Why won’t insurance cover my trip to a Greek island?
Q We are due to travel to Crete on 21 September. I’m worried in case it goes to the red list before we go, and we won’t be able to travel.
We booked in February. I thought I was doing a good thing by booking early and supporting tourism. I also thought we were covered by my travel insurance. But they say as we booked at a
time where everywhere was off-limits, we’re not covered. Is this a con?
Cas E
A Let me try to separate out the different elements of this problem. First, what are the chances of the beautiful Greek island of Crete going on the government’s red list? As of yesterday, the new infection rate on Crete is (relative to the population) is broadly the same as the UK, with a declining proportion of “Beta variants” (halved in a week to six per cent of the total).
These numbers are well short of what would be needed to put the island on the red list, and I predict rates in both the UK and the Greek isles will fall further in the next seven weeks.
Suppose Crete does go on the red list, requiring hotel quarantine. Were this to happen, all package holidays would be cancelled. If this is how you have booked, you would be entitled to a full refund within two weeks.
If you have made arrangements independently, then it is a question of seeing whether your airline will continue with the flight – which is probably unlikely, again entitling you to a full refund. Your accommodation provider will probably allow you to postpone. With your potential losses mitigated in this way, travel insurance is irrelevant – as it very often is in these kinds of cases.
So why was your travel insurer apparently unhelpful? I think it may be the way you posed the question. Perhaps it was something like, “If Crete goes on the red list, can I get my money back?” I think any insurer would say something like “Our policy is not designed to cover you for known risks such as that.” With other ways to recoup your investment, there is no compelling reason for travel insurers to pay out for the cost of the holiday; they are good at looking after people once they go abroad. I hope you get to enjoy your holiday and do not need to call on your travel insurance.
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