Few offer full travel cover for disruption

LESS than one in 100 travel insurance policies provide complete cover for coronavirus-related disruption, says Which?.

Out of 263 travel insurance policies, the consumer group rated just two as offering complete Covid-19 cover – HSBC UK Select and Cover and Barclays travel pack.

They protect travellers against cancellation due to changes in advice from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office or Government lockdowns prohibiting travel; testing positive for Covid or being told to selfisolate; and medical costs and repatriation.

Available to customers of the banks, they can only be bought alongside other insurance products, the watchdog said.

Only a third offered cover if travellers cancelled because they were told to self-isolate by the NHS Test and Trace app.

Five per cent offered cancellation cover in the event of a lockdown in the UK that prevented travellers leaving the country.

Less than a fifth (16 per cent) covered passengers returning early if advice from the FCDO changed while they were abroad.

Gareth Shaw, head of Which? Money, said: “The Government should work with regulators to ensure providers don’t make bold and confusing claims about their cover without being clear about the limitations.”