Last updated: 23 June 2021
AllClear Gold, Gold Plus and Platinum policies - coronavirus cover
Any reference to Coronavirus (COVID-19) throughout our FAQs also includes SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus), as well as any variation or mutation of these conditions. Wherever we say that we will ‘consider’ claims, be aware this will be in line with your policy’s specific terms and conditions. This does not guarantee your claim will be paid.
Contents
Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) change in advice
AllClear Policyholders (purchased after March 2020)
Policy purchased and trip booked before 13 March 2020
Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) change in advice
The AllClear travel insurance products underwritten by MAPFRE Assistencia do not provide cover under any section of their policies where the FCDO is advising against all but essential travel. For those in national lockdown (most of the UK currently), policy cover would not apply as the Government advice is against all but essential travel.
However, please note that if you need cover for essential travel to a non-exempt country, we may still be able to assist you - please call us.
General information
| Answers | |
|---|---|
| What does the traffic light system mean? | The traffic light system provides travellers the requirements for entry back into the UK. |
| Does the traffic light system affect policy cover? | No, the traffic light system is not relevant to policy cover. AllClear branded policies will provide cover if: a) the trip is legal and b) the FCDO advice is not against non-essential travel, at the time of both departing the UK and travelling into the destination. |
| When will I know if it is safe to travel? | Depending on the evolving circumstances, the UK government may change its advice about whether countries are safe or unsafe to visit and whether travelers should or shouldn't self-isolate on returning to the UK. With travel now permitted to some countries by the UK Government*, it is important you understand the local requirements of the country you plan to visit – on entry, during your stay and on your return to the UK, as you will need to adhere to these. Please check out the FCDO’s 'Summary' advice, which you will find once you have selected your 'Country' – this sits just below the 'COVID-19 Travel Guidance information box'. The FCDO will continue to update its travel advice in line with the current situation. Here are links to the FCDO travel advice for some popular destinations: France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain. * PLEASE BE AWARE: your policy does not cover cancellation or costs relating to cutting short your trip due to restrictions implemented by any government or administration, e.g. the lockdown imposed by the UK Government, in England from 5th November to 2nd December 2020. See section below entitled What you are not covered for. |
| I plan to travel to an ‘Amber List’ country, will I be covered? | As at 17th May 2021, the FCDO advise that, to prevent new Covid variants from entering the UK, you should not travel to Amber or Red List countries.The traffic light system tells you what you should do on your return from your trip, and there may be different rules for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.Whether you’re covered abroad or not depends on the FCDO advice at the time you travel. If your holiday is permitted by the FCDO advice because non-essential travel to your destination is allowed, you will be covered as normal. You must check the FCDO advice for your destination/s to ensure cover will apply. If the FCDO advice for your intended destination, changes to as a minimum ‘all but essential travel’ after the purchase of your policy or after the booking of any individual trip, whichever is the latter, no cover will apply. Although we expect holiday companies to be flexible and to offer refunds or date changes if travel is not possible. |
| If the traffic light of my destination changes from ‘Green’ to ‘Amber’ or ‘Red’ while I’m abroad, am I still covered? | The traffic light system tells you what you should do on your return from your trip, and there may be different rules for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.Whether you’re covered abroad or not depends on the FCDO travel advice on your departure date. As long as your trip was allowed at the time you left the country, you’ll still be covered as usual under the policy. This includes medical cover for if you catch Coronavirus while abroad. |
| What does my travel insurance policy cover me for? | The tables featured below apply if you hold an AllClear Gold, Gold Plus or Platinum travel insurance policy. Please also note that:
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| We do not cover: |
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AllClear Policyholders (purchased after March 2020)
| Scenario | Is cover provided? | Conditions of cover | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Before you go | You fall ill with COVID-19 at home and cannot travel. | Covered as standard | Subject to medically diagnosed Coronavirus. No cover if symptoms or diagnosis occurred prior to your policy purchase or any claim where the customer or a member of their family / travelling party hasn’t been infected with Covid or personally instructed to quarantine by the NHS or a healthcare professional. |
| You or a member of your family / travelling party has to self isolate at home and cannot travel due to medically diagnosed COVID. | Covered as standard | No cover if symptoms or diagnosis occurred prior to your policy purchase or any claim where the customer or a member of their family / travelling party hasn’t been infected with Covid or personally instructed to quarantine by the NHS or a healthcare professional. | |
| You are due to stay with family. A family member who you are due to stay with has to self isolate due to medically diagnosed COVID. You wish to cancel trip as you no longer have anywhere to stay. | Covered as standard | No cover if symptoms or diagnosis occurred prior to your policy purchase or any claim where the customer or a member of their family / travelling party hasn’t been infected with Covid or personally instructed to quarantine by the NHS or a healthcare professional. | |
