For information relating to policies purchased prior to 31 July 2023, please check the Policy Wording provided with your purchase. You can contact us if you need this sent to you again. For policies purchased from 31 July 2023 please see below.
There may be cover for your non-refundable trip cancellation fees in certain circumstances.
There may be cover for your non-refundable trip cancellation fees if you have no option but to cancel your trip before you were due to leave your home in the UK due to a sudden, unforeseen and unavoidable insured event that is outside your control.
What’s covered
As soon as you buy your policy, there’s cover for loss of your pre-paid non-refundable travel, accommodation and tour expenses and tuition/course fees if you can’t travel anymore because of:
- Accidental injury; serious illness; or sudden death of you, a member of your travelling party or your close relative, as defined in the Policy Wording;
- You being called for jury service, attending court as a witness (but not as an expert witness);
- You are a student of a recognised school, college or university and you are required to return to the United Kingdom to re-sit an exam;
- The unexpected, involuntary redundancy for you or for any person with whom you had arranged to travel;
- Your home or place of business being made uninhabitable within 14 days of the travel 'start date' noted on your policy, or the police asking to see you after a theft from your home that occurred within 14 days of the travel 'start date' on your policy;
- Travel advice issued prohibiting 'all travel' or 'all but essential travel' to a country or specific area after you purchased your policy or booked your trip (valid under the Explorer Plan only);
- For Explorer plans, before you depart the UK, your carrier cancels or delays your transport for more than 24 hours; or before you depart the UK, you are denied boarding due to overbooking and no other flight could be provided within 24 hours;
- For Explorer plans, under Section 9 Coronavirus Travel Costs, if a close relative (as defined in policy wording) in the UK is diagnosed with Coronavirus (COVID-19) after you’ve started your trip and then is hospitalised or dies, and you have to cancel your trip, you may be covered for your non-refundable, pre-paid travel arrangements. Please note this section has its own benefit limit which applies. You can check out our Coronavirus cover article which has all of the details, including benefit limits, conditions and exclusions.
What you need to do if you can’t travel anymore
- You must tell the travel agent, tour operator or provider of transport or accommodation if you can no longer travel as planned and, where possible, obtain any available refunds;
- When making a claim, you’ll need to show evidence of your cancellation fees and any refund you may have received. You will also need to show that the reason for your cancellation was unexpected and occurred after you purchased your policy and after you booked or paid for any travel arrangements, whichever is later.
What’s not covered
Here are some of the main things that aren’t covered:
- Any expenses related to a pre-existing medical condition as outlined in your Policy Wording;
- The policy excess;
- Medically-related claims where a certificate has not been obtained from a medical practitioner confirming that cancellation of the trip was medically necessary;
- Additional costs incurred as a result of not telling the travel agent, tour operator or provider of transport or accommodation that you needed to cancel the trip;
- Anything else that’s listed in the General Exclusions and Specific Exclusions.
The policy isn’t designed to cover everything, so take the time to read the terms, conditions, limitations and exclusions in the Policy Wording for full details so that there are no surprises if you need to use it. If you’re not sure if something is covered, get in touch.