Holiday Insurance

TO19662

I purchased holiday insurance for my trip to Barbados for my son's wedding which was due to take place this month, obviously due to Corvid-19 it's now not going ahead, we have how ever rearranged the trip and it's now been moved to the end of November this year, fingers crossed.  I only purchased holiday insurance for the 2 weeks in April.  I have contacted the insurance company who informed me they cannot move the dates of the insurance policy, I have to cancel and then take out a new policy to cover the new dates. My other concern is, this will then put me in a position where I have paid for the holiday before taking out the new policy.  I have asked if the new policy will cover for cancellation if we have to cancel in November due to the travel restrictions still applying at that time but have not had a reply to date.  I would just like some advice as to what I can do and where I stand.

bradders1983

No new policy will cover Covid-19. 

TO19662

Thank you bradders, my main concern is I have already paid for my holiday which means I will be taking a new insurance policy out after paying for my holiday, in the event of a claim would I still be covered?

Aylesbury_Duck

Depends what you claim for.  You wouldn't be covered for existing matters such as Covid-19 or existing health problems. 

Cull

Hi I have done the same with Orlando and am still waiting for a reply from my insurer on change of dates, although I know what the answer will be. I am now very worried about going to the US in September without covid cover. I am now thinking about my options incl incurring costs for rebooking again or asking for a voucher.   I will wait a couple of months. The easiest scenario is if there is still a travel ban!  I also have a new ATOL certificate and so am covered for firm collapse. 

WEJWatson

My 87 year old mother booked a Holiday to Spain at the start of January and took out holiday insurance to cover the period of the holiday, which was due to start on the 22nd May. The holiday has since been canceled and she is receiving a full refund from the tour operator. However, when she contacted, StaySure, her holiday insurer to see if she was entitled to a refund on her insurance costs she was told she was not. They offered a credit note of £29 which has to be used on another insurance deal. This sum is well short of the £202 my mother was charged for the 10 day holiday, and it is very unlikely that my mother will require holiday insurance in the future. Are staysure correct in saying that she is not entitled to a refund?

[Deleted User]

Yes - the insurance has done its job in covering her from the time she took it out until she no longer needed it.

WEJWatson

Hi zx81, thank you for your response. Does your comment still hold when my mother was not due to travel on holiday until the 22nd May?

Life__Goes__On

WEJWatson said:

Hi zx81, thank you for your response. Does your comment still hold when my mother was not due to travel on holiday until the 22nd May?

That advice still holds

Looking at their website https://www.staysure.co.uk/contact-us/cancellation/

Voucher Credit

"In these unprecedented times, we have taken the decision to offer our customers a pro-rata refund on a Single Trip policy, which has not yet been used. If you wish to cancel your Single Trip policy, outside of the 14 day cooling off period, you will receive a pro-rata Voucher Credit refund of the amount you paid for your policy, which will be valid for 36 months and we will waive our normal £25 administration charge. The Voucher Credit can be used to pay in full or part pay for future policies and MTA’s. "

If your mother paid £202 looks like that are using start Jan as start date and  22nd or end of May as the finish date
So roughly 22 weeks in total,  so just refunding the last 3 weeks which I if I worked out correctly £29 is about right. 

WEJWatson

Thank you for looking into this. Its disappointing for my mother to have lost the money and missed out on probably her last holiday.