Is 2022 going to be the year we finally learn to live with COVID? We can only keep our fingers crossed and hope so at this stage.
What we can say two years on from the start of the pandemic is we’ll never go back to “how things were before”. We can’t unlearn all the things we now know about cutting down the transmission of viruses. We’ll keep washing our hands and wearing masks in public places. We’ll meet outside more and ventilate our indoor spaces.
Travel won’t be going back to what we knew prior to 2020 either. Yes, after months of travel bans, people are being encouraged to get on the move again. Curbs like quarantines are slowly being eased.
But as we saw as recently as November 2021 when the Omicron variant emerged, things can flip back quickly. The world is still on high alert. Booking travel a few months in advance, there is just no way to guarantee that everything will be ok when your trip comes round.
Plus, of course, a positive test before you go or once you arrive at your destination will ruin your plans without warning.
This is just the reality of travelling in the post-COVID age. And it’s why travel insurance has become more important than ever. Even when you can’t be sure how things will pan out with your travel plans, you can at least cover yourself for financial losses with insurance.
Here are some of the key things to look for when shopping for a travel insurance policy to make sure you are fully protected from every kind of COVID disruption.
Cancellation Cover
One of the big changes the pandemic has brought about in travel insurance is the fact that cancellation cover is now an absolute priority for most people. It has also driven a rise in the percentage of travellers buying travel insurance full stop.
Right at the start of the pandemic, there was some controversy over whether travel insurance companies would pay out on COVID-related cancellations. This was during the first wave of lockdowns when flights were grounded worldwide and holidays had to be cancelled en masse.
But as travel got up and running again and testing became the norm, last-minute cancellations when people tested positive became commonplace. Travellers quickly became reluctant to book trips without some sort of protection. Travel insurance providers saw the demand and responded. Now an estimated 95% of travel policies include cover if you have to cancel because of a positive test.
That’s reassuring when you’re booking a trip. You know cancellation cover is now more or less standard on travel insurance. Bear in mind there are some subtle differences in policy terms, though. For example, while the overwhelming majority of insurers will now cover you if you have to cancel because of a positive test in the 72 hours before departure, this falls to only around half if you are denied boarding at the airport because you are showing symptoms.
The golden rule is always to read the small print and make sure you know what you are covered for so you don’t get any nasty surprises.
Curtailment
Positive tests aren’t just something you have to worry about before you travel. An increasing number of countries, the UK included, are asking people to test a couple of days after they arrive, instead of pre-departure tests.
This creates a new dilemma for travellers. If you test positive once you are at your destination, you will be forced into isolation. You will have to cut short your holiday, and perhaps even pay for quarantine accommodation.
This counts as a curtailment of your holiday. Some but by no means all travel insurers offer cover for your trip being interrupted like this. As on-arrival testing becomes more widespread, the number is likely to grow. If you are heading somewhere where you know you will be tested during your stay, it’s well worth looking out for this in the policy details.
Trip Extension
The opposite of a COVID-enforced curtailment is a trip extension. This refers to situations where you are forced to quarantine and miss your flight home. Not only would you have the cost of accommodation to think about, but you’d also need to book another flight.
As things stand, very few insurers are offering specific cover for homeward flights missed because of COVID. Where it is available, you are able to claim for extra nights and meals as well as travel. We’re likely to see its availability increase this year as the way countries manage COVID changes. But in the meantime, speak to your insurer if you want more details.
Pre-Existing Medical Conditions And COVID
Medical cover is an essential part of every travel insurance policy. This protects you if you fall ill while abroad and need medical assistance. This is something most foreign nationals have to pay for in most countries. It can be very expensive, especially if hospital stays are involved.
If you catch COVID and fall ill while abroad, there is clearly the possibility you might need medical care. Insurers were quick to extend their medical schedules to include treatment for COVID, so this is unlikely to be an issue. Some countries, for example, Costa Rica, even require visitors to have valid travel insurance with a specified amount of medical cover, to make sure any treatment needed by foreign nationals can be paid for.
Extra care needs to be taken if you have a pre-existing medical condition that makes you more vulnerable to COVID. Medical conditions must be declared in advance when buying travel insurance. Some providers will decline to offer cover depending on what the condition is.
This may become more widespread in the wake of COVID. Insurers may be reluctant to cover people who are especially vulnerable to COVID, knowing that the care costs, if they catch it and fall ill, will be high. There are extra complexities for people with medical exemptions from vaccination, especially as more and more countries focus on full vaccination as a condition of travel.
Your best bet is to find an insurer that specialises in policies for pre-existing medical conditions and speak to them directly about your circumstances.
