The health insurance is meant to cover any medical conditions, injuries or accidents that may occur after the effective date of the policy.
Let it be the high healthcare costs or a visa requirement, the visitor health insurance is a must in Australia.
The insurance becomes even more important when the visitors are in old age, which is more prone to health-related issues.
The two most important parameters that families consider before buying insurance are: cost and the benefits, which may further include the level of the customer care and the fast claim process.
When looking for a visitor health insurance another question that comes to mind is if the service provider should be from the country of origin or Australia.
Here we share the experiences of four Indian-Australian families who have some suggestions that could help you make this decision.
Ajay's family's claim was rejected
Ajay’s parents came to Australia in 2016 to spend some quality time with his family.
They bought visitor health insurance from an Indian insurance company for an upfront amount of 50,000INR (approximately $1000AUD).
Due to an unforeseen heart condition, Ajay’s father was admitted to Monash Medical Centre (MMC) Melbourne.
Ajay tells SBS that they feel lucky to be staying near the hospital in Clayton, Melbourne.
"It was quick enough to get the medical facility at the MMC that helped save my father’s life."
“Ours is a middle standard family. I was keen but my father was not willing to pay for the expensive treatment here in Australia.”
“The hospital treatment expenses had already crossed $10,000. But I was under the impression that the insurance company will pay for it.”
“We talked to the hospital representatives and shared our financial conditions and insurance details.”
“To my surprise, they said they don’t have good experiences dealing with the two Indian insurance companies - B**** A***** Insurance and H***** insurance.”
SBS Punjabi has contacted Monash Medical Centre to verify the claim if these two insurance companies have a ‘bad name’ in their financial dealings.
Ajay shared his story with SBS Source: Photo Preetinder Grewal
"We are going through legal nightmares"
Ajay said that they were with B****, which left them with no option other than to travel back to India to get the hospital treatments.
“My father was in a stable condition. But what we could do, if we had to go through this heart surgery?”
“We are struggling to get back our claim money. But who’d have paid our expenses if the amount was more than double?”
“Now, we are going through legal nightmares. God knows if we ever be able to get this money back?”
“I really wish we’d have chosen an Australian company for this visitor insurance. At least, someone would have been listening to our complaint,” says Ajay.
Mr Singh's family struggled to get their $16,000 claim from an Indian insurance company
Mr Singh and his wife came to Melbourne to spend some quality time with his son’s family.
This is Mr Singh’s third trip to Australia. During the previous one year stay he had to go through an emergency heart operation.
Mr Singh had visitor health insurance from India, which was supposed to cover his one year journey to Australia.
He explains that the real challenge was to get his insurance claim.
“In India, it is ‘car scratch’ vs ‘car write off’ situation," he says.
"It is easy to get a claim for a GP visit ($100-150). But the problem is with higher costs."
"Moreover, the biggest catch here is the ‘pre-existing’ medical conditions. Visitors in old age tend to have all sorts of ailments. Let it be heart issues, diabetes, joint inflammation etc."
"But when I lodged the claim, the company refused it on the grounds that my heart problem is a ‘pre-existing’ condition, which they cannot cover."
"The documentation I had from Monash Hospital clearly mentioned that I had a sudden heart attack."
“Before this surgery, I did not had a heart problem. This was a sudden pain, which logically should be covered as a medical emergency.”
"When we paid our insurance premium no one asked us if we had any medical issues"
"I submitted my claims three times in a row. Initially, they declined it by saying that they don't cover pre-existing disease."
"But later, they paid the entire amount to the Hospital. They also paid the meager amount which was initially deposited in the hospital by my son."
“It was tough to fight against the system. I made numerous complaints and representations.”
“During this course, I came to know many sufferers who were waiting to get their cases resolved.”
“It was sheer harassment by the company. Thank God, at last I won!”
“I don’t want anyone else to go through this nightmare. Neither have I wanted to be a burden to my family, therefore, after careful scrutiny, now I have made my insurance with an Australian company.”