| If you are personally instructed by track and trace to self-isolate and cannot travel | Claim would be considered under Cancellation | ||
| While you're abroad | You fall ill with COVID-19 abroad and need medical treatment abroad | Covered as standard | No cover if travelling against government or other regulatory authority (ie FCDO) or medical advice |
| You fall ill with COVID-19 abroad and need to be repatriated to the UK | Covered as standard | No cover if travelling against government or other regulatory authority (ie FCDO) or medical advice | |
| You fall ill with COVID-19 abroad and you need to extend your stay as a result of Coronavirus incurring additional costs. | Covered as standard | No cover if travelling against government or other regulatory authority (ie FCDO) or medical advice. If, due to unexpected circumstances that are beyond your control and which fall under the conditions of this cover, you cannot finish your holiday within the period of insurance set out on your validation certificate, we will extend your cover for up to 30 days. | |
| You need to curtail your trip as a close relative has passed away from COVID | Covered as standard | No cover if your relative was already hospitalised before you left on your trip. | |
Changes to travel dates
| Scenario | Rules |
|---|---|
| If my tour operator changes my travel dates or I want to change my travel dates, will I still be covered for Coronavirus (COVID-19) under the amended policy? |
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| My holiday/flight dates have been moved by my travel provider/airline, can I move the dates on my insurance policy? | Most of our policies will allow you to move your travel dates by up to 12 months from the original trip date as long as the insurance has not already expired, you have no claims pending or are not intending to make a claim. You will need to contact our Customer Care team on 01708 339029. Please check your policy documents to see the terms of those policies that do not comply with the above:
|
What you are not covered for
| Scenario | Is cover provided? | Conditions of cover | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Goverment restrictions | Government or other regulatory authority restrictions due to a pandemic were already in place at time of purchasing insurance/booking holiday and restrictions remain in place at time of departure preventing you from travelling. | No Cover | There is no cover under your policy for circumstances known to you at the point of purchase. |
| Government or other regulatory authority restrictions due to a pandemic were in place at time of departure and you travelled anyway. You need to make a claim under your policy (under any section). | No Cover | There is no cover under your policy if you travel against FCDO or other government advice. | |
| Cancelling or cutting short your trip due to restrictions implemented by any Government or Administration | No Cover | Your policy does not cover cancellation or costs relating to cutting short your trip due to a) restrictions implemented by any government or administration; or b) actions taken by a transport or accommodation provider, as a result of, or measure to control, Coronavirus. | |
| No travel restrictions exist at time of travel. During travel, travel restrictions are imposed asking you to return to your country of residence due to COVID. | No Cover | Your policy does not cover cancellation or costs relating to cutting short your trip due to a) restrictions implemented by any government or administration; or b) actions taken by a transport or accommodation provider, as a result of, or measure to control, Coronavirus. | |
| Disinclination to travel | Government restrictions are introduced due to a pandemic that do not restrict you from travelling to your destination but require you to be quarantined on return from your trip. You no longer wish to travel and want to cancel your holiday. | No Cover | Your policy does not cover disinclination to travel. |
| You are due to travel but hear that there are a number of cases of a pandemic illness near where you are staying. You no longer wish to travel and want to cancel your holiday. | No Cover | Your policy does not cover disinclination to travel. | |
| You are or have recently been furloughed and no longer wish to travel. | No Cover | Your policy does not cover disinclination to travel. | You booked your trip to attend a specific event (ie Wedding, Sporting Event, Trade Show) which has been cancelled. You no longer wish to travel and want to cancel your trip. | No Cover | Your policy does not cover disinclination to travel. |
| You booked your flight and hotel separately. Your flight is proceeding as planned but your hotel has cancelled your booking, there are other hotels available but you do not wish to travel if you cannot stay at your originally planned hotel. | No Cover | Your policy does not cover any claims due to actions taken by transport or accommodation providers as a result of, or measure to control, Coronavirus. | You are due to travel and your hotel advises that certain facilities may now be restricted or closed during your stay. You no longer wish to travel and want to cancel your holiday. | No Cover | Your policy does not cover disinclination to travel. |
| You are considered vulnerable by the UK Government and want to self-isolate, you no longer wish to travel and want to cancel your holiday | No Cover | Your policy does not cover for claims relating to any fear or threat concerning these viruses which leads to a disinclination to travel | |
| Provider offers voucher instead of refund | Your holiday has been cancelled due to a pandemic and your provider is only offering you a voucher rather than a refund. | No Cover | Your policy only covers irrevocable losses. Please note that you should take the matter further with your provider. |
Refund from provider
Where you can, you should try to get a full refund from your travel company, tour operator or travel agent or credit card provider. We’ll only consider non-refundable expenses on your travel insurance policy.
