British Airways Travel Insurance
Apr 8, 2020, 11:58 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: 16 Miles From ABZ
Programs: BA Silver
Posts: 526
British Airways Travel Insurance
We have an annual BA Travel Insurance policy which is due for renewal on 1st May. We also have a trip to California booked with BA using avios and a companion ticket.This was booked towards the end of last year. Is anyone aware if the insurers behind BA's policies have made any amendments to the terms and conditions as a result of the current pandemic?
Apr 8, 2020, 12:11 pm
#2
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: London, UK
Programs: BAEC GGL/GFl, HH Diamond, BW Diamond, Virgin Voyages Deep Blue Extra, Blue Peter Badge Holder
Posts: 3,937
We have an annual BA Travel Insurance policy which is due for renewal on 1st May. We also have a trip to California booked with BA using avios and a companion ticket.This was booked towards the end of last year. Is anyone aware if the insurers behind BA's policies have made any amendments to the terms and conditions as a result of the current pandemic?
Apr 8, 2020, 1:21 pm
#3
Join Date: Oct 2019
Location: clue is in the nym
Programs: BA Gold, TP Gold, VS Gold, Hilton Diamond, IHG Diamond, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 832
We have an annual BA Travel Insurance policy which is due for renewal on 1st May. We also have a trip to California booked with BA using avios and a companion ticket.This was booked towards the end of last year. Is anyone aware if the insurers behind BA's policies have made any amendments to the terms and conditions as a result of the current pandemic?
The main portion of BA's branded travel insurance policy (excluding the Scheduled Airline Failure cover) is underwritten for Allianz Global Assistance by AWP Property & Casualty SA, which is part of Allianz whose Covid-19 notice is here
Some insurers will cover emergency medical and repatriation expenses if you catch Covid-19 (or any variant that emerges) while on holiday, but some will exclude cover completely. People are going to have to do a lot of due diligence checking with their current insurers to see what is still covered, and poring over the websites and policy documents of any insurer with whom they are thinking of taking out cover (this is good practice anyway, but even more crucial now).
Apr 8, 2020, 2:45 pm
#4
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Home Counties, UK
Programs: BA Silver
Posts: 539
I was lucky with SAGA. My annual renewal was due 5th April and I wasn’t going to renew it but instead take out a single trip cover for our BA Menorca holiday in October and then restart the annual when all the travelling kicked in again after that, including our February trip to Cape Town. The single trip was not going to cover Coronavirus (understandably) but the renewed annual policy would much to my amazement. The lady said that any renewals or new policies for trips after 12th April would not cover the virus. I carried on with the annual when told that, it seemed the sensible thing to do.
Apr 8, 2020, 3:08 pm
#5
Moderator: British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: TPA/ABZ
Programs: BA Lifetime Gold. GGL/CCR.
Posts: 13,248
Allianz in the US specifically exclude pandemics and epidemics and refused my claim in March. If the insurance is underwritten by Allianz I don't expect it would be much help.
Apr 8, 2020, 3:14 pm
#6
Suspended
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: DCA
Programs: UA US CO AA DL FL
Posts: 50,262
All of this simply leads to the standard answer, e.g., there is no substitute for reviewing the terms of your specific policy. Very unlikely that you are covered, but why accept that as a given what you can easily determine the answer?
Apr 9, 2020, 3:25 am
#7
Join Date: Apr 2017
Programs: BA Silver
Posts: 1,387
This. The various travel forums are full of people asking the world whether their travel insurance covers x, y, or z. Policies are all different and even a policy from the same company changes depending on when it was sold, through what channel, and what options were taken.
Apr 9, 2020, 4:46 am
#8
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: London, ARN, HEL, ..... or MAN
Programs: BA GGL / GFL, Mucci Diamond!, HH Diamond, Radisson Premium, IHG Gold, Hertz Gold
Posts: 5,898
I received an SMS from NatWest yesterday, with whom I have a policy through my bank account. This stated that trips booked before 18th March are covered for "claims caused by coronavirus" but trips booked after this date are not. Clearly, different insurance providers will have different approaches but it was good that NatWest have made their policy in this area clear. I haven't checked who is the actual insurance company behind my NW insurance however.
