my stay. It was urgent to be able to enjoy my holiday. On my return 4 months ago, I submitted the claim and am still awaiting a decision despite sending all the relevant documents and photos. No excuses, no further… Read more

information... Not fair. PS. After more than 4 months, I got approved claim (after submitting everything I could), but my compensation was 10% of the claim I submitted, placed under the basis type, even though I have paid for comprehensive insurance. Mistake or??? I didn't even include any related charges; ONLY urgent medical attention. VERY, VERY DISAPPOINTED.

20 for a few key-strokes on computer – Had to change a date on upcoming trip. Went into a RACV store where it took a few seconds for a date to be changed. They charged $20!!!! Show details

RACV travel insurance DON'T BOTHER – Never again Insurance not recognised in Egypt yet 100' including Bupa, Covermore etc are Had to pay out of pocket On return tried to claim online several times site is useless apparently I don't know my birthday??? Had forms emailed returned by express post on 6th told 5 to 10 bus days. 27th I rang "Just got it" Rubbish Half hour answering… Read more

questions , will e mail you later? 7Th rang again , put on hold, need to answer same questions, will process in 5 to 10 days excuse AGAIN. This is a pathetic way treat customers. I have several RACV policies Time for a change Policy states will process in 5 to 10 bus days which is totally misleading

Extremely unhappy – Extremely unhappy that when I enquired about adding a medical condition to the policy all previously declared medical conditions became uncovered. This seems extremely unfair as new condition is not related to previously declared. I believe they have broken the contract that we had. This new condition was diagnosed after the policy was taken out. I have used this company several times before and been happy but not now. Show details

Not worth it – Travel insurance is not worth it! I’d rather travel with no insurance. It’s been 3 months since my flights were cancelled unexpectedly and I haven’t had any response in relation to my claim. Show details

30+ business days, vague responses and still no outcome – Reading through the other reviews within this last week, there is a common theme here RACV. It's been 30 business days since I've raised my claim, contacted more than 8 times, through multiple channels and forever been told it's been personally escalated and that I will get an update and call back. I have not once received a call back or any sign… Read more

of outcome, just that "someone is looking at it and will call you back". I have multiple other insurance policies with RACV, and been a member for many years. My trust has greatly diminished and I will be taking my insurances elsewhere. Your "within 10 business days" of claim assessment is absolutely false and misleading.

20 business days and waiting for an outcome – After several years of being with RACV I have decided to move all my insurances away (I've had two home/contents and one Car policy). We recently been victims of luggage theft in Italy in October. I have submitted a claim online and its been over a month with no response/update. I have called up 3 times (one time waiting 40 minutes on hold) and… Read more

the representative was unhelpful and was quick to try and get me off the phone. They gave unrealistic expectations when I asked when will we expect an update. They told me to call at different times of the day to speak direct with an assessor in which did not end up happening. It's been 20+ business days since I lodged and was told if there was anything else that was required it will take a further 10 business days to review.

I feel completely undervalued as a client who has been with RACV for years.

I am yet to receive an update, from the other reviews I am expecting to be disappointed further. I have emailed the team and no response. I am starting to think this insurance is non-existent.

RACV Travel insurance: Be prepared for a long, frustrating wait if you want to claim! – We (4 of us) traveled to Europe in May and took out RACV travel insurance. We had the usual missed flights/getting the flu issues that happen most trips. We filed a claim and 4 months later we are no closer to having our claim resolved. Tokio Marine have been painfully slow in their response and are very keen to tell you at how busy they are.… Read more

It's their way of pushing your claim out hoping you'll give up in frustration. The insurer has also split our claim into 2 separate claims: one medical and one travel - this way they get to deduct an excess from each claim - even though it's one policy. At the end of the day it's hardly worth taking out insurance given the lack of service from Tokio Marine. If you look at the premium paid, the time taken to deal with them and the unreasonable practices they use. Look elsewhere, this isn't the travel insurance you want.

Jan 2025 Update In a rare moment of service RACV have come back to me on part of my claim to say the additional airfares I was claiming weren't allowed as I was only held up by an accident on a motorway and missed my flight. I needed to have had an accident then this would have been approved. Good to know. Still waiting for final resolution. Their email said they want a quick resolution to this and are now rushing to finalise in 30 working days. Clearly the word rush is used in a non-conventional sense.

Average – Happy with the outcome of my claim and the process of actually entering the claim seemed quite simple. However for such a big company I was surprised by the lack of communication. The only time I ever heard any updates about my claim was when I called querying as I didn’t hear from them within the times they advised. Process took over a month with… Read more

no communication unless I was chasing them up and then even yet I got no communication advising my claim had been approved and I could expect the funds. I just received them in my bank.

RACV/Tokio Marine Nichido will fight you every step of the way – We filed a travel insurance claim after one of the named travelers on the policy was diagnosed with cancer. They have so far worked very hard to find a way to reject the claim, the underwriter (Tokio Marine Nichido) was provided with a medical specialist letter citing the timeline of diagnosis, and attempted to reject it, we objected to this, but… Read more

still complied and provided additional medical information to try and validate our claim, this should not have been required.

RACV/TMN indicated they needed a medical statement stating the policy member had never previously had cancer, the policy member has never had cancer before, but did not have a regular GP available to attest to that, this was an impossible ask; they eventually partially approved the claim after threats of further escalation.

Unfortunately RACV/TMN have attempted to exclude our previously booked wedding photography intended to occur on the trip despite their PDS offering no exclusions for this. They have cited a section of the PDS which does not reinforce their claims.

The issue is now stuck in the an AFCA complaints review process, and likely will be for some time pending a further judgement, they have refused to apologize so far for their unreasonable attempts to compel impossible medical history, and are wasting our time in a vulnerable moment.

I strongly recommend you avoid using RACV products in future, and I strongly recommend RACV review it's relationship with Tokio Marine Nichido, as they're not worth the reputational damage. Just drop your product all-together if you can't find a decent underwriter and let Allianz who approved another traveler's related claim within a week take your business.