General Insurance Article - Travel insurance sales soar amidst fears of Coronavirus

 “The key message is to make sure you have travel insurance in place as soon as you’ve booked. If you’ve booked and haven’t got insurance, get it sorted as soon as possible.

 “If you have insurance in place and the FCO advises against travel to your destination, you should be covered, whereas if they have listed your destination area as no travel before you buy your policy, an insurer won't pay out.

 “Travelers already in travel restricted zones and trying to leave will continue to be covered by travel insurance, whereas anyone actively trying to travel to these areas or any other area which has a travel restriction imposed by the FCO would now risk invalidating their travel policy.

 “If you’ve booked a trip and now want to cancel it, then you may find your insurer won’t refund you if there’s no warning on travel to your destination. If you’ve booked flights and accommodation separately, it’s worth contacting the airline you’re flying with to seek their advice on disruption to future flights. We’d also urge people to get in touch with their insurer to check cover and restrictions, or for more specific advice relating to their policy.

 “As of the 28th February 2020, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has advised against all travel to Hubei Province, and against all but essential travel to the rest of mainland China, the cities of Daegu and Cheongdo in South Korea and ten small towns in the Lombardy region and one in the Veneto region of Italy.

 “More information on the FCO travel restrictions and general travel advice can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/travel-advice-novel-coronavirus.”