Provided you're not making a claim, if you want to rearrange your trip dates we can transfer your single trip policy by up to 12 months from the original or revised date on your policy, so long as your policy has not expired.
Should the geographical area of travel or trip duration change, an additional premium may be due.
If you have your trip dates, please call our Contact Centre to make the amends. If you do not have your trip dates, please wait until you have rearranged your holiday before calling us. However, if your policy is due to expire please contact our Customer Services team on 01708 339029.
Policy purchased and trip booked before 13 March 2020
| Scenario | Is cover provided? | Conditions of cover | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Before you go | Government or other regulatory authority restrictions due to Coronavirus remaining in place at time of departure preventing you from travelling | Covered as standard | No cover if the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) advice against travel was in place at the time of purchasing the policy or booking the trip. We will allow claims for cancellation within 48 hours of your intended date of departure provided that the FCDO advice against travel was in place. We’ll pay you for any non-refundable unused travel and accommodation costs if you have to cancel your trip and any necessary extra travel costs if you have to cut your trip short. |
| You fall ill with COVID-19 at home and cannot travel. | Covered as standard | Subject to medically diagnosed Coronavirus. No cover if symptoms or diagnosis occurred prior to your policy purchase or any claim where the customer or a member of their family / travelling party hasn’t been infected with Covid or personally instructed to quarantine by the NHS or a healthcare professional | |
| You or a member of your family / travelling party has to self isolate at home and cannot travel due to medically diagnosed COVID. | Covered as standard | No cover if symptoms or diagnosis occurred prior to your policy purchase or any claim where the customer or a member of their family / travelling party hasn’t been infected with Covid or personally instructed to quarantine by the NHS or a healthcare professional | |
| You are due to stay with family. A family member who you are due to stay with has to self isolate due to medically diagnosed COVID. You wish to cancel trip as you no longer have anywhere to stay. | Covered as standard | No cover if symptoms or diagnosis occurred prior to your policy purchase or any claim where the customer or a member of their family / travelling party hasn’t been infected with Covid or personally instructed to quarantine by the NHS or a healthcare professional | |
| While you're abroad | You fall ill with COVID-19 abroad and need medical treatment abroad | Covered as standard | No cover if travelling against government or other regulatory authority (ie FCDO) or medical advice |
| You fall ill with COVID-19 abroad and need to be repatriated to the UK | Covered as standard | No cover if travelling against government or other regulatory authority (ie FCDO) or medical advice | |
| You fall ill with COVID-19 abroad and you need to extend your stay as a result of Coronavirus incurring additional costs. | Covered as standard | No cover if travelling against government or other regulatory authority (ie FCDO) or medical advice. If, due to unexpected circumstances that are beyond your control and which fall under the conditions of this cover, you cannot finish your holiday within the period of insurance set out on your validation certificate, we will extend your cover for up to 30 days. | |
| You need to curtail your trip as a close relative has passed away from COVID | Covered as standard | No cover if your relative was already hospitalised before you left on your trip. |
