FEATURE
Travel insurance claims during Covid-19: An insurance lawyer’s guide MARCUS VELLA, ASSOCIATE, GILCHRIST CONNELL
S
o the world is opening up again. After months of late nights working from home, dialling into court hearings at the breakfast table, and swearing affidavits over Zoom, perhaps, like me, you are now finally daring enough to swap your top-half-only suit and curated video-call background for a comfy pair of travel pants, to jet off far and wide across Australia or further abroad. Brimming with optimism, you pack your bags, brave the apocalyptic airport lines, and reach your flight in time to gleefully heed the airline’s advice to put your phone on aeroplane mode for everyone’s safety, and not to avoid the steadily expanding pile of work emails filling your inbox. Just as you think you’ve made it, and the unpredictable death trap of travelling during a pandemic appears to have been finally overcome, Covid-19 has other ideas. That’s exactly what happened to me, a Sydney-based insurance lawyer, when my partner contracted Covid-19 on our trip to Queensland for a wedding. Unfortunately, with nearly 50,000 confirmed cases of Covid-19 across Australia each day and rising, odds are that something similar may happen to you. But, as a cautious, forward-thinking intellectual, you will have planned ahead and purchased travel insurance. Doing so might just save you in the event of a claim.
WHAT COVID-19 LOSSES MAY BE COVERED? As with all insurance contracts, the specific terms of your travel policy are key. Commonly, travel policies exclude cover
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for loss arising from Covid-19. However, many travel insurers now offer a limited optional cover when Covid-19 impacts on your travel plans. The nature and scope of cover can vary significantly between policies and insurers, and between domestic and international travel. It is important that you closely review the full terms, conditions, limits and exclusions of the insurance policy you intend to purchase. Where Covid-19-related cover is available, it is often limited cover that triggers only if you or someone you are travelling with contracts Covid-19 within a certain period before or during your journey. Some policies may also provide cover if you are a close contact and therefore unable to travel. In those circumstances, cover may not be available where the travel provider cancels their services for reasons incidental to Covid-19, such as changes in border restrictions or staff isolation requirements. Even if you or your travel partner contract Covid-19 within the covered period, only certain losses may be the subject of the limited cover. Some Covid-19 policies only cover medical and repatriation (i.e. flying you back home) costs, whereas others, usually for additional premium, will provide limited cover for consequential loss flowing from the illness, such as quarantine or isolation costs, and the costs of wasted tours at your intended destination. I have three key personal tips: 1. Closely read the definitions in your policy. In some policies, cover may be limited to either you or a spouse, de facto or dependant contracting
Covid-19. Such policies may not respond if you are travelling with friends and one of them contracts the virus. 2. If your policy provides cover for the cancellation of pre-booked flights, accommodation or tours due to Covid-19, it will often only respond if no refund or credit is available after you request that. Check with each of your travel providers, or your travel agent, what refund and credit policies apply to you, so you don’t end up with a series of six-month credits that may be of little practical use to you. 3. Don’t wait until the last minute to buy insurance, because some insurers will only cover you if someone contracts Covid-19 and the policy was purchased more than 21 days before your scheduled departure date.
SO, YOU’VE CAUGHT COVID-19 WHILE TRAVELLING, WHAT NOW? Under many policies, contracting Covid-19 is considered a medical emergency, so once you suspect you have Covid-19 or have tested positive, your first step should be to call your travel insurer’s medical emergency hotline. Most travel insurers have 24-hour hotlines to help you manage your claim and, importantly, it will be the most useful source of information for meeting the requirements of your policy. Take the name of the person assisting you and keep a note of the time and date of the call and all steps your insurer requires of you. Here are a few helpful questions to ask your insurer: