Post Office Travel Insurance - 24th February Cut Off for Coronavirus Cover?

GM1992

Hello all - wanted to see whether anyone else has had issues with their post office travel insurance in light of Coronavirus?
For context, we purchased a premium annual multi trip policy in December before booking a 2 week trip around South Africa this August with a tour operator who handle all land travel during the trip, while we booked our inbound/outbound flights to/from the UK separately ourselves with BA.

The tour operator have now cancelled our trip meaning we have return flights (to Cape Town and back from Johannesburg) plus an internal connecting flight with South African Airlines (Botswana -> Johannesburg) which have yet to be cancelled (as it's still a couple of months away of course).

I rang the post office this morning to check the process for claiming the cost back of these flights if they end up running as scheduled, only to be told we aren't covered for coronavirus cancellations as our policy was purchased before 24th February. Apparently cover is included as standard for policies purchased after this date, so we are not covered even though we purchased a premium policy well before coronavirus became a widespread/known issue. This seems completely backwards to me? They have indicated that we would've need to purchase the "natural disaster" add-on in order to be covered, however we checked the wording of the add-on at the time of purchase (and again now) and it specifically only covers earthquake, volcanic eruption and tsunami - none of which South Africa is high risk for so we deliberately didn't purchase.

Speaking to others in a similar situation but with different insurers - the practice seems to be that policies purchased **before** a specific date ARE covered and ones after are not. The complete opposite to the post office. I've double checked the cancellation/curtailment section wording of our policy and while it does say flights are not covered while FCO advises against travel, this doesn't concern us as if that is the case then the flights will be cancelled and we'll be eligible for a refund anyway.

What concerns me here is that initially on the call I was told we would be covered, only to then be told that's not the case as we purchased our policy to early - it seems to me we're essentially being penalised for booking without knowledge of coronavirus whereas those who did so knowing it may affect their travel are covered? I'm aware this is a long post so thank if you've got this far/have any insights to share! 

Life__Goes__On

Doesn't seem right to me, I haven't seen a single insurer now covering for travel disruption for COVID-19.

GM1992

Life__Goes__On said:

Doesn't seem right to me, I haven't seen a single insurer now covering for travel disruption for COVID-19.

Yes this was my thought and what I'd generally discovered doing some research online. They only solid policies up to 11th March so they're essentially saying that those who bought a policy in that 2 ish week window are covered but no one else is...

Mrsn

That does seem very odd! I would certainly expect it to have been the other way round.

Perhaps worth another ring with a different advisor just to make sure?

manetti

GM1992 said:

...while it does say flights are not covered while FCO advises against travel, this doesn't concern us as if that is the case then the flights will be cancelled and we'll be eligible for a refund anyway.

Someone might correct me but I don't think that's necessarily guaranteed - flights could still operate against FCO advice. This is taken from Which?:

"If you already have a holiday booked over the summer, it should eventually be cancelled if the current FCO advice is extended. However, if flights still operate, passengers are not due a refund from the airline if they don’t travel."

I agree with the advice above - try speaking with another advisor for clarification.

Sooler

See here for the dates applicable to cover

https://www.postoffice.co.uk/travel/travel-alerts

also here

https://www.postoffice.co.uk/travel-insurance-faqs

Is the policy TC or TE?

throwaway10203040506

The Post Office has, unfortunately, just decided to try its luck on this front. 

I can see from the comments that they are telling different people different things. Unlike @GM1992 I did purchase the Natural Catastrophe add-on, which, in my wording, specifically covers "Pandemic as declared by the World Health Organisation" - and yet they are still refusing my claim. The wording is:

"If a Natural Catastrophe or Terrorism Event delays Your departure from the UK for at least 24 hours from the start of your trip, You can claim up to the amount in the Schedule of Benefits for pre-paid transportation and accommodation costs, paid or contracted to be paid (and are not recoverable from any other source)."

I have pointed out to them that I am clearly covered by the above wording and so far I have been met with an unreasoned denial of cover. It looks like I am going to have to take them to court in order to get my pay out.

Our policy (a premium multi-trip annual policy) was purchased before 24 February. As @GM1992 has said, it looks as though the Post Office has just taken a commercial decision to accept claims only in an short window and reject all others- even if justified- presumably because they are concerned about the size of the pay out.

To anyone reading: do not assume that you are not covered just because the Post Office has told you that you are not - check your terms properly and if necessary push back. 

throwaway10203040506

Sooler said:

See here for the dates applicable to cover

***.....postoffice.co.uk/travel/travel-alerts

also here

***.....postoffice.co.uk/travel-insurance-faqs

Is the policy TC or TE?

Just to add to my last post- several of the Post Office's answers to the FAQs on this page do not reflect the wording of the policy, and should not be taken at face value. For example (my emphasis):

"Am I covered for travel delay caused by coronavirus?

The Delayed Departure section of the policy will not cover you if you are delayed due to the Coronavirus. However if you have purchased the Enhanced Trip Disruption add-on for Natural Catastrophe / Terrorism, and the World Health Organisation has declared that the coronavirus is a Pandemic delaying your return home, you will receive up to a set amount for each day you are delayed to contribute towards accommodation and flights."

As I pointed out in my previous post, if you have the Natural Catastrophe add-on, the clause in fact reads (again my emphasis):

"If a Natural Catastrophe or Terrorism Event delays Your departure from the UK for at least 24 hours from the start of your trip, You can claim up to the amount in the Schedule of Benefits for pre-paid transportation and accommodation costs, paid or contracted to be paid (and are not recoverable from any other source)."