Coronavirus travel insurance: who will cover me?

More than two dozen travel insurers now offer some form of coronavirus cancellation cover, as travel corridor changes and rising case numbers make it more valuable than ever. But there’s a huge amount of difference between insurers in terms of what’s actually covered. Here, Which? breaks down those differences to help you understand which insurer will cover you for what and answer questions about claims, vouchers and travel corridors.

Will travel insurance cover me for COVID-19?

Dozens of insurers stopped selling travel insurance after the start of the pandemic, but since then, large numbers have returned to the market – many with some form of ‘COVID-19 cover’.

In terms of coronavirus, we can split them into three general groups:

• Those that don’t cover COVID-19 Some insurance policies come with a ‘general exclusion’ against claims stemming from coronavirus. With these, if your claim is related to the pandemic, they won’t pay out.
• Those that cover COVID-19 medical expenses, but nothing else These will pay out if you catch the virus abroad. They won’t cover you for anything else related to coronavirus.
• Those that cover COVID-19 medical expenses and cancellation Broadly, this means that in certain circumstances you’ll be able to claim if coronavirus stops you from travelling.

To our knowledge, at least 25 insurers now fall into that third category, which is great news for anyone who wants more comprehensive post-lockdown travel cover. We list them all below. The problem is, there’s a wide range of what’s actually covered within that group.

With all of them, you’ll be covered if you need to cancel because you’ve caught coronavirus. But if someone else in your household gets COVID-19, or if you’re self-isolating without being infected, you might not be. The table below shows which insurers will cover you in six potential scenarios. It’s worth noting that these scenarios are not the only reasons you might need to make a coronavirus-related cancellation claim and that some of these insurers will cover other situations. Additionally, it may be that some of these insurers only offer COVID-19 cancellation cover with certain policies.

As you can see, only one insurer (Nationwide) covers you if the FCO changes its advice after you book, because of a development related to the pandemic. And Nationwide is also the only insurer that will pay out if your destination country restricts its borders.

Of all the policies we’ve found, Nationwide’s has the widest coronavirus cover. The downside is that it won’t work for a single-trip policy; you can only get Nationwide travel insurance if you open a bank account with the building society.

Can I get insured for every risk?

Now that more than two dozen insurers are offering coronavirus cancellation cover, it is theoretically possible for you to be insured against many of the things that might go wrong with post-lockdown travel – but not necessarily for everything. Most travel insurers will not cover you if the FCO changes its advice before you fly – as it has in the case of Portugal and others – or if the government orders another lockdown. It’s also still very rare to find cover for if the country you’re travelling to changes its border policy and doesn’t let you in.

You won’t find an insurer that will cover you simply if you change your mind about travelling – for example, if cases in your destination country are rising but the FCO has not warned against going there. And although medical expenses cover is more widely available, COVID-19 is still a threat and it’s still deadly, so you need to take every precaution to make sure you’re safe if you do go abroad. Find