Corporate travel insurance for Australian businesses
Business travel can create unexpected costs when a traveller becomes ill, a journey is disrupted or belongings are lost. RMA Insurance Brokers helps businesses review corporate travel insurance around their people, destinations and travel patterns.
Corporate travel insurance at a glance
Corporate travel insurance is designed to address certain financial and assistance needs when directors, employees or other insured travellers are travelling on authorised business journeys.
Depending on the policy, cover can extend to domestic and overseas trips and may include medical expenses, evacuation, cancellation, baggage, personal accident and other business-travel benefits.
Key areas
- Overseas medical & evacuation
- Cancellation & disruption
- Baggage & travel documents
- Personal accident benefits
- Rental vehicle & liability exposures
- Emergency assistance
Who should consider corporate travel insurance?
Corporate travel insurance can be relevant to businesses whose directors, employees or other authorised people travel for work within Australia or overseas.
- Businesses with directors travelling for work
- Employers sending staff interstate
- Businesses with overseas client or supplier travel
- Agribusinesses attending events, markets or meetings
- Professional and service businesses with travelling staff
- Organisations with regular conferences, training or project travel
The frequency of travel is not the only consideration. A business with only a small number of trips can still face significant costs if a traveller needs urgent medical care overseas or cannot return as planned.
Corporate travel insurance is worth considering where a business:
- travels interstate for client, project or supplier meetings
- sends employees overseas
- attends conferences, trade events or training
- has directors travelling regularly
- combines business travel with incidental private travel
- has travellers visiting countries where medical or evacuation costs could be significant
What can corporate travel insurance cover?
Overseas medical & evacuation
Depending on the policy, corporate travel insurance may cover eligible overseas medical, hospital and evacuation expenses when an insured traveller becomes ill or injured during a business journey.
Some expenses may require prior approval from the insurer’s emergency-assistance provider.
Cancellation & travel disruption
Cover may respond to eligible cancellation, curtailment, missed connections, additional accommodation or rebooking expenses arising from an insured event.
The cause of the disruption and any refunds or credits available from travel providers can affect the claim.
Baggage & travel documents
Corporate travel policies may cover loss, theft or damage to baggage, business equipment, money or travel documents, subject to limits, security requirements and item-specific conditions.
Personal accident & disablement
Depending on the policy, benefits may be available where an insured traveller suffers accidental death or disablement during an insured journey.
Some products also include broader accident and sickness benefits.
Rental vehicle excess & personal liability
Cover may include eligible rental vehicle excess costs and certain personal liability exposures arising during an insured journey. The extent of cover varies between policies.
Replacement staff & security assistance
Some corporate travel policies can include costs associated with replacing or supporting an employee who cannot continue an assignment, together with selected security, search, rescue or evacuation benefits.
These benefits are highly policy-specific.
An employee injured while travelling for work may also have rights under the applicable workers compensation arrangements. Some corporate travel policies coordinate certain benefits with workers compensation and some include an extra-territorial workers compensation section. The interaction depends on the policy, journey and applicable jurisdiction and should be checked rather than assumed.
How a corporate travel program is structured
Corporate travel insurance is generally arranged around the people who travel and the way the organisation travels, rather than one isolated holiday-style trip.
Depending on the insurer and policy, the schedule can define which directors, employees or other people are insured, the destinations covered, maximum journey duration and whether private travel extensions apply. Areas commonly reviewed include:
- directors and employees who travel
- domestic and overseas destinations
- number and frequency of journeys
- expected maximum trip duration
- accompanying spouses or dependants where required
- incidental private or combined business/leisure travel where available
- higher-risk destinations or activities
Not every policy treats these areas the same way, so traveller definitions and journey definitions should be reviewed rather than assumed.
Emergency assistance can be as important as reimbursement
A serious incident overseas can require more than payment of a claim after the traveller returns home.
Many corporate travel policies provide access to 24-hour emergency assistance that can help coordinate medical care, evacuation, repatriation or travel support, subject to the policy and assistance service.
For some medical or evacuation expenses, contacting the insurer or assistance provider early can also be a policy requirement.
Corporate travel insurance and personal travel insurance serve different needs
Corporate travel insurance is arranged by a business for authorised business travel and the people identified by the policy.
Personal travel insurance is generally arranged by an individual or family for private travel.
Some corporate travel policies can extend to incidental private travel, accompanying family members or combined business and leisure travel, but this should not be assumed. The schedule and policy wording determine who and what is covered.
Longer overseas assignments may also fall outside the intended journey duration of a corporate travel policy and may require a different arrangement, such as expatriate medical cover.
What information may be needed for a corporate travel insurance review?
When reviewing corporate travel insurance, we may need information about:
- legal entity and business activities
- who travels on behalf of the business
- estimated number of business trips each year
- domestic and overseas travel split
- countries and regions commonly visited
- typical and maximum journey duration
- whether accompanying spouses or dependants need consideration
- whether incidental private travel or business/leisure extensions are required
- previous corporate travel claims or material travel incidents
Additional underwriting information may be required depending on traveller age, destinations, activities, medical considerations and the cover requested.
When should corporate travel insurance be reviewed?
A review is particularly worthwhile when:
- the business begins overseas travel
- director or employee travel increases materially
- new countries or regions are added to the travel program
- employees begin taking longer assignments
- accompanying spouses or dependants begin travelling
- the business allows combined business and leisure travel
- staff begin undertaking higher-risk activities while travelling
- the business changes its travel approval or booking process
- a major travel incident or claim occurs
- the organisation’s traveller profile changes materially
Annual renewal is also an opportunity to check traveller definitions, destinations, journey duration, limits, excesses and any private-travel extensions.
What may not be covered?
