Travel Insurance for Australia-Based Travellers: Insure&Go vs Tick vs Cover-More vs Butter — a Broker's Comparison (2026)
Travel insurance is the policy my clients most often think they have, and most often discover they don’t. Two patterns repeat every year: a permanent resident who assumes their migration didn’t change their existing health coverage, and a credit-card-cover holder who finds out at the airport their card’s policy doesn’t activate unless the flight was paid on the card. In both cases the trip happens, often the trip is fine, and occasionally it isn’t.
This is the broker’s take on the Australia-domiciled travel insurance market, written for clients who fly back to their origin country regularly, who travel to Europe and Southeast Asia for holiday, and who occasionally do the ski-resort trip or the diving trip that quietly voids 80% of generic policies.
Why this matters for newly-arrived and recently-settled migrants
A few things change once you’re an Australian resident:
- Reciprocal health care agreements (RHCA) between Australia and certain countries (UK, NZ, Italy, Belgium, Malta, Finland, Norway, Slovenia, Netherlands, Sweden, Ireland) cover some emergency public-system treatment but not evacuation, not private hospital, and rarely outpatient or trip disruption.
- Visa-tied health insurance (OSHC, OVHC) typically covers you while you are inside Australia, not when you fly internationally.
- Credit card complimentary cover works only when activated correctly — usually by paying the substantive portion of the international fare on the card, and registering before departure.
- Pre-existing conditions are the biggest unspoken risk. If you have asthma, hypertension, diabetes, an old back injury or a recent surgery, the default policy won’t cover anything related to it without a separate medical declaration and (often) an extra premium.
The four products below sit at different points on that map.
Insure&Go — depth on senior travel and complex medical declarations
Insure&Go is the largest online specialist in the Australian market by award count — they’ve won 18 separate awards in the past 10 years, with the 2023 Canstar Outstanding Value for Seniors Travel Insurance and Outstanding Value for International Travel Insurance being the most relevant.
What this tells you is that their underwriting is set up to handle the medical-declaration step properly. The online quote tool walks through pre-existing conditions one by one — heart conditions, lung conditions, cancer history, diabetes, blood pressure — and re-prices accordingly. Many of my older clients (parents on Subclass 143 contributory parent visa, or partner visa applicants in their 60s travelling back to country of origin) end up with Insure&Go precisely because the declaration process is more thorough.
Trade-off: not the cheapest for healthy young travellers doing a short Asia trip. For that profile, Tick is usually $30-60 cheaper for similar cover.
Tick Travel Insurance — value-oriented for healthy travellers
Tick is the value pick of this comparison. They run a smaller product range, faster quote process, 24/7 emergency assistance, and consider pre-existing conditions but with less granularity than Insure&Go. For a healthy 25-45 year old taking a 2-week Japan trip or a 10-day Bali trip, Tick will typically come in at the lowest price point for a comparable cover level.
Their claims experience is, in my client conversations, generally smooth on the standard stuff — luggage delay, flight cancellation, medical evacuation. The complexity comes when there’s a pre-existing condition involved that wasn’t fully declared. Be honest on the form.
Cover-More — brand-strength, adventure cover, multi-trip annual
Cover-More is the brand most Australians recognise; over 1 million Australians buy a Cover-More policy each year. They are owned by Zurich Insurance Group, which matters when you’re claiming against a major medical evacuation — there’s underwriter depth behind the local AU operation.
The reason I send adventure-leaning clients to Cover-More is the optional pack ecosystem. Standard policies exclude or limit ski cover, scuba above 30m, motorcycle/scooter (above certain engine size), cruise-specific cover, and certain off-trail activities. Cover-More’s add-on packs are explicit, well-priced and not subject to the buried-T&C exclusions that catch out claimants on cheaper alternatives.
For frequent travellers who do 4-6 trips a year (typical of my Arrivau clients who maintain family ties in China, India, the Philippines or the UK), the Cover-More multi-trip annual policy is usually cheaper than buying four single-trip policies. Worth running the math.
Butter Insurance — the newer entrant for modern travellers
Butter is a newer brand in the Australian travel insurance market. Their pitch is simple, app-first travel insurance for “modern explorers” — Europe, Japan, Bali, the long-haul-once-a-year crowd. Quote process is fast, the claims interface is digital, and the cover is solid for the mainstream traveller profile.
Where Butter fits in this comparison: travellers who don’t have material pre-existing conditions, don’t do adventure activities, want a fast quote and want a brand that feels current rather than the legacy insurance look. The 24/7 emergency support behind the policy is real.
If you’re booking a 2-week Europe trip for a 32-year-old couple with no medical history, Butter and Tick are the two I’d put in the same shortlist. Run quotes against both for the same dates.
→ Get a quote from Butter Insurance
The five questions to ask before you pick any of them
Whatever you sign, run these checks first:
- Pre-existing medical declarations — list everything you’ve seen a doctor for in the last 24 months, including blood pressure and cholesterol medication. Under-declaring is the number one cause of denied claims.
- Trip cost vs cancellation limit — if you’ve prepaid $8,000 of business-class fares and accommodation, a policy with a $5,000 cancellation cap isn’t going to do the job. Match the cap to your actual prepayment.
- Activity exclusions — if you ski, scuba, ride a motorcycle/scooter at destination, or do any organised group adventure, check whether you need an add-on pack or a different product entirely.
- Medical evacuation cap — emergency evacuation from a remote destination back to Australia can cost $250,000 to $500,000. Make sure the policy cap is above that. Most decent policies are now unlimited; some budget products cap at $50,000-$100,000.
- 24/7 assistance number — save it in your phone before departure. The claim process always starts with that call, even if your insurer also has an app.
Where a broker view diverges from what you’ll read on a comparison site
Comparison sites optimise for headline premium and surface star ratings. That works for the standard 30-day Asia trip. It fails for:
- Older travellers (60+) where Insure&Go and Cover-More’s medical declaration process is the differentiator;
- Multi-trip annual for frequent flyers, where the total annual cost is what matters, not the per-trip premium;
- Pre-existing conditions where a $40 cheaper policy that excludes your relevant condition isn’t actually cheaper.
For my newer migration clients — particularly those bringing parents on extended visa stays back to country of origin — the conversation always ends in either Insure&Go (medical-thorough) or Cover-More (brand + Zurich behind it). For independent younger travellers, Tick or Butter are the value picks.
About the author
Ben Wu is the Director of Arrivau Pty Ltd (ABN 81 643 901 599) and UNILINK Education Pty Ltd (ABN 50 152 187 650), Sydney-based businesses serving migrants and international students entering Australia. He is a Registered Migration Agent (MARN 1687552), holds a PIER QEAC accreditation (G167), is an Australian Credit Licence holder under the Arrivau group, and a NSW Justice of the Peace. Office: 16/650 George St, Sydney NSW 2000.
This article is general commentary, not personal advice. Travel insurance products are issued by their respective underwriters; always read the Product Disclosure Statement and Target Market Determination before purchasing. Affiliate links may earn Arrivau a commission at no additional cost to you; commission does not influence the editorial ranking above. Pre-existing condition rules, exclusions and policy limits are set by the insurer and may change.