Renewing annual travel insurance to cover Swine Flu/Pandemics?

wife-spent-it-all

I have an annual worldwide family policy taken out in July 2008 with Elvia which is now due for renewal. I booked a Florida holiday with Virgin in August 2008 for this coming December 2009.

Looking at the current Elvia policy wording they specifically exclude cover for pandemics, which according to the WHO Swine Flu now is. Therefore I'm left with the issue of buying a policy from another provider - currently thinking about Fortis as they seem to be recommended here reasonably often and their current policy wording doesn't exclude pandemics.

However given that I'm taking the policy out after Swine Flu has broken out, am I likely to be covered if the FCO start advising against travel to USA in December, or if any of my family or I contract it whilst out in Florida and need medical attention etc?

Is this really the rock and a hard place scenario it appears to be or am I worrying uncessarily?

Thanks
Ian

wife-spent-it-all

ooops I did actually mean this to go in the Pure Money -> Insurance & Life Assurance forum, but i happened to be viewing another insurance post in this forum that i found via the search and then hit the New Thread button.:o

If any admins think it should be moved, I'm happy for that to happen

dacouch

I suspect in the current climate they will pay out for cancellation claims (I assume you are reffering to cancellation).

In my view a pandamic is not currently "Foreseen" in the USA (Insurance does not cover foreseeable problems)

wife-spent-it-all

yes cancellations was a worry, but its also falling ill whilst on holiday as well. In December the weather in Florida is much warmer than the UK so we're probably far more likely to catch this flu in the UK than we are in Florida.

If the FCO advises against travel then am I right in assuming that we would get a refund from the holiday company because in effect they would be canceling our holiday for us?

I think its probably much more likely that we would have to cancel because one of us has swine flu at the time we are departing. If that was the case would the airline refuse to let us fly? If they refused to board us on the plane, would that be the same as them cancelling our holiday so would they have to refund the costs or would we still have to claim from the insurance?

I suspect in the current climate they will pay out for cancellation claims

"I suspect" is a little different from "They must"
From what i hear about insurance companies they would rather looks for reasons not to pay out than reasons to pay out. The fact that the WHO have now classed swine flu as a global pandemic probably gives them that get out clause, and "global" must mean it covers the USA too.

Sorry for all the questions.

dacouch

The reason I cannot guarantee they will pay is that Insurance covers un foreseen events happening, basically if you know something will happen then Insurance generally excludes it.

The Fortis Policy from a broker (The Post Office policy is not as wide), in effect covers cancellation of your holiday for whatever reasons subject to some exclusions which are listed in the policy under the cancellation section and general exclusions.

As the Swine Flu is such an unusal situation and could potentially cause many many claims it is a unique set of circumstances (The bird flu problems originally looked serious but turned out to only affect a few countries for a relatively short period of time). I suspect that if you booked a trip to Florida today and arranged travel insurance today with Fortis (Or a company whose wording was such as it would include cover for cancelling for swine flu / a pandemic then they would pay for the claim for cancellation. The reason I say this is that the Foreign Office are not currently eg today advising against travel for UK citizens to Florida. The reason I'm excersising caution is that we currently know swine flu could potentially be a reason to need to cancel.so because of this unless Fortis confirm they will cover it as of this date I would rather not guarantee it. (You could ring Fortis and ask them to clarify whether they cover it for trips to Florida, make sure you take the persons name and the date / time if you do).

Here is a press release from Fortis whcih was issued when the problems affected mexico http://www.fortisinsurance.co.uk/policyholders/news/press-releases/Details/?newsID=76

With regard to medical costs, virtually all travel policies include cover for treatment for Swine Flu. There are some that have started to exclude claims for swine flu or have an exclusion for claims caused by pandemics. So the best way to find if its covered is to check their policy wording or ring them (Take the persons name / time). Please note that all travel policies will exclude medical claims if you travel to a country against the advice of the Foreign Office.

