South Korea trip in a month's time: "unwillingness to travel" insurance

eludlow

Hi all.  First time post in a while, looking for some advice.

My wife and I are due to travel to South Korea in a month's time for a holiday.  Starting to think that this won't happen due coronavirus, or even if it would be wise to travel given it's a pleasure trip.

We have "enhanced" insurance with Zurich but having spoken to them to get advice, it turns out that this doesn't cover cancellation if the FCO advise against travel!  And even if we got the next insurance level up ("ultimate") then we'd only be covered if we are advised against travel: "unwillingness" wouldn't be covered.  Irritating!

Can anyone recommend an insurance co with sensible "unwillingness to travel" cover?  While not decided yet, I think it prudent to cover ourselves now and get insurance for this in the event we decide against travel. Or, given the situation, is this like looking for a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow?

Many thanks in advance.

iwb100

Nobody is going to insure you on the basis of "pay out if we decide against it". Sorry just won't happen. All you can do is wait on Foreign Office advice. And I'd probably ensure your insurance will cover it in the event they do advise against travel. End of the day there are 700 cases in SK - its still highly unlikely to the point of extremely unlikely you'd come near anyone with the virus. And probably as much chance in the UK as SK - even though they do have an outbreak. 

eludlow

Thanks, I think the "unwillingness" insurance is, as you say, a pipe dream.

Sure the number of cases are incredibly low BUT if it continues at the rate it has done the last few days, I predict we'll not be travelling as the airlines may well stop flying as SK could well put restrictions on tourism.  We'll see.  At the end of the day, this is a holiday not essential travel.

Westin

eludlow said:

Hi all.  First time post in a while, looking for some advice.

My wife and I are due to travel to South Korea in a month's time for a holiday.  Starting to think that this won't happen due coronavirus, or even if it would be wise to travel given it's a pleasure trip.

We have "enhanced" insurance with Zurich but having spoken to them to get advice, it turns out that this doesn't cover cancellation if the FCO advise against travel!  And even if we got the next insurance level up ("ultimate") then we'd only be covered if we are advised against travel: "unwillingness" wouldn't be covered.  Irritating!

Can anyone recommend an insurance co with sensible "unwillingness to travel" cover?  While not decided yet, I think it prudent to cover ourselves now and get insurance for this in the event we decide against travel. Or, given the situation, is this like looking for a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow?

Many thanks in advance.

That’s strange.

As I understood it, if the FCO advise is not to travel to a region (I realise that this is not the case yet) then a travel insurance claim would be appropriate.  In fact if you continued and travelled when the FCO says otherwise then your insurance could be invalid if you subsequently need to claim from it for medical support.

iwb100

Not all insurance policies cover FCO advice changes - they all will say you're not covered should advice change BUT not all will pay out if holiday cancelled for that reason. Why? Because people who booked a package are sorted by their tour operator in that scenario - either an alternative holiday or refund. And most flights will be refunded. So a lot of insurance policies make themselves cheaper by not offering cover should travel advice to the region change. 
The OP should consult their tour operator OR airline in first instance should FCO change advice. 

TELLIT01

I don't know of any travel insurer who would provide cover for simply changing your mind about travelling.

Westin

I'm going to post this BBC News link to the report titled "Your rights as a traveller" as I think it gives a fair and accurate account of what the situation is for travellers at the moment and answers many questions being asked on the MSE forum at the moment -   https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-51615412

I will repeat on the other threads as it seems we have multiple threads open all with slightly different issues and stories but all really asking about "rights" - or alternatively upset with answers received from travel companies and airlines.

Hope it helps answer questions being raised.