COVID-19: What Does Travel Insurance Cover For Claims Related To The Novel Coronavirus Outbreak? 

So the Covid-19 outbreak has gotten you all worried about travelling, so much so you’re contemplating cancelling your upcoming holiday. Or maybe you’ve just booked that holiday to Bali (because, well, life still goes on) but aren’t sure if buying travel insurance now will do you any good in light of the novel coronavirus crisis.

What exactly does travel insurance cover when it comes to Covid-19 related claims? Can you cancel your trip because your planned destination suddenly has a spike in cases, and still receive claims from your insurer?

Here's the bad news first. Most travel insurance policies you buy right now will not cover claims related to Covid-19. Some may cover you if you’d purchased the policies before it was deemed a “known event” by the company (see full list below). Now you know why you should buy travel insurance the moment you book your air tickets, and not at the eleventh hour just before you take off.

But what about unexpected trip disruptions related to the novel coronavirus outbreak? Say, if a country imposes a travel ban on travellers from Singapore, or if you’re denied entry into a country unexpectedly (like the 118 travellers, including two from Singapore, who were recently barred from entering Indonesia)? Does travel insurance cover these trip hiccups? 8Days.sg asked several insurers and got a mixed bag of responses.

AIA
Travel to Wuhan: Yes. Claims arising from Covid-19 crisis for travel to Wuhan are covered as long as you purchased the policy on or before Jan 21
Travel to rest of Mainland China (excluding Hongkong, Macau and Taiwan): Yes, only for policies purchased on or before Jan 26
Travel to the rest of the world: Yes and no. Covid-19 related incidents are covered, except for travel cancellations and postponements. These will only be covered when MFA issues a travel advisory for that particular destination, and the policy was bought or the trip was booked prior to the announcement. Policies bought after travel advisory announcements from MFA about a particular destination are not covered. What if a country imposes an entry ban on travellers from Singapore? AIA’s travel insurance Travel Curtailment benefit will provide cover for events like these, so long as the policy was purchased before the ban was made public.

AIG
For travel to Wuhan: Yes, for policies purchased on or before Jan 22
Rest of China: Yes, for policies bought before Jan 27
Rest of the world: Yes, for policies bought before Jan 30

Aviva
For travel to China and the rest of the world: Policies purchased on Jan 19 and before are covered for trip cancellations, interruptions, hospitalisations, hospital income and quarantine allowances for matters related to Covid-19.

AXA
For travel to Wuhan: Yes. Trip cancellation claims are covered if insurance plans were bought and trips were booked before Jan 11. Customers are eligible for claims arising from the novel coronavirus if they departed Singapore for Wuhan before Jan 11.
Rest of China: Yes, trip cancellation claims are covered if plans were bought before Jan 27, and claims can be made if customers left Singapore for China before Jan 27.

Etiqa
For travel to Wuhan: Yes, for policies bought before Jan 22, 0001 hours
Rest of China: Yes, if you purchased your plan before Jan 27, 0001 hours
Rest of the world: Yes, for policies bought before Jan 31, 0001 hours — you’re covered for medical expenses and evacuation. What’s not covered, though, are trip cancellations due to the novel coronavirus outbreak. Trip curtailments, for instance, if a particular country disallows people from Singapore to enter their country, are not payable.

FWD
For travel to China: Yes, only for policies bought on and before Jan 22
Rest of the world: Yes, for policies bought on and before Jan 30. Trip cancellations, postponement, curtailment and disruptions will be covered on the condition that MFA issues an advisory against travelling to your destination as a result of the outbreak.

Great Eastern
For travel to Hubei Province (including Wuhan): Yes, for policies purchased before Jan 24, 9.29am.
Rest of China: Yes, if the plan was purchased before Jan 28, 11.59pm.
South Korea: Yes, for policies bought before Feb 25, 11.59pm.

MSIG
For travel to Wuhan: Yes, if bought before Jan 22
For travel to Hubei Province: Yes, if bought before Jan 23
Rest of China: Yes, if bought before Jan 27
Rest of the world: Yes. Should customers contract Covid-19 during their trips to countries outside of China, medical expenses will be covered. However, travel cancellations for destinations for countries other than China are not covered.

NTUC Income
For travel to Wuhan: Yes. Trip disruptions, cancellations, curtailments, and postponements are covered provided insurance plans were purchased before Jan 20, 8pm
Rest of China: Yes, for plans purchased before Jan 27, 7pm
Rest of the world: Yes. All travellers to all destinations apart from Mainland China are still covered for claims arising from Covid-19, barring any travel advisories by MFA. Claims for trip cancellations are only eligible if the World Health Organisation declares Covid-19 is a pandemic or epidemic at the planned destination before departure from Singapore.

Sompo
For travel to Hubei Province (including Wuhan): Yes, for travel insurance plans purchased before Jan 22, 8pm.
Rest of China: Yes, for plans purchased before Jan 27, 7pm. Trip cancellations are covered if you’re travelling directly to Mainland China in Feb 2020, or if you contract Covid-19 in Singapore and cannot proceed with the trip. Medical expenses related to Covid-19 are covered if you’ve already departed for trip to China, but not if you proceed with the trip after Jan 22, 8pm, as it’s considered a known event.
Rest of the world: There is no cut-off date for Covid-19 related claims for travel to elsewhere globally. However, trip cancellations due to Covid-19 are not covered, unless the insured person contracts the novel coronavirus in Singapore and cannot go on the trip. Medical expenses related to Covid-19 are covered if you’ve already departed for the trip, even after you proceed with the trip after Jan 22, 8pm.

With policies varying from company to company — not to mention all the fine print that comes along with them — is it even necessary to buy travel insurance for upcoming trips? To that we say, yes of course (even the God of Gamblers ain’t taking chances on this one). After all, all the unforeseen risks of travel that existed before Covid-19 are still there.

Photos: Pexels, Unsplash