Flexplus new customer Covid cover

yclairejenkins

After seeing in the MSE newsletter that Nationwide Flexplus travel insurance was now covering Coronavirus related claims for new customers, I looked at their website. When I am logged in and following links to info about the Flexplus account, I see the following message 'If you open a new FlexPlus account, you will not be covered for Coronavirus related travel claims. This is because it is a known and anticipated risk.' I can't find that text in any of the slightly different screens I get if I look for the account info when I'm not logged in. I called the Flexplus travel insurance helpline and they assure me that I would be covered (all this is for a destination with no current FCO advice against it)
I think we'll still go ahead and take out an account, really just to get the insurance, but I'm puzzled by the contradiction. Does MSE have any other information, and do other people's have experience with this?

Sandtree

I think you need to be clear here... are you talking about the risk of you contracting Covid or the risk of your holiday location closing their borders etc?

Whilst some insurers have made changes, or  stopped new business sales, the majority have not done anything explicitly for Covid19 but standard rules apply. So if you know borders are or will be closed at the time of booking/insuring (whichever is later) then no cover and if it happens after both events with no prior knowledge then its covered. I am not aware any that have explicitly excluded illness claims because of Covid19

Rowlaw

I would be very careful about relying on FlexPlus insurance - they have denied my claim for a villa booking we were unable to take and unable to get a refund for - booked before Covid and not able to travel because of FCO advice.  We were given the option by the villa company to re-book at another date (with higher rates, if applicable) but this is not an option for us - this is not like getting a replacement household item, a holiday is totally different.  The customer service from the insurance company is also awful - we still have not had a written reply from them two and a half months after we made our claim.  I chased by phone and when I eventually got through after an hour and a half each time, they told me it had been denied, but no official communication.  Need this to go the the Financial Ombudsman which is my next stop.  Nationwide themselves won't respond on the insurance as it is handled by a companny called UK insurance.  All in all even if they say it is covered you probably won't be.

yclairejenkins

This is the reference to it in the latest MSE newsletter, to explain what kind of cover I was talking about - '4) Finally TRAVEL INSURANCE that covers Covid-19 cancellations? Until now, the only travel insurance policies that would cover your holiday being cancelled if the Foreign Office were again to warn against travel are those taken out pre-pandemic for holidays booked pre-pandemic. Now Nationwide says its FlexPlus packaged bank account will do it too, even for new custs, provided the warning wasn't in place when you booked the holiday or got the insurance, whichever is later.'

Sandtree

I have to admit that I haven't done the market research that MSE has presumably done on new customer policies. I am certainly aware that both some have simply stopped selling and others have excluded Pandemic risks for travel ban (though that is different than what MSE says which only covers if the FCO says you shouldn't go there... there are a number of countries the FCO says is safe to go to which wont let you in if you turn up - eg Cyprus) but others are still the same as they have always been.

Ultimately get multiple quotes and ensure either you understand the policy wording (it cannot be changed within the policy duration without your permission) or ask the question if the terms aren't clear.