Apr 9, 2020, 5:57 am
#9
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: UK
Programs: Lemonia. Best Greek ever.
Posts: 2,274
I took the highest available category of travel insurance from the UK Post Office. They have a very broad disclaimer, roughly that anything any Government did was not covered by their insurance. So they are not paying out to anyone due to "Government" action.
(I was also caught by a small print about visas. Where I was going changed their visa rules in the week of my departure. Post Office said that was my fault...........)
(I was also caught by a small print about visas. Where I was going changed their visa rules in the week of my departure. Post Office said that was my fault...........)
Apr 9, 2020, 6:19 am
#10
Suspended
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Canada, USA, Europe
Programs: UA 1K
Posts: 31,452
I apologise for the Captain Obvious answer, but with insurance questions you really need to call and ask for the current position, which may have changed from what is written in your policy.
Apr 9, 2020, 7:59 am
#11
Join Date: Mar 2014
Programs: BAEC Silver
Posts: 635
I agree you need to call and ask exactly what is covered, especially for renewals. I am lucky that my annual policy by Coverwise underwritten by AXA does cover renewals for bookings already made as of 17 March 2020. Obviously going forward they won't cover new bookings, but it is definitely worth asking whether renewals will include medical cover for bookings already made (and if there is a cut off date for that).
Apr 9, 2020, 12:13 pm
#12
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: 16 Miles From ABZ
Programs: BA Silver
Posts: 526
I think you can pretty much take as a given that no insurer will now cover you for Covid-19 as it's now been declared a pandemic. This (epidemics and pandemics) is a standard exclusion industry-wide.
The main portion of BA's branded travel insurance policy (excluding the Scheduled Airline Failure cover) is underwritten for Allianz Global Assistance by AWP Property & Casualty SA, which is part of Allianz whose Covid-19 notice is here
Some insurers will cover emergency medical and repatriation expenses if you catch Covid-19 (or any variant that emerges) while on holiday, but some will exclude cover completely. People are going to have to do a lot of due diligence checking with their current insurers to see what is still covered, and poring over the websites and policy documents of any insurer with whom they are thinking of taking out cover (this is good practice anyway, but even more crucial now).
The main portion of BA's branded travel insurance policy (excluding the Scheduled Airline Failure cover) is underwritten for Allianz Global Assistance by AWP Property & Casualty SA, which is part of Allianz whose Covid-19 notice is here
Some insurers will cover emergency medical and repatriation expenses if you catch Covid-19 (or any variant that emerges) while on holiday, but some will exclude cover completely. People are going to have to do a lot of due diligence checking with their current insurers to see what is still covered, and poring over the websites and policy documents of any insurer with whom they are thinking of taking out cover (this is good practice anyway, but even more crucial now).
Apr 9, 2020, 2:00 pm
#13
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 1999
Location: Juneau, Alaska.
Programs: AS 75K;BA Silver;AA G;HH Dia;HY Glob
Posts: 15,815
We have the British Airways Deluxe Travel Insurance Policy. According to the terms and conditions document that accompanied our renewal notice last year the insurance provided is underwritten by Collinson Insurances Services Limited on behalf of ERV (Europaische Reisversicherung AG, Munich, Germany an ERGO company except for Legal expenses cover which is by DAS Legal Expenses Insurance Company LImited and certain Airline Failure by certain underwriters at LLoyd's of London. I can find no reference to the involvement of Allianz specifically in the document nor can I find any specific reference to pandemic or epidemic events being excluded. Once I receive this year's renewal notice I will speak to the insurers on the point I raised in my initial post and post the reply here.
https://www.britishairways.com/cms/g...nce_Policy.pdf
I believe that the following is part of the exclusions of your policy:
GENERAL EXCLUSIONS
YOU ARE NOT COVERED FOR
Anything directly or indirectly caused by:
...
