Warning over coronavirus travel insurance confusion for holidaymakers

Confusion over travel insurance could leave holidaymakers at risk of another summer out of pocket, a study warns.

Research from consumer group Which? indicates that many travel insurance customers are being left with a false impression about the level of protection they would receive if the pandemic was to affect their holiday plans.

The watchdog believes some of this is because of poor communication by some travel insurance providers and the use of often confusing, blanket terms such as “Covid Cover” or “Enhanced Covid Cover” on insurers’ websites.

Just under 30% of respondents said they had committed to bookings or arrangements for international trips this year – with around 12% saying that while they’d not booked or arranged travel yet, they did have specific plans.

Which? asked people if they believed that their policies would cover them within a range of cancellation scenarios.

Half of respondents believed that they would be covered should the government’s travel advice change after a trip was booked – and 47% thought their policy would cover them in the event that local or national lockdowns prevented travel. Almost half of the people asked also believed their policy would cover them if their airline or holiday company postponed their travel, but wouldn’t offer a cash refund.

However, when policies offered by 73 travel insurance providers was analysed, cover for those three such eventualities was very rare – with large discrepancies between what these policies included.

Jenny Ross, Which? money editor, said: “The ongoing threat of Covid-related disruption means that getting the right travel insurance for your holiday is more important than ever.

“Without closer scrutiny from government and regulators of how clearly insurers present their policies, there is a very real chance that many travellers will be left out of pocket yet again this summer.”