Tripsure travel insurance. Backdating policy amendments. Is this common ?

superbigal

I took out my annual travel insurance early in March before FCO advise came in against non essential travel on 17th March.  I also thought I was smart enough to select a policy with extra travel disruption cover.  
Just decided to go online and have a look at what Tripsure are currently saying because I have a trip coming up that in theory might still go ahead (Unlikely if the operator follows FCO advise).  Just wanted to check if I was covered to cancel in those circumstances.  However this is the part I was alarmed to see.  

Coronavirus Update - March 2020

The following information relates to policies issued on or after 1st January 2020 with the policy number starting xxxxxx

At the close of 2019, the World Health Organisation (WHO) was informed of a pneumonia of unknown cause detected in the city of Wuhan in Hubei province, China. By 30 January 2020 the virus causing the illness had been identified as an outbreak of a new strain from the coronavirus family and was named SARS-CoV-2. The virus causes the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19), a respiratory illness. By 25 February the WHO were referring to the outbreak as an epidemic and on 11 March 2020 WHO declared that it had become a pandemic.

In common with other travel insurance companies our policies do not provide cover for any loss caused or contributed by a virus or infectious disease that has been declared an outbreak or epidemic by the World Health Organisation or any Government of a country that the outbreak has occurred in. This applies irrespective of when you bought your policy or booked your trip.

To help understand how the Coronavirus pandemic affects your policy we have provided answers to the most common questions we've been asked since Covid-19 became headline news.

What do the experts on here feel about them backdating the change to all policies bought as far back as 1st January.

Surely this is more than a little naughty ?

My premium cover I took out early in March before they backdated these changes is now virtually worthless for the specific reason I paid that premium.

Thrugelmir

Nothing to suggest that the change has been back dated. Epidemics aren't new on a global level. 

superbigal

Thrugelmir said:

Nothing to suggest that the change has been back dated. Epidemics aren't new on a global level. 

So I buy a policy 1st March and they make policy amendment changes at some point after 17th March, Those changes apply to all policies bought from 1st January.
You say that is not back dating ?

Nebulous2

Did you get a policy, either paper or electronic at the time? What did it say you were covered for? Wording varies a great deal. While some may not cover pandemics, some specify that they do. 

When in March did you buy it? Before a pandemic declaration? 

superbigal

Nebulous2 said:

Did you get a policy, either paper or electronic at the time? What did it say you were covered for? Wording varies a great deal. While some may not cover pandemics, some specify that they do. 

When in March did you buy it? Before a pandemic declaration? 

I bought the policy before the insurer had a Covid exclusion of any sorts.  I selected them for this reason. To address your point there was no Pandemic exclusion clause on the paper copy I have printed back then.
 I would fully expect them to exclude Covid from 17th March or whenever they made the amendments.   Not from 1st January.

Good News
I also fortunately have RBS Platinum bank cover.  They still cover all Trips booked before 17th March for Covid and subsequent eventualities.  

Can I cancel my holiday if I don’t want to go because of coronavirus risks?

You can claim for cancellation of a trip if the FCO advises against all travel to your intended destination, as long as the advice wasn’t in place when you booked the trip or purchased your insurance.

You can also claim for cancellation of a trip if the FCO advises against all but essential travel to your intended destination, as long as you are travelling within 28 days and the advice wasn’t in place when you booked the trip or purchased your insurance.

SevenOfNine

They can't just decide to change the cover for a policy you have already bought. Though I've a mind to think it already excluded virus & infectious disease, with the terminology you've quoted.  So they clarified what they meant by that existing exclusion to ensure customers understand C-19 virus is NOT covered.  But then that doesn't explain why they decided on a specific date, actually a backdated timeframe, that's not clarification of an existing exclusion, that's inserting a new one!

Having said that, you do seem crystal clear about the contents of the policy you were purchasing, so no reason to doubt you.  Have you contacted them & asked for an explanation?  Not easy I imagine, but it is going to have to be done.

That aside, you seem to have 2 active travel insurances, which can muddy the waters if Tripsure capitulate & you try to claim, there's usually a declaration that you aren't also insured elsewhere - which you are.  Both insurers may be difficult.

Also, check the RBS Platinum cover terminology, whole policy, carefully.  Because the FCO bit is exactly the same as my Nationwide worldwide policy, but there's another bit of terminology under a separate heading elsewhere in the documentation, under Specific Exclusions: Recoverable Costs - any costs that you can recover from elsewhere.

2 insurers, plus your trip providers refunding?  I hope you're not stuck between a rock & a hard place. 

superbigal

SevenOfNine said:

They can't just decide to change the cover for a policy you have already bought. Though I've a mind to think it already excluded virus & infectious disease, with the terminology you've quoted.  So they clarified what they meant by that existing exclusion to ensure customers understand C-19 virus is NOT covered.  But then that doesn't explain why they decided on a specific date, actually a backdated timeframe, that's not clarification of an existing exclusion, that's inserting a new one!

Having said that, you do seem crystal clear about the contents of the policy you were purchasing, so no reason to doubt you.  Have you contacted them & asked for an explanation?  Not easy I imagine, but it is going to have to be done.

That aside, you seem to have 2 active travel insurances, which can muddy the waters if Tripsure capitulate & you try to claim, there's usually a declaration that you aren't also insured elsewhere - which you are.  Both insurers may be difficult.

Also, check the RBS Platinum cover terminology, whole policy, carefully.  Because the FCO bit is exactly the same as my Nationwide worldwide policy, but there's another bit of terminology under a separate heading elsewhere in the documentation, under Specific Exclusions: Recoverable Costs - any costs that you can recover from elsewhere.

2 insurers, plus your trip providers refunding?  I hope you're not stuck between a rock & a hard place. 

Thanks
The RBS is the Wifes policy attached to her bank account.
I took out the Tripsure so although there are 2 policies they are with different lead names.
I very much doubt I will be claiming  but was just dismayed when I decided to have a look at the Tripsure account to remind myself exactly where I stood on FCO advice.
I do not plan on challenging them unless I end up in the 1% chance that i did want to claim.
Just wanted to find out if other people who had I suppose been quite "smart" about when they bought their insurance then finding out the goalposts had changed retrospectively.   So if everything I say is true (There is no exclusion on my printed copy for Virus/Infectious Disease) do you believe they are acting lawfully ?

SevenOfNine

See if this is any help. Insurers are slippery little devils. Looks like now you'll have to search for a clause that allows them to change your policy mid term. As outrageous as that is!

https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=e097151b-797e-40fc-8c07-2dfe94a9f0f6

Birseh_

who was the insurance with please?

sheramber

Birseh_ said:

who was the insurance with please?

In the first post
Just decided to go online and have a look at what Tripsure are currently saying because I have a trip coming up that in theory might still go ahead