travel insurance when booking with current FCO advice

[mrsmagoo]

just thought i would post our experience on here. We booked early this morning for summer 2021. We contacted our travel insurance (barclays) last night prior to booking to see where we stood. They confirmed that if we book when the FCO advice is not to travel but it is lifted when we go then we will be fully covered should we need any medical assistance while in the states. They also confirmed that this includes COVID. They did say that we wont be covered for cancellation due to us not being able to travel if we become unwell with covid which we knew would be the case so have paid extra for extra insurances for tickets, villa etc. Flydrive booked via BA to give extra protection and only have a deposit to pay. BA also offering the option to change booking etc or receive a voucher (valid at the moment till 30/4/22- this could change)

[Rac20]

Did BA say at what point prior to travel you could claim the voucher if you became unwell with Covid?
We are with Barclays but reluctant to book in case we came down with Covid the week before. By which point balances would have been paid.

I do need to phone Barclays to check where we stand with regards the accommodation we booked prior to March but had to rearrange in case we need to cancel.

[mrsmagoo]

i think its 48hrs before but have also seen 3 weeks mentioned which seems strange as thats when the balance is due, it seems to be dependent on date of travel. If Covid is still rife by the 3 weeks out mark we will move the booking. With kids going back to school, and working in the NHS i would have thought we would get it before then but who knows. Its a bit of risk which is why we have done everything to try and minimise it but unfortunately we cant get rid of it completely.

[Emma & Lloyd]

We’ve done the same, with a BA fly drive. Feel pretty safe cancelling or moving the date if we can’t go.
Just trying to figure out what accommodation to get to minimise risk if losing our money if we can’t go.

[mrsmagoo]

We have just purchased travel insurance through staysure. Had a really long conversation with them on the phone and they are offering cover for covid cancellations on all new policies. It was £160 but i feel so much better know that if we have to cancel if we get covid we will get our money back! was the only thing stopping me from being super excited and now its sorted!

[POFQfan]

Originally Posted by Rac20

Did BA say at what point prior to travel you could claim the voucher if you became unwell with Covid?
We are with Barclays but reluctant to book in case we came down with Covid the week before. By which point balances would have been paid.

I do need to phone Barclays to check where we stand with regards the accommodation we booked prior to March but had to rearrange in case we need to cancel.

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We are the same - also with Barclays. I keep seeing people writing about booking and saying the airline or resort will have to give them money back if the FCO won't let them go anyway and that's obviously true. But I always think 'what if it's your family who has the virus?' then you wouldn't be covered for cancellation (due to booking during US being on the 'blacklist'!) and I think that's too big a risk to take. If it happens the week before you travel, everything will be paid and you'd lose it all. It doesn't have to be you either, could be someone you work with who is diagnosed with it a few days before you go and you have to isolate. Until the US comes off the blacklist, it's an expensive risk and makes for a very stressful run up to the holiday .

[mrsmagoo]

Originally Posted by POFQfan

We are the same - also with Barclays. I keep seeing people writing about booking and saying the airline or resort will have to give them money back if the FCO won't let them go anyway and that's obviously true. But I always think 'what if it's your family who has the virus?' then you wouldn't be covered for cancellation (due to booking during US being on the 'blacklist'!) and I think that's too big a risk to take. If it happens the week before you travel, everything will be paid and you'd lose it all. It doesn't have to be you either, could be someone you work with who is diagnosed with it a few days before you go and you have to isolate. Until the US comes off the blacklist, it's an expensive risk and makes for a very stressful run up to the holiday .

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We took the decision to negate this risk and bought a policy through Staysure who will cover us for cancellation due to covid right up till we are on the plane. It was £150 for 15 months cover which I didn’t think was that bad and gives us peace of mind. They get really good reviews through trust pilot. I spent ages on the phone with them clarifying that we will be covered and then phoned back after we received the policy to clarify some things and all was good. Can choose how much you are covered for with cancellation. We went for £6k as only things we stand to lose if we don’t go because we fall poorly close to departure are villa and flights.

[Mickie]

Originally Posted by mrsmagoo

We took the decision to negate this risk and bought a policy through Staysure who will cover us for cancellation due to covid right up till we are on the plane. It was £150 for 15 months cover which I didn’t think was that bad and gives us peace of mind. They get really good reviews through trust pilot. I spent ages on the phone with them clarifying that we will be covered and then phoned back after we received the policy to clarify some things and all was good. Can choose how much you are covered for with cancellation. We went for £6k as only things we stand to lose if we don’t go because we fall poorly close to departure are villa and flights.

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I’m with POFQfan the risk of a last minute cancellation is too big to book yet. If the Travel industry want us to make bookings they need to look at that.

Can I ask about the Staysure policy cos when I look at their Covid cover it says this

Cover only applies if the FCO have not advised against all or all but essential travel to your destination. Currently the FCO advises against travel to certain destinations such as; Spain (including Balearic & Canary Islands), France, USA, South & Central America, Africa, Central Asia and China. Please see gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice for full details.

Which seems pretty clear, although it doesn’t say what happens if FCO advice changes. If I could cover against the last minute risk I’d probably book something

[neilhd]

I think we might do the same. Our accommodation was originally booked last year so should count as being booked before restrictions (even though it was since rescheduled), and will look to book with BA for the peace of mind.

[mrsmagoo]

Originally Posted by Mickie

I’m with POFQfan the risk of a last minute cancellation is too big to book yet. If the Travel industry want us to make bookings they need to look at that.

Can I ask about the Staysure policy cos when I look at their Covid cover it says this

Cover only applies if the FCO have not advised against all or all but essential travel to your destination. Currently the FCO advises against travel to certain destinations such as; Spain (including Balearic & Canary Islands), France, USA, South & Central America, Africa, Central Asia and China. Please see gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice for full details.

Which seems pretty clear, although it doesn’t say what happens if FCO advice changes. If I could cover against the last minute risk I’d probably book something

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That's if you travel when the FCO are advising against it. They know our destination and covered us. If we travel and the advice is still not to travel then we wont be covered but they do offer extension packs for this. We wont travel against advice so we didn't take this.