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Travel Insurance which covers Coronavirus
We explain which travel policies will offer protection when it comes to Covid-19 claims
Travel Insurance providing Cancellation Cover relating to Coronavirus
At the present time we are unaware of any insurer who would sell a policy at this time covering:
The costs of cancelling, amending or curtailing a booking due to coronavirus disruption or the costs of cancelling or amending a booking should you, a travelling companion or a relative fall ill prior to travel.
This is because Covid-19 is now deemed to be a 'known event'
Travel Insurers who will cover Medical Expenses should you fall ill whilst on holiday due to Covid-19
- No cover under Cancellation & Curtailment for any claims arising directly or indirectly from any epidemic or pandemic, including Coronavirus disease (COVID-19). This includes any preventative, containment or delay measures.
- Medical Expenses Cover included for COVID19 while travelling as long as FCO are not issuing advice against travel.
- Annual Multi Trip Policies include 15 months cover for the price of 12
- No cover under new policies for any cancellation claims in relation to COVID-19 or SARS-COV-2 or any mutation of these, or for cancellation due to FCO advice against travel being brought into force.
- Only covers emergency medical costs for Coronavirus while you are away (and the FCO are not restricting it to essential only travel). but a useful option if you either are a non UK resident or are already abroad.
- Good option if you either are a non UK resident or are already abroad (ensure you visit the specialist pages on their site).
Travel Insurance offering cover during the Coronavirus pandemic
We buy travel insurance to cover a wide range of risks including the theft of our baggage, through medical costs should we fall ill, to cancellation costs because we cannot go on our well earned break.
And undoubtedly our advise is always to make sure you have travel insurance in place to ensure that if you need to fall back on that cancellation cover that you can do so from the day you start paying for your holiday. Normally this is months before your break when you pay the deposit on your holiday or buy the flights for your trip abroad.
And just because of coronavirus our advise has not changed - because if you need to cancel that holiday because you are unfortunate enough to break a leg which stops you from flying, or a relative falls badly ill with a illness that is not connected to Covid-19 you still want to be able to claim in that instance.
However now there is more to consider.
Does Travel insurance cover me if I need to cancel due to coronavirus?
The are currently no policies that we are aware of that will cover this situation. This includes the following circumstances behind your cancellation:
- You or a travelling companion fall ill with Covid-19
- You cannot travel because Foreign Office advice (or a Government imposed lockdown) is imposed due to Coronavirus
- Another country prevent you from entering or impose a quarentine peeriod making travel impossible
Whilst policies bought before mid March for travel arranged before that time may well be cover cancellation for cancellation (depending on the particular policy you purchased) those bought later, or trip arranged after will not as Coronavirus is a 'known event' and insurers declared that they would not cover it in future.
One point to be aware of is that most policies do not cover curtailment either - this means that you would not be covered for extra costs if, halfway through your break you had to come home due to the virus
If I now book a holiday am I covered if I get Coronavirus whilst on holiday?
You need to be very careful. Many policies are not covering any Covid-19 related claims - but there are some out there who are - and we list a selection below:
Insurefor - don't cover Covid related cancellations or curtailment costs - but do cover medical costs should you catch Coronavirus whilst away.
WorldwideInsure Similar in only covering emergency medical costs for coronavirus while you are away (and the FCO say its OK), but a useful option if you either are a non UK resident or are already abroad. Do make sure you visit the appropriate page on their site if you require their specialist services.
Travel4Medical - A good option if you need to cover any pre-existing medical conditions as well. Again only emergency medical expenses (including Hospital Benefit) covered for Covid-19 (and you won't be covered if you travel against FCO, any local government, local authority or WHO advice).
Be careful that the advice from the appropriate authorities does not either ban travel or recommend against it - as your policy will niot proivide cover in that case.
This content was last reviewed on 04/05/2020