24) you not following any suggestions or recommendations made by any government or other official authority during the period of insurance;
YOU ARE NOT COVERED FOR
Anything directly or indirectly caused by:
...
24) you not following any suggestions or recommendations made by any government or other official authority during the period of insurance;
The policy does not appear to mention epidemics; but travel in disregard of FCO advice may be subject to the above exclusion.
Apr 9, 2020, 2:36 pm
#14
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: 16 Miles From ABZ
Programs: BA Silver
Posts: 526
The travel insurance offered by BA now on their website appears to be Allianz. Maybe BA changed vendors in the last year. That said, the following link appears to be your policy:
https://www.britishairways.com/cms/g...nce_Policy.pdf
I believe that the following is part of the exclusions of your policy:
https://www.britishairways.com/cms/g...nce_Policy.pdf
The policy does not appear to mention epidemics; but travel in disregard of FCO advice may be subject to the above exclusion.
https://www.britishairways.com/cms/g...nce_Policy.pdf
I believe that the following is part of the exclusions of your policy:
https://www.britishairways.com/cms/g...nce_Policy.pdf
The policy does not appear to mention epidemics; but travel in disregard of FCO advice may be subject to the above exclusion.
Apr 9, 2020, 2:51 pm
#15
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 1999
Location: Juneau, Alaska.
Programs: AS 75K;BA Silver;AA G;HH Dia;HY Glob
Posts: 15,815
It goes without saying that the majority of insurance policies will have an exclusion clause about disregarding Government advice. However such advice will eventually change and people will be allowed to travel to countries such as the USA where Covid19 has been rampant, has largely disappeared but probably still exists. This is probably the point I am trying to raise and clarify as I believe the terms and conditions are somewhat woolly and not specific enough - as insurance policies invariably are!. It is ok to say talk to the insurers about this but I am reluctant to rely on what is communicated verbally by telephone and prefer to have to rely on specifics that are printed in black and white. Perhaps my expectations are too high!!
COVID-19, the disease caused by the 2019 Novel Coronavirus, is a known and rapidly evolving epidemic that is affecting travel worldwide, with continued spread and impact expected. On March 11th 2020 the World Health Organization recognized that COVID-19 is a global pandemic.
Please be advised that travel insurance policies (including Car Damage Waiver policies) generally do not provide coverage or reimburse financial losses related to epidemics or pandemics.
Fear of travel is also generally not a covered reason for trip cancellation or interruption.
If you are considering the purchase of a travel insurance policy, please make sure you carefully review the Terms and Conditions as well as any additional information provided, so that you will have a clear understanding of what is covered under the policy and what is not covered.
Policies purchased while a known travel ban is in place will have limited coverage and you should consider these limitations prior to purchasing your policy.
If you have already purchased an insurance policy from Allianz Partners and need more information, please contact our customer service team (details can be found in your Travel Insurance documents) and we will be happy to assist you.
Please be advised that travel insurance policies (including Car Damage Waiver policies) generally do not provide coverage or reimburse financial losses related to epidemics or pandemics.
Fear of travel is also generally not a covered reason for trip cancellation or interruption.
If you are considering the purchase of a travel insurance policy, please make sure you carefully review the Terms and Conditions as well as any additional information provided, so that you will have a clear understanding of what is covered under the policy and what is not covered.
Travel ban information
Given the expansion of recent travel bans, please ensure that no travel ban is currently in place for your point of origin or for your destination.Policies purchased while a known travel ban is in place will have limited coverage and you should consider these limitations prior to purchasing your policy.
If you have already purchased an insurance policy from Allianz Partners and need more information, please contact our customer service team (details can be found in your Travel Insurance documents) and we will be happy to assist you.