Covid-19 Coronavirus Help

hmmr

I have a holiday booked to Tenerife in April.  I am with TUI and was wondering what they would charge for me to change the dates to later on in the year.  I bet it will be loads :-( 

cmc123

So at the moment AA silver travel insurance (or gold) is the only one that will fully cover hotel cancelling booking, or flight cancelling booking, whichever is first, and will cover FCO Covid-19 advisories. Looking at AA silver and comparing with Leisure guard and LV Premier (individual, annual, worldwide) it looks like AA has lower limits of cover on most things, but nothing that is a big deal except maybe for cancellation which £3000 limit. So as long as not going on a really expensive trip AA should be all fine? Anyone think that AA is not ok for any particular reason? I need to purchase today.

lauraaurora

Toxteth_O_Grady said:

The table in the news article "Which insurers will cover you if your travel is affected by coronavirus?" is incorrect for Admiral Insurance...
I did email Admiral about coronavirus cover and they confirmed that, if the FCO issues travel restrictions for a destination, I'm not covered for anything in the policy if I travel against the FCO advice.

I'm also not covered for costs if I instead decide to cancel in light of the FCO advice.

Absolutely this. I too had a Platinum Admiral policy, and emailed them and discovered my policy would be useless in either event. So I cancelled the policy, got a pro rata refund and signed up for Aviva with the extra 'travel disruption' add-on.
DO read your policy fully, and DO NOT rely on anyone else's anecdotes or opinions.

Pollycat

hmmr said:

I have a holiday booked to Tenerife in April.  I am with TUI and was wondering what they would charge for me to change the dates to later on in the year.  I bet it will be loads :-( 

TUI should be able to tell you if you can change your dates and if so, how much they'd charge.

SHEILA54

I should point out that we are not travelling as part of a company but have booked the flights, with easyjet into Milan and with the holiday company website for the accommodation.

larkim

If, due to some workplace or other link to a confirmed case in my close proximity, I was required to self-isolate on clear instruction from the NHS or a GP just a few days before an overseas holiday, is my travel insurance likely to treat that as a akin to a serious illness which prevents me from travelling and honour the insurance arrangements?
My policy does not talk about "self-isolation" but rather "quarantine".  It says cancellation cover is in place on the event of:-

"1. the death or disablement by bodily injury, illness or being subject to quarantine of:

a. you; or

b. an immediate relative of yours, or

c. a travelling companion; or

d. any person you are intending to travel to

or stay with; or

e. a close business associate of yours;"

HelenTony

nixh255 said:

Is there any kind of insurance that will cover the cancellation of an event due to coronavirus? I have spent a lot of money on festival tickets in the summer, when the government guidelines say the peak could be and events like this could be cancelled. What are implications on tickets purchased? Would credit card companies refund if you paid with a card? Or is there insurance that will cover any travel arrangements and the actual ticket price?

Hi, we have looked at a few travel insurance deals and they all seem to say they will not pay out if you want to cancel a holiday due to foreign office advice. However, I was told by a claims department that if flights are cancelled the flight or package holiday provider will compensate. Also, if you have a pre-existing condition that puts you at risk your GPS advice not to travel will definitely be considered if you claim.

Mocamps

My husband and I are booked on an expensive trip of a lifetime to  New Zealand, French Polynesia and Hawaii due to leave on 1st April. The trip is all booked independently and involves a small boat cruise in FP followed by a cruise. The coronavirus is posing all sorts of problems for us but cancellation isn't an option at this stage as we wouldn't be covered by insurance. We were originally planning to get there via Singapore but can change that to go via Dubai as that seems slightly better.  I have now been told that the FP government have said that we need special health certification to say that we are fit and well and not showing any signs of coronavirus. Otherwise we won't be able to enter FP. Does anyone have any idea where we could go to get this without bothering our GP? It doesn't seem fair to use valuable health resources at a time when the NHS is already stretched.

Daniel1111

Thailand is now quarantining for 2 weeks anyone from a high risk country, which now includes Germany and France. Singapore, HK, Japan, etc are all on the list too.

They have also warned the US is about to be put on the list. With the UK cases shooting up today, it is surely to be on the list soon too.

I phoned my travel insurance company and they said that if you cancel a trip because you'd be quarantined upon arrival for 2 weeks (and your trip might only be 2 weeks anyway...), cancellation cover DOES NOT cover that. It only gets covered if your own country bans travel to that place (ie FCO advice).

With trips to "jumpy" countries like Israel and Thailand over the next few months, I am feeling a bit sick over how much money I might lose here.

Are airlines being generous/kind at all if you phone them and say you want to rebook to go elsewhere or simply cancel because you'd be quarantined?

More importantly, are there any travel insurance companies out there who are saying that you can cancel and have it covered if the country you are going to would quarantine you upon entry? I would love to swap to that insurance tomorrow if it exists!

Caz3121

Daniel1111 said:

Thailand is now quarantining for 2 weeks anyone from a high risk country, which now includes Germany and France. Singapore, HK, Japan, etc are all on the list too.

do you have a source?
the only reference I can see is to a Facebook post made by the health minister that was subsequently removed
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2020/03/04/asia-pacific/thai-quarantine-flip-flop-throws-holidays-doubt/#.Xl__Gi2cb-Y