“In this arrangement, if you continue with your premium for one year, they will cover the pre-existing conditions also, which is quite a good relief for me and my family,” Mr Singh told SBS.
Health insurance claim can be a tedious work Source: Supplied
Ranjit Singh Khera’s family: got more than $50,000 claim from an Australian insurance company
Speaking to SBS Punjabi, the family explained why they prefer Australian companies over Indian insurance companies for travel/health insurance.
The most of the Indian insurance companies are not meant to cover the existing or ongoing problems of visitors travelling to Australia.
But if the person is healthy now, it does not mean that he/she will remain healthy forever. Moreover, the accidents or injuries can happen at any time.
Ranjit Singh Khera’s family has been living in Sydney for the last 25 years.
A few years back, Mr Singh’s mother came to see his family from Punjab, India.
In an emergency, she had to be admitted to Westmead Hospital in western Sydney where she then died.
Mr Singh mentioned that he was very thankful to the hospital for their service.
“The doctors and hospital staff were lovely people. They were very kind, considerate and upfront all the time. They did their best to save my mother.”
“They helped us arrange all the paperwork for the insurance claim that had crossed $80,000.”
While explaining why the family chose an Australian insurance company, Ranjit Khera explains that they had a prior bad experience with an Indian insurance company which did not cover his mother’s medical claim of a GP visit.
Ranjit Khera from Sydney shares his struggle to claim health insurance Source: Supplied
“So this time, we were careful to make our choices, and had our insurance with an Australian company.”
“While signing the insurance sign-up paperwork, we mentioned all the pre-existing conditions that my mother had.”
"If it was to be an Indian company, it’d have been tough to make representation and legal battles back in India.”
“Everything was on the paper. Still, it was tough to get the full claim back. We had about 60% of our original claim. If it was to be an Indian company, it’d have been tough to make representation and legal battles back in India.”
“I am glad that we made our choices carefully. It can happen to anyone.”
“Sometimes migrant families take it lightly. But it just takes few seconds to make things upside down.”
“The idea is not to save a small amount of money but to sadly accept and expect the un-expected,” says Mr Khera.
Swarn Singh Barnala’s family: had no health insurance
This Sydney-based family had no insurance and they had to go through a bad financial phase to pay back more than $15,000 in installments.
Swarn Singh Barnala’s family, like any other young migrant family, had to go through some initial struggles to make their life happen in Sydney.
Due to a previous bad experience, he wants to raise awareness about the importance of health insurance especially in the old-age parents who visit Australia.
Singh’s father came to Sydney on a visitor visa. Life was good until he was admitted to Westmead Hospital in Western Sydney pertaining to an ongoing asthmatic health issue.
Singh still remembers that day – “My father’s life was saved, thanks to the medical system. That’s the beauty of this country; they don’t ask you how much money you have in your pocket.”
“The medical expenses were more than $15,000. When I checked with the travel agent back in India, he said its ‘ok’ to go ahead with travel insurance.”
“But later, we realised that there was no insurance in place. But the hospital was very kind to get this amount in small installments, which we paid later in the years.”
“The unfortunate fact is that many travel agents and elderly parents in India don’t understand the importance and the concept of health insurance.”
"My father’s life was saved, thanks to the medical system."
“The healthcare system is good here but very expensive. Most people in India would not realise the high healthcare costs in Australia.”
“A mistake to save small amount of money could make you bear the burden if something were to happen.”
“Therefore, I’d request everyone to buy visitor health insurance. Convince your family esp the old age parents to go for safer options and to protect the future of your own children.”
“I always buy my visitors insurance from Australian companies as they are easy to deal with specifically when it comes to make a medical expense claim,” says Mr Singh.
If you wish to share your experience with a medical insurance company (good or bad), please contact us on
Swarn Barnala from Sydney has some useful advice on travel/health insurance Source: Supplied
