One in Seven Australians Fly Overseas With Zero Travel Insurance, and Vietnam’s Storm Season Just Made This the Worst Week to Try It

One in seven Australians — 14 percent — took their most recent overseas trip with no travel insurance at all, according to a joint survey by the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) and Smartraveller, conducted by Quantum Market Research and published 21 October 2025. That figure lands at an awkward moment: Vietnam, now one of the fastest-growing destinations for Australian travellers, has entered the highest-risk stretch of its storm season, which Smartraveller's advisory confirms runs June to November.

How many Australians actually skip travel insurance

The joint ICA and Smartraveller survey of 1,001 travellers found 14 percent went on their last overseas trip with absolutely no cover — a figure that climbs to 23 percent among travellers under 30. Most were not simply careless: 65 percent said they had actually given it some thought before deciding against a policy, and the single biggest reason, cited by 31 percent, was a belief that their destination was safe enough not to need one. Separately, 45 percent said they were willing to take on risk in pursuit of a memorable trip.

What is happening in Vietnam right now that makes this the wrong week to gamble

Vietnam is now one of Australia's fastest-growing outbound destinations: almost 520,000 Australians visited in 2025, up 19 percent on the year before, with arrivals through the first seven months of 2026 running 22.5 percent higher again. Smartraveller's standing advisory confirms Vietnam's storm season runs from June through November, warning of heavy rain, floods, landslides and typhoons that can disrupt flights, roads, power, transport and phone services — with September to November carrying the heaviest combined risk of typhoons and high-tide flooding in low-lying and riverside areas, exactly the period Australian travellers are booking into right now. Smartraveller's advice is to check weather updates, follow local authorities, confirm flight and tour status before travelling, and make sure any policy bought actually covers severe weather.

The exclusions catching people out

The awareness gap is not only about whether people buy a policy — it is about what the policy they buy actually covers. Ninety-three percent of insured travellers in the same survey did not know about at least one common exclusion in their own policy. A few show up repeatedly:

That middle row is not theoretical for anyone booking around live weather. If a storm bearing down on Vietnam is already public knowledge when a traveller buys their policy, insurers can — and do — treat it as a known event rather than a covered surprise.

What this means if you are planning a Nepal trek instead

What this means for you

Buy travel insurance before you need it, not after a storm or a headline makes the risk obvious — that is the exact moment insurers stop treating it as an accident. And read the altitude line on your policy: a standard travel policy bought for a beach holiday will often cap emergency medical and evacuation cover at an altitude far below what a trek to Everest Base Camp or the Annapurna region actually reaches. Ask your insurer, in writing, what altitude your policy stops covering before you fly — do not assume a policy that covers Vietnam automatically covers the Khumbu.

Does travel insurance cover storms and flooding in Vietnam?

Usually, if the policy was bought before the storm was named or widely reported. Once a specific storm is public knowledge, a known-event exclusion can apply — buy cover before you book, not after the forecast turns bad.

What is a known-event exclusion?

It is a clause that lets an insurer decline a claim for a risk — a strike, a storm, an outbreak — that was already publicly known when the policy was purchased. It rewards buying insurance early.

Does standard travel insurance cover trekking in Nepal?

Not always above a certain altitude. Many standard policies cap medical and evacuation cover at a specific altitude and require a separate high-altitude or adventure-activity rider for treks that go higher, including most Everest and Annapurna routes.

Cover photo: Lâm Trần via Pexels (Pexels License). Section photos: Josh Withers via Pexels (Pexels licence); Ketut Subiyanto via Pexels (Pexels licence); Sachith Ravishka Kodikara via Pexels (Pexels licence); SHVETS production via Pexels (Pexels licence); Julieta Camila Tosto via Pexels (Pexels licence).