Travel Insurance COVID-19 FAQs

Travel disruption is still possible and national control measures may be brought in with little notice. For the latest travel advice, please check the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development office website: https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice

There is no cover under the policy for amendments (Under Section B4.1 Cancellation, Curtailment, Rearrangement, Replacement, Missed Departure & Travel Delay) to your trip, resulting from:

A)      SARS-COV-2

B)      COVID-19

C)      or any derivative or mutation of A or B

And due to any law or guidance or regulation by any of the following:

i) the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, or,

ii) any other similar body for Insured Persons not resident in Britain, or

iii) any other legally empowered regulatory body or government or local authority

which advises against all travel, or advises against all but essential travel, or prevents, or restricts, or denies the Insured Person from travelling.

RSA will review each claim on its own merits.  Please read the instructions below before submitting a claim.

RSA have advised the following:

In order to trigger a claim under this policy, you have to evidence that the amount you have paid is not otherwise recoverable. We have recently obtained some Legal advice, which confirms Airline and Tour Operators are legally obliged to provide a full refund in respect of Cancellation claims as a result of Covid-19.

The Flight Compensation Regulation and the Package Travel Regulations confirm that if the journey is cancelled due to "extraordinary circumstances" a full refund has to be provided to the traveller. We have asked our Panel law firm to prepare some standard template letters, in order to support you to try and obtain a full refund and the first letter can be found [insert]. If you do not receive a response we can provide a second letter.

Again, if your trip has been booked using a credit card you have to evidence that any amounts paid are not recoverable to trigger the policy, as per your rights under section 75 of the Consumer Act 1974, which is stated below;

Your rights under Section 75

Under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974, the credit card company is jointly and severally liable for any breach of contract or misrepresentation by the retailer or trader.

This means it is just as responsible as the retailer or trader for the goods or service supplied, allowing you to also put your claim to the credit card company. https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/advice/can-i-claim-on-my-credit-card-when-something-goes-wrong

You don't have to reach a stalemate with the retailer or trader before you can contact your credit card provider - you can make a claim to both the retailer and credit card provider simultaneously, although you can't recover your losses from both.

This right is particularly useful if the retailer or trader has gone bust, or it doesn't respond to your letters or phone calls.

Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act also applies to foreign transactions as well as goods bought online, by telephone or mail order for delivery to the UK from overseas.

To consider the claim further we must have evidence of the following;

• That the loss is not otherwise recoverable
• If you paid for the trip using a credit card? Supporting documents to show you also confirmed no refund is available through this route
• A copy of the contract if there is specific exclusion term being relied on by the Tour Operator/ Airline
• It requires you send a letter asserting a request for refund of monies from Airline / Tour operator (This is the template letter which can be found [insert location)
• Challenge any refusal in writing (We can provide this template letter as required)

If a traveller contracts COVID-19 while abroad, it should be noted that the local domestic health authority will be treating patients, in line with the global response.

Should you need to make contact in an emergency:

For medical emergencies that require urgent assistance call the local emergency services.  Please make sure you are aware of the number prior to travel.  As soon as possible thereafter call the Medical & Security Assistance telephone helpline on +44 (0) 208 608 4100

If you require additional information relating to Medical or Security Assistance which is not available within the Healix App or via Risk Monitor, please also telephone the helpline: +44 (0) 208 608 4100.

In all instances remember to quote your policy number: RTT306251

Cover relating to Cancellation, Curtailment, Re-arrangement, Replacement, Missed Departure and Travel Delay has been removed in respect of Countries where:

i) the Foreign Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO),

ii) or, any other comparable body for Insured Persons whose permanent place of residence is not in Britain, e.g. US State Dept.

iii) or, World Health Organisation (WHO), or similar governing body, or,

iv) any other legally empowered regulatory body or government or local authority advises against all travel, or advises against all but essential travel, or prevents, or restricts, or denies the Insured Person from travelling.

The exclusion removes cover where there is advice against travel, or laws / guidance / regulation prevents, restricts or denies travel, at the time that the trip is booked, and

The exclusion removes the cover if the Insured Person goes ahead with travel when restrictions or regulations are in place, and puts themselves at known risk of curtailment, rearrangement etc.

