Virgin Australia stops pre-selection of travel insurance on its booking platform
Following discussions with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), Virgin Australia has stopped the pre-selection of travel insurance on its booking platform, which means that its customers will no longer need to deselect travel insurance if they don’t wish to purchase it.
ACCC chairman Rod Sims said that the ACCC has been engaging with domestic airlines to seek their agreement to terminate the practice of pre-selection. “The ACCC has been concerned that the ‘opt-out’ model means that a number of consumers inadvertently end up paying for unwanted ‘pre-ticked’ extras,” he explained, adding that the ACCC welcomes Virgin Australia’s decision and is now calling on other domestic airlines to follow suit. “We’re certainly hopeful that they will make changes voluntarily in the short term, to the benefit of their customers, or the ACCC will explore other options,” he said.