Here is the Fortis Policy Wording (This is the broker only policy the Post Office Policy has a different wording) http://www.fortisinsurance.co.uk/images/pdf/533.pdf

Here is the relevant wording from the Fortis (Broker Policy) for whats covered on cancellations (Page 14) "What is covered
We will repay you for your expenses you
have paid or legally have to pay for travel
and accommodation which you do not use
if you have no choice but to cancel the trip
because of events beyond your control
which start during the period of insurance"

PLEASE ENSURE YOU ALSO READ WHAT IS EXCLUDED FOR CANCELLATIONS

Here is the Fortis policy wording from the Post Office http://www.postoffice.co.uk/portal/po/content1?catId=19300208&mediaId=19500189&keyname=ti_terms Here is what Fortis cover for cancellations for the Post Office Policy (Note they specify what you are covered for rather than saying for any reason beyond your control "Section 1 – Cancellation and Curtailment
1. We will pay you up to £5,000 for unused travel and accommodation charges (including unused kennel and cattery expenses up to £250) which are not recoverable elsewhere and which you have paid or contracted to pay should you have to cancel your trip before you leave your home or place of business as a result of the following commencing during the period of insurance:
a) Your death, injury or illness or that of your travelling companion, the person you are going to stay with, a close relative or colleague.
b) You or your travelling companion being required by the police to stay at home as a result of burglary, or serious damage by fire, explosion, subsidence, storm flooding, vandalism, fallen tree or impact by aircraft or vehicle to your or their home or usual place of business in the United Kingdom.
c) You or your travelling companion being required for jury service or as a witness in a court of law in the United Kingdom.
d) You being made involuntarily redundant if you are under 65 and have 2 years’ continuous employment with the same employer.
e) You or your travelling companion having agreed leave subsequently cancelled by the emergency services or armed forces, for operational reasons. This cover does not apply to cancellation of leave due to war, invasion, acts of terrorism, hostilities (whether war be declared or not), civil unrest, revolution, rebellion, act of foreign enemy or any similar event."

PLEASE ENSURE YOU READ WHAT IS EXCLUDED AS WELL

You should note travel policies do not cover cancellation due to disinclination to travel eg you decide you do not want to go rather than not going on the Foreign Offices Advice.

In a lot of cases, the travel operator will pay the cancellation costs or will offer an alternative destination if the Foreign Office advise against travel.

wife-spent-it-all

Thanks dacouch

I had looked at the Fortis policy the other day on their website and noticed that they are one of the few who don't have a general exclusion for pandemics in their policy wording. I would have bought one online at that time but they insist you go through a broker - strange choice but i guess its theirs to make. AXA also don't have the pandemic wording but they don't seem to be as highly recommended.

It's been a while since I've dealt with an insurance broker as I've had a company car for a couple of years now but a broker i have previously used for car insurance does appear of the Fortis broker list. However going to the broker's website and selecting travel insurance wants to redirect me to Europ Assistance - I'll phone them in the morning but i guess i will have to ask for a Fortis policy directly which means a more cynical person might think this gives the broker the opportunity of charging more or less what they want.

You've said the post office policy isn't as good as a broker policy - does that also apply to the Alliance and Leicester policy as well?

dacouch

The A&L is not as comprehensive as the broker policy as it specifies what they cover rather than for any reason beyond your control (Obviously subject to the excluded reasons they show).

Why don't you just ring the broker and ask for a Fortis Policy, they normally issue them there and then and send them in the post. The advantage of using a broker rather than a website is the part of the brokers job is to explain the cover and ensure it is suitable for you. If they miss advise or miss sell the policy then you can sue the broker. If you buy a policy and miss read the information or buy the wrong policy it is no ones fault but your own so you have no one to use (Unless of course the website is incorrect).

If a broker charges you a fee on top of the premium they have to tell you.

A good tip for you, is Fortis pay brokers 25% commission or 32.5% commision, say you have been recommended by another broker who has quoted you on the 25% commission scheme but you would rather use them and could they use this scheme. Hopefully they will which will save you circa 5%.

If your home insurance already covers your baggage then Fortis will give you a discount off the premium