Suspending your membership while travelling overseas

A membership may be suspended when travelling overseas for work or leisure. If you are travelling overseas, you may choose to suspend your membership for this time. Suspending your membership means you won’t be covered for any service or treatment for the duration of your suspension.
 

How long can I suspend my membership for?

As a domestic health insurance customer, you can suspend your membership:

  • For a minimum of two months
  • For a maximum of two years at a time
  • If you re-suspend a two-year suspension, you can do this up to a maximum of six years
  • Up to two suspensions per calendar year
  • At least one month of active, paid cover must occur between each suspension period

 

As an overseas visitor health insurance customer, you can suspend your membership:

  • For a minimum of one month
  • For a maximum of nine months at a time
  • Up to two suspensions per calendar year 
  • At least six months of active, paid cover must occur between each suspension period

 

Am I eligible to suspend my membership?

As a domestic health insurance customer, you can suspend your membership if you:

  • Have held your cover for at least twelve months
  • Are up to date in your payments at the time you want to suspend
  • Apply for a suspension before you want the suspension to begin (we can’t do it retrospectively)
  • Notify us via phone, letter or by completing a suspension form [PDF, 52 KB]
  • Notify us of your return to Australia within 30 days of arriving

 

As an overseas visitor health insurance customer, you can suspend your membership if you:  

  • Have held your cover for at least two months
  • Are up to date in your payments at the time you want to suspend. 
  • Apply for a suspension before you want the suspension to begin (we can’t do it retrospectively) 
  • Notify us via phone, email, letter or by completing an OVC membership suspension form [PDF, 349 KB]
  • Notify us of your return to Australia within 14 days of arriving.
     

How can I contact you to suspend my membership?

It’s easy. Simply have your travel dates confirmed and make the request by either;

Suspensions and your direct debit arrangement

If your suspension period is:

  • Less than four months, your direct debit arrangement will continue when your membership resumes.
  • Over four months, you will need to notify Bupa if you would like your direct debit arrangements to start again upon return, otherwise you’ll receive a renewal notice requesting payment.
     

Do I serve waiting periods while I am suspended?

While on suspension your membership is paused entirely. If you are still within waiting periods from an upgrade, these will pause and once your membership recommences you will continue serving your waiting periods.

If you’ve already served all waiting periods, your membership will resume where you left off and should you need to claim, you’ll receive the benefit applicable to your level of cover, subject to fund and policy rules.

Important things you need to know while your membership is suspended

If we don’t hear from you and you don’t resume your cover within 30 days of when you return, the policy will be reinstated and ultimately cancelled if no premiums are received.

If you hold a Domestic Hospital cover policy, while you’re on suspension you’ll be considered as not holding an appropriate level of Hospital Cover. At the end of the financial year, if your income is likely to be subjected to means testing for the Medicare Levy Surcharge (MLS) as part of your tax return, you may need to pay the surcharge in addition to the Medicare Levy, for the period of your suspension. For more information, speak to your tax advisor.

If you hold a Domestic Hospital cover policy, return from suspension within two years and you’ve made a payment on your membership, your new premium won’t incur the Lifetime Health Cover (LHC) loading. After you resume your membership, any period for which it is not paid will be classed as absent days so it’s important to keep your membership active.