Travelers warned about Covid cancellation insurance claims

UK travelers have been warned that they will not be insured on holidays canceled due to Covid’s travel restrictions.

The insurance company said it does not cover interruptions or cancellations of trips purchased after the pandemic was officially declared, as the pandemic is considered a “known risk”.

The warning came when the government prepared Announce further travel bans and restrictions this week, To limit the risk of new variants of the virus invading the UK..

This move could question millions of vacation plans in the coming months.

It is also possible that thousands of British citizens living abroad will not be able to return to the UK and their relatives abroad will not be able to visit them.

A spokesman for the UK Insurance Association told The Telegraph: “Customers should review the policy, as policies purchased or renewed or booked for travel after the pandemic has been officially declared are unlikely to directly cover cancellations due to the coronavirus. Risk.

“Travel against FCO’s advice is likely to risk invalidating your policy, so it is imperative to check the guidance before traveling.”

In the event of a complete travel ban, some industry leaders predict that tour operators and airlines, rather than insurance companies, will bear the brunt of reimbursement claims from customers who have nowhere to go.

Holidaymakers hope that new restrictions on travel imposed by the British government will begin to be lifted later this year.

In fact, according to the travel industry, the vast majority of British travelers planning to travel abroad book vacations “quite late in the year” from late summer to October.

A spokesman for the British Travel Agency Association (ABTA) said: “The number of people who booked vacations is quite small, and those who booked positively (and also less than what we usually see) will take vacations much later this year. I made the reservation.

“Current limits don’t necessarily have to do with when things get better this year, but for now, people may have the impression that there are tens of thousands on holidays, but that’s not the case. “

Most people currently in and out of the UK do so on business trips or when they return from meeting family and friends at Christmas, industry groups added.

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs advises against traveling to many countries around the world, and the travel industry follows that advice,” said ABTA.

The ban on access to the UK has a significant impact on millions of British people with international ties.

According to market data firm Statista, an estimated 970,000 people own real estate abroad, such as timeshares and villas, and in 2019 alone, the British will visit 23.43 million overseas friends and relatives. I made a trip.

What’s more, there are an estimated millions of British people living around the world, and 994,000 in the EU countries alone.

As of last Monday, all travel corridors that Britain had with other countries are now closed. They previously allowed travelers arriving from countries with low risk of coronavirus to avoid self-quarantine when they entered the United Kingdom.

Last year, after a coronavirus outbreak disrupted hundreds of thousands of vacation plans, UK travel insurance companies were flooded with record numbers of claims.

Payments were expected to reach a record £ 275m as travelers sought refunds for cancellations due to travel restrictions imposed around the world due to the blockade of the country.

This represents the maximum number of bills and payments made for a single event, 62 million for payments related to the previously record-holding Icelandic ash cloud in 2010. It is below the pound.

“The travel insurance company has promised to support its customers and expects to pay a record £ 275m to those who had to cancel their vacation or face confusion while traveling abroad. “We do,” said an ABI spokesman.