With CORONAVIRUS impacting the state of travel in India and across the globe, famous travel company Skyscanner understands that travellers are tensed financial and health safety in these pandemic time and not clear about Travel Insurance.
To help those who have to travel in this pandemic, Skyscanner’s Senior Director of Legal & Public and Regulatory Affairs Martin Nolan gives 5 important suggestions and tips on travel insurance post coronavirus.
Travellers should be covered for COVID-19 cancellations with an existing travel policy
If travellers bought a travel policy before Coronavirus became a known event, they ought to be covered. The relevant date varies consistent with the insurer, but 12th March may be a good rule of thumb, as that was the date the WHO declared Coronavirus as an epidemic.
Travel insurance won’t generally cover cancellations for trips booked after Coronavirus became a known event unless they need explicitly covered this risk (and most have not), so if a traveller took out the policy on or after 12 March, it’s likely not covered.
Travellers should check their travel insurance provider’s website, policy documents or give them a call to seek out out more details.
Travellers should ask their insurance provider for the foremost updated policy
Most insurance providers are sharing updates on how Coronavirus has impacted future travel plans. Therefore, travellers should check the official websites of their insurance provider for policy changes or contact the provider for details. it’s important to not delay a claim because certain existing policies may now have stricter deadlines during which one can claim compensation for a canceled trip. If any terms have changed, the insurance provider should have contacted policyholders directly.
Travel insurance won’t cover policyholders who are visiting an affected region
Travel insurance is unlikely to hide travellers visiting an affecting region unless the policyholder was already there at the time of the pandemic. Therefore, travellers should check their policies and speak with their insurer before making any decisions.
“If you took out your insurance after Coronavirus became a known event, it’s unlikely to be covered. If you already had a policy in situ, for instance, an annual policy, but you simply booked your trip after Coronavirus became a known event, it is also unlikely to be covered. If you continue to take a visit to an affected region, it’s likely your policy could be considered void because you’ve got travelled to an affected region, particularly if you would like to form a claim that’s then associated with Coronavirus,” said Martin Nolan.
It is important to form bound to monitor the govt advice, as some policies follow official government advice. Any additional warnings or restrictions issued usually operate as a trigger for insurance policies to let policyholders make a claim, in many cases even where airlines haven’t cancelled their flights yet.
Nolan added, “If the govt has not warned against visit a destination but you opt to cancel anyway, this is able to be considered as a voluntary cancellation by you, and your insurer would be unlikely to hide it.”
Travellers won’t be covered for COVID-19 if they buy travel insurance now
It is highly unlikely for travellers to urge covered for Coronavirus if they buy their travel insurance now. Insurance providers are not any longer offering coverage once Coronavirus became a known event.
Many governments are still advising against visit certain destinations, and insurance providers are therefore taking the lead from these official travel advisories.
Travellers can cancel their travel policy if they can’t travel now
Policyholders who cannot travel due to Coronavirus travel restrictions, and who had previously bought travel insurance before the pandemic became a known event should be ready to cancel the policy.
Skyscanner encourages travellers to see with their provider, as some may have instituted deadlines for refunds, or may have specific rules surrounding Coronavirus cancellations, like pro-rata refunds.
Nolan said, “Be aware that you simply can only cancel your policy if you haven’t already made a claim thereon. If you’ve got pending claims from trips cancelled thanks to Coronavirus, then those are going to be nullified if you cancel your policy. you’ll also usually cancel a policy within a particular window of your time after having taken the policy out, so if you’ve barely taken out the policy, this is often worth considering.”
Generally, travellers can cancel a policy within 14 days of getting taken the policy out.
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