Coronavirus Travel Insurance: Who's Offering the Best Policies?

Despite coronavirus cases still being prevalent around the globe, the number of people booking holidays is on the rise which is welcome news for the travel industry. And there’s now a growing list of travel insurance providers who will offer you some form of cover for coronavirus. But the question everyone wants to know the answer to is which insurer is offering the best travel insurance for COVID?

If you’ve got a holiday booked, it’s imperative, more so now than ever, to book your travel insurance as soon as you’ve booked your trip. But travelling during a pandemic comes with more risks than usual so you’ll want to ensure you have a travel insurance policy in place that covers you for as many eventualities as possible during these uncertain times.

We’ve taken the top ten providers from our travel insurance comparison table and compared what cover they offer for coronavirus related issues. As you will see, the level of cover varies drastically and some providers offer far more comprehensive policies than others. Of course, the information listed on this table only applies to countries that are exempt from the FCDO’s all but essential travel advice. If the FCDO is advising that you do not enter a country but you travel there against this advice, you will not be covered even if you have a travel insurance policy in place. Visit the FCDO’s website to see an updated list of the countries that you can travel to.

Cover	Medical cover if you contract COVID-19 abroad	Repatriation back to the UK if you fall ill abroad with COVID-19	Cancellation if you contract COVID-19 at home and cannot travel	Cancelling or cutting your trip short after a death in the family from COVID-19	If the FCDO change their advice and you can no longer travel
Insurance provider	Staysure, AXA, Avanti, Coverwise, World First, Travel Insurance 4 Medical, CoverForYou, Holidaysafe, Alpha, multitrip	Staysure, AXA, Avanti, Coverwise, World First, Travel Insurance 4 Medical, CoverForYou, Holidaysafe, Alpha, multitrip	Staysure, AXA, Avanti, Coverwise, CoverForYou, Holidaysafe, Alpha, multitrip	Staysure, CoverForYou, multitrip	Staysure

The information detailed above is accurate as of 11th August 2020 for new policies. If you have an existing policy with one of the insurers on our table that you purchased before 13th March 2020, your cover is likely to vary.

All of the travel insurance providers that we compared offer cover if you need emergency medical treatment and repatriation back to the UK as a result of contracting COVID, but for some providers, that’s where the cover ends. When it comes to global pandemics, the risks associated with travelling go way further than this and you’ll probable want additional cover. You need to consider every possibility, what would happen if you needed to cancel because you contract COVID-19 just before you travel? Or a family member tragically passes away due to coronavirus whilst you’re abroad? As you can see, <a class="break-word" href="https://www.comparebyreview.com/travel-insurance/staysure/" rel="noopener" style="color: rgb(45, 170, 225);" target="_blank">Staysure</a> not only features at the top of our comparison table that ranks insurers based on product quality and customer service but they also offer the best travel insurance for coronavirus out of the insurers that we compared. They even include cover if the FCDO change their travel advice and you can no longer travel to your destination, something that no other insurer on our comparison table is offering. This only recently happened in Spain. Hundreds of people booked a last minute holiday to then find that Spain was axed from the UK’s ‘air bridge’, so there’s a real possibility that this could be the case for the country you plan on travelling to. If there’s one positive to come out of the last few months, it’s that the devastation to the travel industry has highlighted how important it is to purchase a comprehensive travel insurance policy. We’re all guilty of buying the cheapest insurance policy we can find to save a few pennies, but more often than not, when it comes to making a claim you’ll be left picking up the pieces because the policy you purchased <a href="https://www.comparebyreview.com/travel-insurance/lord-alan-sugar-tweets-travel-insurance-warning/" rel="noopener" style="color: rgb(45, 170, 225);" target="_blank">isn’t worth the paper it’s written on</a>. That’s why we’re on a mission to change the way people buy insurance, the pandemic has been a bit of a wake up call and made people realise that it’s time to leave the ‘grab and go’ culture in the past. So many people have had claims refused recently due to carelessly buying the first policy they can find and not reading it thoroughly. Now is the time to start being more mindful when taking out insurance, take your time, research the company and make sure you know exactly what you are and aren’t covered for.

Things to consider when buying travel insurance

Travelling abroad in the midst of a pandemic won’t be risk free so it’s key to make sure you take out a travel insurance policy that’s as comprehensive as possible. Of course, insurance can’t protect you from all of the risks associated with travelling at this time but there are a few things we recommend you look out for when buying a policy.

Excess – the amount of money you pay towards a claim.
Scheduled airline failure insurance (SAFI) – cover for if your airline goes bust.
Medical cover for COVID-19 – this means that you’re covered if you contract coronavirus abroad and is absolutely essential. There are still so many travel insurers that aren’t offering this level of cover so make sure it’s included in your policy.
Travel disruption and cancellation cover – many providers aren’t currently offering this additional level of cover due to the pandemic. However, it’s important to look out for this in the future. It covers you if you need to cancel for a reason that is covered on the insurers qualifying list.