Come fly with me: Looking after employees travelling overseas

Over the past few years, the international travel element of accident and health insurance hasn’t seen a great deal of action. However, with international business travel firmly back on the agenda, brokers need to work closely with clients and insurers to ensure cover is appropriate for travel in a COVID-19 world.

BY MARTIN WANLESS

Australia’s closed border policy and numerous lockdowns reduced international business travel to an absolute minimum. Whereas pre-2020, many in the business community took regular or semi-regular trips overseas for work purposes, for the two years that followed, we were all, quite literally, grounded.

While international travel has opened up again and businesses are resuming international travel, COVID-19 is still very much a factor that needs to be considered, given the potential repercussions of catching the disease when travelling, as well as the impact it is having on airlines and airports.

And for brokers, ensuring that clients who are travelling overseas, or asking their employees to travel, have the right levels of accident and health insurance is critically important.

“The key risks at the moment are still around COVID-19,” says Murray Anderson, Assistant Vice President of Accident and Health at Liberty Specialty Markets.

“Contracting gastro overseas might mean a day or two extra accommodation, and a flight change may not be required. However, depending on the country you’re travelling to, COVID-19 is likely to add at least seven days to the accommodation time and make flight changes more likely. Airline schedules are nowhere near where they were pre-COVID-19 and to get new flights is difficult – and very expensive.”

As part of that desire to get back to something resembling pre-2020 normality, leisure travel is increasingly being tagged on to business trips.

“Compared to pre-COVID-19, accident and health underwriters need to consider a range of different risks,” says Chubb’s new Head of Accident and Health, Amy McKellar.

“For example, there is a high proportion of leisure travel being attached to business travel as people take side trips after years of lockdown. This means underwriters must closely consider trip durations, the proportion of business versus private travel, and whether family members are accompanying the insured person, since these are all factors that influence the underwriting process.”

RISK MANAGEMENT FOR INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL

Having the right risk management strategies in place is important for businesses that are asking their employees to venture overseas.

“Businesses should be looking to review their travel risk management strategies to ensure travellers are briefed and prepared, and they continue to monitor travel risk at their destination, as well as any return home requirements or changes that may have occurred whilst travelling,” says David Foote, National Development Manager at AHI.

“Support via travel risk management strategies and tools has been a big focus as borders have started opening up. For example, AHI Assist recently ran a travel risk management webinar for brokers to assist them in preparing their clients for return to travel.”

With COVID-19 being a major health consideration for businesses, insurers have responded by putting endorsement policies in place to cater for the uncertainty facing us all.

“We’ve included a COVID-19 endorsement on our policies that includes additional COVID-19 cover,” says Melanie Barrett, National Accident and Health Manager at Dual Australia.

“Previously, we were covering medical expenses if somebody contracted COVID-19 overseas, but now we’re also covering some cancellation and loss of deposits costs, as well as additional expenses. Most insurers are doing something similar. However, it’s important for us to be able to offer this type of cover and give peace of mind to our clients travelling overseas.”

Premium prices for accident and health, like many other areas of insurance, are increasing, and it’s important for brokers and clients to understand why this is.

“Accident and health insurance has been impacted by increasing claim costs due to the frequency and severity of cancellations and medical claims due to COVID-19,” says McKellar. “General inflationary pressures have also put an upward trajectory on claim costs.

“We are looking closely at how staffing and labour market shortages are impacting the travel sector – less staff at airports, cancelled flights and misplaced luggage are all issues that could potentially lead to increased claim volumes.”

CHARTING A SMOOTH PATH FORWARD

Over the coming months, businesses across the country will get a firmer handle on the volume of travel that’s going to be taking place, as well as the associated risks.

And, as the make-up of that international travel is assessed and figured out, travel declarations come into serious play.

“Clients will need to consider their travel declarations a little more closely,” says Anderson. “Many clients have continued to state ‘same as last year’, and given the state of flux we have been in, that is probably not likely.”

This is an area of insurance that has undoubtedly changed for the foreseeable future and is necessary to revisit with clients before they embark on international business travel once more.

GAME ON! OR OFF…

AHI Assist was contacted by both the broker and client prior to departure to understand how to manage the health and safety of a young sporting team’s tour to the UK and Ireland during COVID-19.

Multiple team members tested positive for COVID-19 during the tour. To ensure the tour could continue successfully, AHI Assist arranged hotel quarantine for those affected and monitored their symptoms regularly each day. AHI Assist also provided emotional support and situation updates to the insured, their families, the client and their broker.

With frequent changes to COVID-19 restrictions throughout the tour, AHI Assist was able to manage the positive cases and reunite those out of quarantine (who were feeling well enough) with the rest of the group.

The claim, valued at $16,500, is still ongoing.

THE IMPORTANCE OF HAVING THE RIGHT COVER

Murray Anderson, Assistant Vice President of Accident and Health at Liberty Specialty Markets, shares a story of an unfortunate case he encountered recently. Due to the accident and health cover the client had, a family was able to say a dignified goodbye.

“A young person had travelled overseas and while away, was diagnosed with cancer. Within a very short time frame, we agreed for four family members to travel to be by the side of the ill person and gave them a chance at a dignified goodbye. A very sad case, but one where we were happy to provide something more than what is often provided for,” he said.