A Bali monkey that swiped a tourist’s phone, smiled at staff attempting a fruit bribe and then dropped it into the ocean below. A speedboat selfie gone wrong. A phone lost to severe Bali belly in the worst possible way. These are just some of the claims Southern Cross Travel Insurance has processed from Australian travellers over the past three years.
SCTI has handled more than 1,330 mobile phone claims in that period, with the average payout sitting at over $1,013. The data paints a picture of a nation of travellers who are deeply attached to their devices, and increasingly at risk of losing them.
Jess Strange, SCTI Chief Customer Officer, said phones had become one of the most important items travellers carried, making their loss particularly stressful.
“From storing boarding passes, hotel bookings and digital wallets, to navigating maps and capturing once-in-a-lifetime memories, our phones have become one of the most important items we travel with. But as our data shows, they can disappear in an instant, whether they’re knocked out of your hand on a speedboat or swiped by a cheeky local monkey,” Ms Strange said.
Crowded events emerged as major risk zones, with phones stolen at Thailand’s Full Moon Parties and Manchester’s Parklife Festival, including one claim where a phone was taken from a zipped crossbody bag while being worn. Water proved a repeat offender, with claims involving capsizing kayaks in Portugal and Fiji, and a selfie drop from a moving boat that cost one traveller $1,240.
Ms Strange urged travellers to check their policy before departing, particularly around depreciation.
“Many people don’t realise insurance policies generally take into account the age, wear and tear of electronic items. So, if you’re travelling with a three-year-old phone, you may not receive the cash equivalent of a brand-new model if it is lost or damaged,” Ms Strange said.
SCTI recommends travellers report theft to local police immediately, remotely erase data if a phone is unrecoverable, change passwords on all key accounts from another device and contact their provider to blacklist the IMEI number.
