For AllClear Gold and AllClear Gold Plus policyholders:
The following advice applies with effect from 6th October:
With effect from 6th October the storm has been upgraded to a natural disaster. Consequently, if you are who booked to travel from 6th October onwards, to be fully covered, you would need to have purchased Travel Disruption cover prior to 1st October, (when this event became publically known via the media).
The following advice applies up to and including 5th October:
If you purchased your policy before 1st October 2016 the below terms apply. If you purchased your policy from 1st October 2016 onwards (when this became publically known via the media), the event would be deemed to be a known event so no cover would be in place.
If you have purchased Travel Disruption cover, additional benefits may be payable – please refer to your specific policy wording for full details of cover.
– Travel delay
This would be deemed to be an adverse weather event so the usual travel delay benefits and terms would apply. However, please note that we do NOT cover arrival delay, only departure delay.
– Abandonment
If the delay in departing from the UK exceeds 12 hours/24 hours as specified in the policy wording then unused travel and accommodation costs, which cannot be reimbursed from other sources, will be refundable. If this was booked as a package, then please contact your tour operator/travel agent first to try and move the dates or obtain a full refund.
– Cancellation
No specific cover as claims would fall under the Abandonment section terms.
– Accommodation cover
If the storm has led to you not being able to reach your accommodation in resort, or not being able to continue using your accommodation in resort, then we will consider new accommodation booked to continue your trip and the reasonable cost of additional travel to get there.
Please note that we will NOT consider any upgrade cost regarding accommodation, as you should utilise the same level as originally booked (i.e. if you were originally staying in a 3 star hotel, we will not consider the cost of a 4 star hotel. If a claim is submitted then we would look to establish the 3 star hotel cost and apply this to the claim).
– Missed departure
If the storm means that public transport fails and you cannot get to the airport on time to reach your return flight, then missed departure will apply if this is the final return journey. If your flight is delayed from an area affected, and your actual final return journey is the next destination (e.g. Caribbean to mainland USA, then USA to London), then we will consider missed departure from the final return journey destination (e.g. USA).
In terms of travel to the UK departure points, you must check in for a travel delay or abandonment claim to be valid. In light of the extent of the weather conditions we will allow you not to check-in if you’ve been contacted by the airline and told not to check-in. Also, if you are in resort and are told not to go to the airport to check-in because of the storm, this is also ok.
If you’re stuck overseas and unable to return to the UK:
Your existing policy would automatically extend to cover you until such time as you are reasonably able to return home.
If you are still in the UK and have not yet travelled:
The following rules should apply:
– Where possible, a full refund should be sought from your tour operator, travel agent etc. Only non-refundable expenses will be considered on your travel insurance policy.
– If you’re wishing to rearrange your trip dates, provided you are not making any claim under Abandonment, we can allow the cover dates to be transferred to a new trip provided the new trip is within 3 months of the original departure date and is for the same (or no longer) duration and is to the same geographical area.
If you need to make a claim:
Please follow the claims process detailed in your policy booklet.
