Germans hold the key to your invalid travel cover

R.P. writes: We bought a one-year worldwide travel insurance policy from the Post Office in January, and now of course we cannot use it. We have tried hard to reach the Post Office to discuss this, but to no avail. YOU and your wife are both senior citizens, and you spent almost £500 on the Post Office’s Annual Multi-trip travel policy. You managed one trip to Madeira before lockdown, but now the Post Office’s own website says: ‘Policies may be invalidated by travelling to areas that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office advise against. Currently the FCO advises against all international travel.’ In a nutshell, you have a travel policy that is made invalid if you travel.

The Financial Conduct Authority has asked all insurers to review their products where customers can now make little or no use of the cover provided. But a decision on your own cover is not really up to the Post Office. It markets the policies, but the purse strings are held by German underwriters. The Post Office has told me it is in talks with the Germans and is hoping to have an answer this month. Fingers crossed.