Saga have just added medical emergency cover for coronavirus to their travel insurance. I suspect others will follow.

Probably pay for it tho!

That's interesting Jean.

Were pandemics previously excluded?

Martin Lewis said several times that new travel insurance will change to limit virus infection and if you had an existing policy to try and renew.

Ray.

I'm interested in the whole topic of insurance and the pandemic.

A friend of mine, a forward thinking businessman had a business interruption clause added to the insurances for his company years ago in anticipation of some catastrophic act forcing him to suspend business.

He didn't specify that he wanted to be covered for a pandemic but he did want cover for interruption, regardless of the cause. That's what he though he had been paying for since he added it so he was a bit miffed when the broker, not even the company, told him he did not have cover for this pandemic. The policy details no such exclusion, still they remain adamant. He's going thorough the complaints procedure at the moment.

I was wondering if the Saga policy had an exclusion that might have got them out of paying claims relating to Covid. Just curious about the deviousness of many insurers.

My travel insurance (thro Nationwide) would have covered me because it was in operation before the pandemic hit. But it needed renewed in April (just after I was due to head off) and I was told that any insurance taken out from.... (sometime in mid-March) would specifically exclude coronavirus claims.

Our SAGA renewal was due 5th April and for £650-ish and no immediate prospect of holidays I didn’t think it was worth renewing as I didn’t imagine it would cover Coronavirus. We had one pre-Covid booked holiday for October to Menorca so I phoned SAGA in the last week of March to discuss perhaps taking out a one-trip policy. She asked if my annual renewal had anything in it to say Coronavirus would not be covered, which it didn’t and so told me that, in that case, we would be covered up until April,21. I renewed, of course, especially as we have a trip to South Africa in February. One thing I do remember her saying was any renewals up to 12th April would cover the virus. We were lucky I think.
Linda

Linda I hope flights to SA have been reinstated by then. International flights are closed till they reach stage 1. Now on 3 but Covid cases are ratcheting up now with highest incidences in Jhb and CT, followed by E. Cape. Not big numbers YET. Hopefully a decline will come with spring (Oct/Nov). It rains a lot then which won't help.



I had a flight booked via Dubai for 31 August but they cancelled UK to Dubai, and by virtue of the closure of SA airspace the Dubai-Durban leg would not have been possible anyway. I have 2 years from purchase date to rebook free of charge.


I read this week that internal flights are resuming for BUSINESS travellers only. Er spot the mistake, SAA has bitten the dust, Kulula is under business rescue, Safair wont fly on those numbers, so I guess that's about it other than private jets.


If you need any updates you're welcome to PM me and I'll give you my personal email address.

I’m keeping a close eye on events out there. We visit once a year to see family and have done so for the last 18. The whole trip to Dubai/Cape Town/Durban (Emirates out, stopover in Dubai and BA home) is all refundable and I have read that we may not even be allowed there in February so we will just either cash in or change the flights for a later date. Comair the BA franchise is in business rescue which, as I understand things is a way of keeping it afloat until it can resume operations. One way or another we’ll get there eventually but thank you for the info.
Linda

Presumably travel to Leicester is also not covered as it is out of normal cover ?l

Insurance coversvwill always find their way through any problems - the water will always be too wet, or the air too dry for them......