Travel insurance for holiday to Malta - what dates to cover?

nik_k

My wife and I have booked a short trip (5 nights) to Malta at the start of November.  We have a NatWest account with free travel insurance.  However, I'm contemplating booking a specific insurance for this trip, to be sure that we have the best possible COVID cover.  (I appreciate that not all COVID-related things will be covered by any policy).  What I'm wondering though is what dates I should be covering with this insurance?  Should I buy it now and make it effective straight away, or should I buy now using the dates of the trip?  Also, does anyone have any experience with the level of COVID-related cover provided by the bundled NatWest insurance?

nik_k

OK, so according to the NatWest site, the 'ins and outs' of the bundled insurance are:

Your travel insurance will include cover for:

• Illness: cancelling a trip due to serious illness (including COVID-19 or another pandemic)
• Emergency medical & related costs: emergency medical treatment while on a trip or for cutting short a trip due to illness (including COVID-19 or another pandemic), provided you were not suffering from the illness when you booked the trip and you were fit to travel when your trip started
  
• FCDO advice: cutting short a trip if the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is advising against travel to your destination, providing the advice came into force after you started your trip

If you need to cancel your trip before it starts you will not be covered for any of the following reasons:

• Quarantine: having to quarantine or self-isolate, including as a result of Government or local authority action due to COVID-19 or another pandemic
• FCDO advice: following FCDO advice related to COVID-19 or another pandemic
• Natural disaster: you being unable to use your pre-booked and pre-paid accommodation because the accommodation or immediate surrounding area has been affected by COVID-19 or another pandemic

Based on this, would I be best to take out an additional policy, or stick with the bundled policy which is always active, and so covers from the moment we booked?

eDicky

You need to be covered from the moment you book the trip, regardless of provider. Choose a separate policy that satisfies your cover requirements, if the NatWest bundled doesn't.

Sandtree

You either buy a single trip cover for the dates of your holiday or an annual policy, in either case the policy is effective immediately. 

Be aware that having two policies you can only claim on once even for coverages that are non-indemnity (eg the delay section) and that it can cause delays and complexity as the two insurers have to agree amongst themselves how to share the claim (assuming both state say there is no cover if any other insurance exists).

maman

I think the Nat west cover while away sounds really good. You need to weigh up the cost of cover for quarantine etc with the cost of the holiday. Is there any chance that if you couldn't go because of Covid that your travel company would let you change the dates? 

nik_k

Thanks all - some really helpful comments there!  Think I'll stick with the NatWest policy for now, then perhaps reassess when the COVID situation changes (whether for the better or for the worse)