The majority of travel insurance premiums have not changed during the past 12 months despite a stronger dollar and a spate of global natural disasters, according to Canstar Cannex.

Its latest review of the sector finds 78 out of 178 travel insurance products made no changes to premiums during the 12 months ending September.

Some 48 products did have their premiums increased during the period, while 31 had their rates fall. There were also 21 new products launched on the Australian market during the year.

“The travel insurance business remains very competitive, and therefore shopping around is in the best interests of would-be travellers,” Canstar says in its report.

“The bottom line is that if one insurance company won’t cover your travel needs, another one will.”

In this year’s ratings, Southern Cross Travel Insurance was awarded five stars in the international segment for the third consecutive year. Sharing the top spot was Columbus Direct.

In the domestic travel segment, Allianz-backed SkyCover and Virgin Australia, through its Travel Extras program, were both awarded five stars.

The medical travel insurance segment winners were iTrek and Zuji Australia, both having earned five stars in the previous three years.

To pick the winners Canstar looked at coverage for singles, couples and families travelling either within Australia or offshore to Asia, Europe, the Pacific or around the world.