Any event you were aware of when booking your holiday or purchasing your insurance
If you’re travelling against the advice of the FCDO
You fail to provide the required tests and/or documentation required to travel such as a a negative test result.
AXA underwrites numerous insurance products in the UK and globally, so within each sales journey there will be messaging about what is covered and what is not. You can also view the policy terms for full information before purchasing. If you have any worries about what is covered please do not hesitate to contact the issuer of your policy.
I have an upcoming trip
All AXA policies, irrespective of purchase date, include cover if you have to cancel your trip because you, a travelling companion or a close relative (as defined within the policy) become ill with coronavirus. However, a number of our policies no longer cover cancellation or curtailment if the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) or another regulatory body advises against travel due to a pandemic. Please check your relevant wording to see if this applicable.
Some of our policies no longer provide cover if a government or another public authority impose restrictions on movement or isolation, this includes lockdowns, either in your home country or at your destination.
If you need to cancel your trip, you should first ask your airline or travel provider to postpone your trip or arrange a refund. If you have booked a package holiday, under The Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018, your rights are legally protected and therefore you should liaise with the tour operator for a refund.
If your flights were not booked as part of a package, you may still be entitled to a refund under the EU Denied Boarding regulations if your transport was cancelled, and therefore you should liaise with your airline for a refund.
If your package provider or airline has cancelled your trip you can claim a full cash refund from the provider. You do not need to accept a voucher for a future booking. If you do accept a voucher, the booking date of the trip will be the date you use the voucher. Please check the travel advice at the time of booking your trip and your policy wording for what exclusions will apply.
If there is a legal obligation for the package provider or airline to offer a refund and they refuse, your debit or credit card provider may be able to assist.
If the airline or travel provider won’t postpone your trip or provide a refund, then please contact our claims team as you may be covered under your policy.
For accommodation, excursions, car hire and other pre-paid charges that were not purchased as part of a package, you should contact the provider. If you paid by credit card, contact the card issuer or PayPal for advice on how to claim a refund. If you can’t obtain a refund from any other source, then please contact our claims team.
All AXA policies, irrespective of purchase date, include cover for emergency medical and repatriation expenses due to coronavirus providing you are not travelling against the advice from Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).
All claims will be subject to all other terms and conditions.
If your flight is cancelled, it’s the responsibility of the airline to put you on an alternative flight or refund you. If the alternative flight offered to you is more than twelve hours after your scheduled departure time, you might decide you no longer wish to travel. If this happens, contact us to claim for any unused accommodation or travel costs. Your cover will depend of the type of policy you have purchased and if you have travel disruption cover.
If you wish to continue your trip and you’re an independent traveller, you should contact your airline to reschedule your flight or arrange a refund. You may be able to claim on your travel insurance to recover some of the costs you incur if you have travel disruption cover. Cover will depend on your policy, its limits, and the refund from your providers.
To make the claims process quicker, you should ask your travel provider to give you a notification stating that the alternative flight they offered you was more than twelve hours after the original flight.
Our policies don’t cover this scenario. You should speak to tour airline or travel provider as they may be able to help in rearrange your flights.
If your flight or holiday been cancelled, then you are due a full refund, however we understand some companies are providing these through rescheduling or vouchers or credit notes.
If you are unhappy with these alternatives, then you will need to discuss this with your operator or airline.
As there is a legal obligation for the package provider or airline to offer a refund and they refuse, your debit or credit card provider may be able to assist.
If you do accept a voucher, the booking date of the trip will be the date you use the voucher. Please check travel advice at the time of booking your trip and your policy wording for what exclusions will apply.
Our policies don’t cover this scenario. You should speak to tour airline or travel provider as they may be able to help in rearrange your flights, once you have the correct documentation required or refund your unused expenses.
If your transport provider or tour operator moves your trip destination or dates, then we will class your original booking date as your booking date. You will need to amend your insurance to reflect your new dates/destination and there may be an additional premium for doing this.
If your trip is cancelled and you book a new/alternative trip or issued a voucher, then your policy will not cover cancellations due to FCDO advice or some curtailments relating to coronavirus. General rules regarding FCDO advice and travel restrictions will continue to apply. The booking date of the trip will be the date you use the voucher. Please check travel advice at the time of booking your trip and your policy wording for what exclusions will apply.
