Amex Airpoints Platinum insurance: which trips does the Chubb cover actually pay for?

Covers non-refundable deposits, prepaid excursions and unused travel and accommodation costs up to $30,000 per trip when you have to cancel or cut the trip short for a listed reason. Listed reasons include the illness, injury or death of you, a travelling companion or a close relative aged 80 or under, redundancy, jury service, and a delay of more than 24 hours on the outward leg. Airpoints Dollars lost on a cancelled ticket are paid back at the ticket's retail price if they cannot be recovered. A $250 excess applies.

Pays emergency treatment overseas up to $2,500,000, after a $250 excess per claim, for card members under 80 who are in good health and fit to travel. Chubb Assistance must approve any medical cost above $1,500 before you incur it, wherever you physically can call. Costs incurred in New Zealand are never covered, and ACC (the Accident Compensation Corporation) and the public health system pay nothing overseas.

Pays to move you to the nearest hospital, evacuate you to a better-equipped one, or bring you home to New Zealand when Chubb Assistance's senior medical officer approves it. The policy wording sets no dollar limit on this benefit: Section D pays repatriation or evacuation once Chubb Assistance approves it, and only the cost of treatment is capped at $2,500,000. If you die on the trip, it pays to bring your remains home, or for a local burial up to $15,000.

Pays emergency dental treatment overseas up to $1,000 when sudden dental pain needs treatment that cannot wait until you are home. The $250 medical excess applies, so a small filling can cost you more than the claim pays. Dentures, crowns and orthodontics are excluded.

No hospital cash allowance. This benefit is not included with this card. No daily allowance is paid during a hospital stay overseas, so the incidental costs of an admission are yours to cover.

Pays other reasonable additional expenses up to $5,000 when you have to cancel or cut short a trip for a listed reason, such as a serious illness or a delay of more than 24 hours on the outward leg. It sits inside the $30,000 cancellation cover rather than as a separate disruption benefit. A $250 excess applies.

If your scheduled flight is delayed 4 hours or more, cancelled, or you are bumped from an overbooked flight with no alternative within 4 hours, the card pays hotel and meal costs up to $500. When two or more covered people claim for the same event, the most it pays is $1,000. The costs must be charged to the Airpoints Platinum Card, and no excess applies.

If an unforeseeable delay outside your control means you would miss a wedding, funeral, prepaid conference, 25th or 50th wedding anniversary or sporting event, the card pays the extra cost of alternative public transport to get there on time, up to $5,000. A missed flight connection with no onward option within 4 hours is handled separately, with up to $500 for hotel and meals.

If you fly home to New Zealand because a close relative aged 80 or under dies, is about to die, or is seriously injured or ill, the card pays the extra cost of going back and finishing the trip, up to $5,000. You must resume within 30 days, with at least a fortnight or 25% of the trip still to run. Cutting the trip short for the same reason counts as a curtailment under the cancellation cover, which pays unused bookings and up to $5,000 of extra costs.

If your checked bag has not arrived 6 hours after you land, the card pays for emergency clothing and toiletries up to $500, and up to another $500 once the delay reaches 48 hours. The purchases must go on the Airpoints Platinum Card and you need the airline's property irregularity report. Delays on your flight back into New Zealand are not covered.

Pays for lost, stolen or damaged baggage and personal items up to $30,000 in any 365-day period, not per trip. Each item, pair or set, or valuable is capped at $2,000, a smartphone at $1,000 and a laptop at $5,000, with payouts based on current price less wear and tear. The excess is $100 per claim, or $250 for a laptop.

Lost or stolen cash, travellers' cheques, travel tickets, passports, visas and driving licences are paid up to $500, inside the baggage cover. The $100 baggage excess applies, so a $300 loss returns $200. Report the loss to the police within 48 hours and get a written report.

Pays damages you become legally liable for during a trip, for injuring someone or damaging their property, up to $2,000,000 for one cause. Do not admit fault or offer payment without Chubb's written consent. Liability from vehicles, firearms, your work or Special Sports is excluded.

Pays your estate $10,000 if an accident on the trip causes your death within a year, and $1,000 for each dependent child. A separate transport accident benefit pays up to $800,000 for death, or for losing limbs or sight, while riding a common carrier (any licensed airline, bus, train, ferry or taxi) on a trip whose full fare went on the card. Only the higher of the two is paid for one accident.

No loss of income cover. This benefit is not included with this card. Injured in Bali and off work for 8 weeks on your return, you get no income replacement from this card, and ACC weekly compensation only applies to injuries ACC covers.

A trip within New Zealand more than 150 km from home counts as a covered trip when its full fare went on the card or Airpoints Dollars, so the same $30,000 cancellation cover applies. Non-refundable flights, accommodation and prepaid excursions are paid back after a $250 excess when a listed reason forces you to cancel.

On a domestic trip more than 150 km from home, a scheduled flight delayed 4 hours or more, cancelled or overbooked with no alternative within 4 hours pays hotel and meals up to $500 per person, and $1,000 per event. Charge the costs to the Airpoints Platinum Card and keep the receipts.

Reasonable additional expenses up to $5,000 are paid when a domestic trip over 150 km from home is cancelled or cut short for a listed reason. This sits inside the $30,000 cancellation cover and carries the $250 excess.

Baggage cover applies on domestic trips over 150 km from home too, within the same $30,000 a year shared with overseas trips, with $2,000 per item and a $100 excess per claim. Valuables in checked luggage and items left unattended are excluded.

If your checked bag misses a domestic flight to your destination by 6 hours, essential clothing and toiletries are paid up to $500, plus up to $500 more after 48 hours. The purchases must go on the card, and the 48-hour benefit never applies once you are back home.