All external journey travel involves two or more countries, and as a result there is potential need to consult not only the FCDO, but also WHO or other similar bodies, or governments of another country who may put in place restrictions.

The insurance exclusion wording follows:

Section B4.1 Cancellation, Curtailment, Rearrangement, Replacement, Missed Departure & Travel Delay Cover Covid-19 Exclusion

In respect of any Trip (including where the Operative Time extends to Business and Leisure Travel) booked on or after 1st November 2020 the following Exclusion is added to the Cancellation, Curtailment, Re-arrangement, Replacement, Missed Departure and Travel Delay Insurance Section

The Company will not pay any claim which is directly, or indirectly, as a result of, or, is contributed to by, or, is as a consequence of:

A. severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-COV-2) or B. coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) or C. any derivative or mutation of either A. or B.

where the Insured Person is arranging or booking to travel to or from, or, is travelling to or from, any country, or, area within a country, where there is any law or guidance or regulation by any of the following:

i) the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office, or, ii) any other similar body for Insured Persons not resident in Britain, or iii) any other legally empowered regulatory body or government or local authority

which advises against all travel, or advises against all but essential travel, or prevents, or restricts, or denies the Insured Person from travelling.

For travellers going abroad, you should check the most up to date advice from the FCDO or the appropriate body. Here is the link to the FCDO website: https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice

If the FCDO have shown a Country as advising against all but essential international travel and have then exempted that Country and allowed travel, then Cancellation Curtailment, Re-arrangement, Replacement, Missed Departure and Travel Delay will operate, but only where the exemption applies.

Where it is known that the exemption will be lifted and a booking is made before it is implemented, cover will not be in place.

Other sections of the policy, including emergency medical expenses, are not subject to this exclusion or any other exclusion pertaining to COVID-19.

If you are a Study Abroad student or a member of staff or student on a long-term placement and you are planning to travel abroad from your placement country the principal source of guidance on whether travel is allowed should be the Government of the country in which you are based. However, it is important to understand requirements of destination territories and the FCDO site and WHO site can assist with this.

The exclusion does not just apply to Cancellation but also to Curtailment, Re-arrangement, Replacement, Missed Departure and Travel Delay and as such it is important that travellers not only know whether travel is permissible but also what are the COVID-19 related restrictions of Airlines and other Transport providers in making a journey and of the destination country in respect of testing and quarantining on arrival for example as the exclusion would apply to losses arising from failure to comply with these requirements.

A. To obtain a claim form please go to https://www.imperial.ac.uk/staff-travel-and-expenses/claims-and-post-trip-activities/submitting-an-insurance-claim/

A.  Please send all claims to insurance@imperial.ac.uk

A. If a travel cancellation or disruption loss does occur, before submitting a claim, we suggest that you should first contact the travel agent, airline or hotel to seek a refund or make alternative travel arrangements based on existing tickets and bookings. After this, if you still have a loss that is unrecoverable from any other source, please submit a claim in the usual manner along with the original and amended itineraries and other relevant documents to substantiate the loss.

A. Our travel policy is defined by the FCDO.  If at the time of booking there was no travel restrictions then the policy will respond, subject to the terms and conditions.  We would advise all travellers to regularly check FCDO travel advice for their destination and any countries in transit.  If the advice changes to “against travel” and the traveller wishes to cancel or postpone their trip, they can submit a claim.

A. If an organiser (not ICL) has cancelled an event, then the policy should respond.

A. For country advice and assistance please use: Healix International, an advanced online country/city risk intelligence service.

Travellers need to self-register at https://www.rsainsurance.co.uk/commercial-insurance-products/business-travel and follow the instructions for Healix International.

You can also download the RSA Travel Assistance App or Healix Travel Oracle App from Google Play or Apple Store.

A. You can download the RSA Travel app for pre-travel information as well as pre-programmed access to the insurer’s 24-hour helpline and direct access to Healix for medical assistance.  The app can be downloaded from the Apple App Store or Google Play.   You need to enter the Policy number RTT 306251 as part of the registration process.

A. The policy excess will be waived for COVID-19 claims.  Finance Managers should not be accepting insurance claims through expenses, as noted in the Expenses policy here.