If you are due to go on a package holiday, then your booking should be financially protected by a scheme such as ATOL. You should have been given an ATOL certificate (or similar) when you booked your holiday, which includes details of what to do if the company goes into liquidation. If the company does go into liquidation, customers should visit the Civil Aviation Authority’s (CAA) website for guidance.
If you only booked flights, these may also be protected by a system such as ATOL, although it is less common. If you do have protection you would have been given a certificate (or similar) when you booked your flights, which includes details of what to do if the company goes into liquidation.
If you purchased some or all of your flights or booked your accommodation separately using a debit or credit card card, you may be able to arrange a refund from your debit/credit card provider or PayPal. You may also be able to claim on your insurance, but this will depend on the level of cover you have in place and usually your excess will be deducted from the amount to be repaid.
It’s important you check the insurance policy your tour operator, airline or destination provides, to make sure it covers everything you need. In some cases, it will only provide limited cover if you contract coronavirus while on your trip. Therefore, if you require cover for other issues, such as medical incidents abroad not relating to coronavirus, lost baggage, travel disruption etc. you are likely to still need a traditional insurance policy.
Our policies don’t cover this, you should speak to tour airline or travel provider as they may be able to help.
Coronavirus travel guidance
Countries may close borders and restrict movement or bring in new quarantine rules with little warning. Check our advice on things to consider and be prepared to stay overseas longer than planned.
If your travel provider has cancelled your booking, you should first ask your airline or provider to postpone your trip or arrange a refund. If you have booked a package holiday, under The Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018, your rights are legally protected and therefore you should liaise with the tour operator for a refund.
If your flights were not booked as part of a package, you may still legally be entitled to a refund under the EU Denied Boarding regulations if your transport was cancelled, and therefore you should liaise with your airline for a refund.
If the airline or travel provider won’t postpone your trip or provide a refund, then please contact our claims team.
For accommodation, excursions, car hire and other pre-paid charges that were not purchased as part of a package, you should contact the provider. If you paid by credit card, contact the card issuer or PayPal for advice on how to claim a refund. If you can’t obtain a refund from any other source, then please contact our claims team.
For your claim to be dealt with as quickly as possible, you need to contact your travel provider or tour operator first. They may be able to move your trip to different dates or provide you with a refund. By doing this first, it will speed up the processing of your claim should you have any out of pocket expenses.
Once you have contacted all providers for any refunds or options available to you via tour operators or flight/accommodation providers, please contact our claims team.
Our teams are working hard to deal with your claim, but please note that we are often receiving an unprecedented volume of calls. One of our team will contact you as soon as they have assessed your existing claim.
The time it takes for us to resolve your claim will depend on the nature of the claim and the information we require to process it.
Our team are working extremely hard to be available for our customers and resolve claims in a timely fashion, but please bear with us as the volume of claims being made is unprecedented.
Please ensure you read our required documents laid out in your claim pack to help evidence your claim. Sending these in together will help us to reduce requests for further documentation. Requests for further documentation could result in a delay to your claim.
Submitting your claim
Once you've read the information above and are ready to make a claim under your travel insurance, please contact our claims team.
I am currently on a trip
The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) currently advise that some countries may further restrict travel or bring in new social distancing rules with little warning. Additionally, they may also advise against all or all but essential to some countries or territories. You should check their advice for each country you will visit or transit through.
Their advice is being kept under constant review. Travel disruption is still possible and national control measures may be brought in with little notice, so check the FCDO’s travel guidance for more information.
Please follow the FCDO advice above and first check if there are commercial routes available by contacting your airline or tour operator and checking the FCDO travel advice pages for the country you are in and the local British embassy social media.
If you booked a package holiday, your provider should arrange alternative transport.
If you’re an independent traveller, you should contact your airline to reschedule your flight or arrange a refund. You may be able to claim on your travel insurance to recover some of the costs you incur if you have travel disruption cover. Cover will depend on your policy, its limits, and the refund from your providers.
If you become ill while on holiday, your travel insurance will cover your medical expenses abroad as long as you have a valid claim and you have not travelled to a destination which is not exempt from the FCDO's advice against all but essential travel.
If you are confined to your hotel under doctor’s orders for at least 48 hours, we will pay for the room, up to the policy limit. And if you paid in advance for excursions or activities that you can’t do because of your quarantine, we will cover that, up to a certain amount.
If your airline or travel provider cannot book you on a later flight, we will cover an alternate flight subject to a valid claim.