Holiday bookings
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has advised against all travel to the Chinese Hubei province and
any “non essential” travel to the rest of mainland China, two cities in South Korea and eleven towns in
northern Italy.
“If the FCO advises against all but “essential” travel to an area, this is when cancellation or travel disruption
cover kicks in”, says Su Crown from the Association of British Insurers.
In the first instance, “travellers should contact the company they booked with, so the airline, travel agent or
holiday company can either rearrange their trip, or get a refund”. Travel insurance will usually cover other
“out of pocket” expenses including parts of your trip you’ve booked independently, say car hire or local
tours.
Some airlines, like British Airways and easyJet are cancelling flights, simply due to lack of demand. If this is
the case, usual rules regarding flight cancellation apply, which means you can claim a refund. In that case
you may need to claim any extra costs associated with your trip, like hotel bookings, on your travel policy.
Stick to FCO advice
If you choose to travel against FCO advice, you can invalidate your travel insurance, which means it may
not pay out if you later need medical assistance during your holiday.
Worried about travelling?
If you make the decision to cancel and your destination isn’t on the FCO list of places to avoid, you won’t
get your money back.
“Travel insurance isn’t designed to cover ‘disinclination to travel’, where the FCO advice hasn’t advised
against travel”, says Crown. “However if you’ve got a pre-existing medical condition that you’ve declared,
you may be covered.”
In this case, contact your travel insurer to ask about making a claim, and be prepared to provide medical
proof of your GP’s concerns.
Claim for travel disruption
If you’re unlucky enough to be stuck somewhere on lockdown like guests at the H10 Costa Adeje Palace
hotel in Tenerife, you have several options when it comes to recovering additional costs.
If you booked with a tour operator, they should be expected to take care of you, however if you’ve booked
direct, you may have to claim extra costs on your travel policy.
“Travel disruption” is the usual section to check. Some insurers, like Saga, cover this as standard, with
limits of up to £1,000, whereas with Aviva, it’s an optional “add on”.
Contact your travel provider to check the rules and make sure you keep all your receipts.
Future holiday plans
The FCO advice relates to imminent travel, so if you’ve got a trip booked two months down the line, check
the website for updates on a regular basis.
“Tour operators will decide on an ongoing basis how far in advance they’ll begin offering alternative
arrangements or refunds,” says a spokesperson for the Travel Association ABTA, which represents UK
travel agents and tour operators.
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