Hurricane Sandy - What is Covered by Your Globelink Travel Insurance Policy?

29 Oct 2012 by Olga Brighton

World Travel Insurance News

The key is that generally, the insurer expects you to obtain a refund of any lost monies from their airline, tour operator, travel agent, etc. wherever possible and your travel insurance policy should only be used where you are not entitled to any such refund. Each client should refer to their own policy wording to check the specifics of cover as all our wordings differ slightly but in general, the following outlines the cover provided.

Travel delay

Travel delay insurance

The hurricane Sandy would be deemed as an adverse weather event so the usual travel delay benefits and terms would apply.

Abandonment

If the delay in departing from the UK, or EU country of residence exceeds 12 hours/24 hours as specified in the policy wording then unused travel and accommodation costs which cannot be reimbursed from other sources will be refundable.

Cancellation

No specific cover as claims would fall under the Abandonment section terms.

Catastrophe

Catastrophe insurance

Cover applies for additional irrecoverable travel or accommodation costs necessarily incurred to continue with the prepaid trip if you are forced to move from your pre-booked and pre-paid accommodation outside of the UK or EU country of residence as a result of the hurricane. If the trip cannot be continued, additional travel and accommodation costs incurred to return to the UK or your EU country of residence may be refundable. You should refer to your policy wording to determine cover under this section as it differs from client to client so specific guidance cannot be provided here. In terms of travel to the UK or EU departure points, a lot of our wordings state a customer must check in for a travel delay or abandonment claim to be valid. We would generally waiver this requirement whilst the Press and TV confirm no flights are going in and out of the affected areas overseas. All of the above terms would apply to customers who purchased their policy on or before 28th Oct 12. For customers looking to purchase a policy from 29th October 2012 onwards, the hurricane would be deemed to be a known event so no cover would be in place. For customers stuck overseas and unable to return to the UK or their EU country of residence, their existing policy would automatically extend to cover them until such time as they are reasonably able to return home. In terms of additional travel and accommodation costs incurred as a result of the extended stay, unless cover is provided under the Catastrophe section, they would only be entitled to the Travel delay benefit which is designed to contribute towards their out of pocket expenses.

Travel insurance rules

For customers who are still in the UK or their EU country of residence and have not yet travelled, the following rules should apply:

  • Where possible, a full refund should be sought from their airline, tour operator, travel agent, etc. Only non-refundable expenses will be considered on their travel insurance policy.
  • For customers wishing to rearrange their trip dates, provided they are not making any claim under Abandonment, we can allow the cover dates to be transferred to a new trip provided the new trip is within 3 months of the original departure date and is for the same (or no longer) duration.

Any specific requests falling outside the guidelines above should be referred to info@globelink.co.uk with full details for a decision based on the facts of each case. Customers needing to make a claim should visit the page or call the Claims Department on +44 (0)1273 624 661.

Read also: Consumer Insurance Act to Comes Into Force on 6 April 2013

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