Corporate travel insurance is subject to policy conditions, limits, excesses and exclusions. Depending on the policy, cover may be restricted or unavailable for:
- pre-existing medical conditions that have not been assessed or accepted by the insurer, where required
- travel undertaken against medical advice or while unfit to travel
- events that were already known when the journey or insurance was arranged
- travel to destinations or activities outside the insured scope
- cancellation or delay costs recoverable from the airline, accommodation provider or other travel supplier
- travel-provider insolvency unless the policy expressly provides cover
- pandemic or epidemic-related losses outside the cover provided by the policy
- unattended baggage or failure to take reasonable care of belongings
- private or leisure travel outside any insured extension
This is not a complete list. Cover for natural disasters, civil unrest, terrorism, pregnancy, medical conditions, provider failure and other travel events differs materially between policies. The wording, schedule and circumstances determine how the insurance responds.
Example: an employee is injured during an overseas business trip
Illustrative example
An employee travels overseas to meet clients. During the trip, they fall and suffer injuries requiring hospital treatment and surgery.
The employee cannot take their scheduled flight home and needs additional accommodation and rehabilitation before they are medically cleared to travel. The business also needs to manage the work the employee can no longer complete.
The corporate travel insurer is notified. Depending on the policy and circumstances, eligible medical expenses, travel changes, additional accommodation and certain replacement-staff costs may be considered under the relevant sections of cover.
Example provided for general illustration only. Cover depends on the insurer, policy wording, journey definition, limits, exclusions and circumstances of the claim.
Travel advice and known events can affect cover
Travel insurance is designed around unforeseen events. If a risk or disruption is already known when travel is booked or cover is arranged, related losses may not be insured.
Businesses should check current Australian Government travel advice before booking and again before departure, particularly for overseas destinations.
Travel advice can also matter where a destination becomes affected by natural disaster, civil unrest, disease outbreak or another significant event. Cover varies, so businesses should check the policy rather than assume a change in travel advice automatically creates or removes cover.
Smartraveller advises that most standard travel insurance policies will not cover Level 4 ‘Do not travel’ destinations. The effect of any travel advice level should still be checked against the particular policy.
Corporate travel insurance across Australia
RMA Insurance Brokers assists businesses across rural, regional and metropolitan Australia with corporate travel insurance for domestic and overseas business journeys.
For regional businesses, work travel can include client visits, supplier meetings, industry events, conferences, training, project work and interstate or overseas travel that takes staff well beyond the business’s usual location.
We also work closely with rma network Livestock & Property Agents, many of whom travel for meetings, professional development and business activities across regional Australia.
Our services are not limited to rma network Members. Businesses across Australia can contact RMA Insurance Brokers for corporate travel insurance assistance.
Why RMA Insurance Brokers?
Corporate travel insurance needs to reflect who is travelling, where they are going and how the organisation’s travel program operates.
RMA Insurance Brokers can help you:
- review the business travel profile
- identify directors, employees and other travellers requiring consideration
- review domestic and overseas destinations
- consider trip duration and travel frequency
- review medical, cancellation, baggage and assistance benefits
- compare limits, excesses and relevant travel extensions
- assist with travel-related notifications and claims
Our Insight The next step to protecting your business explains how a structured risk review can inform insurance decisions, including travel arrangements.
The insurer remains responsible for determining claim entitlement under the policy and for any emergency-assistance services provided through the insurance arrangement.
Frequently asked questions
What does corporate travel insurance cover?
Depending on the policy, corporate travel insurance may include overseas medical and evacuation expenses, cancellation and disruption costs, baggage and travel documents, personal accident benefits, rental vehicle excess, personal liability and other business-travel benefits. Limits, exclusions and journey definitions vary between insurers.
Who can be covered under a corporate travel insurance policy?
Policies commonly cover specified directors, employees or other authorised travellers. Depending on the insurer and schedule, cover may also extend to accompanying spouses or dependants and selected private travel. The policy definition of an insured person should be checked.
Does corporate travel insurance cover domestic and overseas trips?
It can. Corporate travel policies can provide cover for eligible domestic and overseas business journeys, depending on the destinations, journey definition, policy limits and exclusions.
Are pre-existing medical conditions covered by corporate travel insurance?
Sometimes. Treatment of pre-existing medical conditions varies between insurers. Some conditions may be automatically covered, while others may require assessment, acceptance or an additional premium, and some may be excluded. Medical conditions should be disclosed where required.
Does corporate travel insurance cover cancelled flights and travel disruption?
It may. Depending on the policy and cause of the disruption, cover may include eligible cancellation, missed connection, additional travel or accommodation costs. Known events, carrier responsibility, available refunds or credits and policy exclusions can affect whether a claim is payable.
Related insurance
Business Insurance
Broader insurance for business property, interruption, theft, equipment and other commercial risks.
Workers Compensation Insurance
Statutory workplace cover considerations for employers, including worker classifications and scheme requirements.
Management Liability Insurance
Insurance considerations for directors, employment practices allegations, statutory matters and other management exposures.
Cyber Insurance
Insurance considerations for cyber incidents, data breaches, business interruption and incident-response costs.
Travel Insurance
Insurance considerations for private travel arranged by individuals and families, separate from a business travel program.
Claims Support
RMA Insurance Brokers support for businesses managing insurance claims and insurer communications.
Review your corporate travel insurance
Business travel changes as organisations grow, employees travel further and new destinations are added.
RMA Insurance Brokers can help you review whether your corporate travel insurance still reflects the people travelling, the journeys being taken and the risks the business wants to address.
The information on this page is general information only and does not take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. Cover is subject to the terms, conditions, limits and exclusions of the relevant policy. Insurance products and available cover vary between insurers. Please review the relevant policy documentation and obtain advice appropriate to your circumstances before making a decision.