Travel Insurance FAQs

• Travel insurance is an arrangement by which an insurer agrees to provide a guarantee of compensation for specified loss, damage, illness or death in return for payment of a premium. Whilst travel insurance policies can’t cover every eventuality, it can help protect against certain risks for an agreed and affordable premium.
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• It is also important to understand that travel insurance is only there to protect you against losses you can’t recover from anywhere else. If your trip needs to be moved or cancelled, you should always ask your airline/tour provider for reimbursement before making a claim on your travel insurance policy. In most cases, your airline/tour operator will be responsible for refunding the value of the original trip; if they are responsible for the cancellation or changes instead of you requesting it, their trading regulations will often require them to provide a refund. 

At Allianz Assistance, we offer a level of insurance that’s appropriate for most travellers. Different policies provide varying levels of cover, so it’s important that you read your policy documents carefully and understand exactly what you’re covered for before you travel. If there’s anything in the policy documents that you’re not sure about, please get in touch – we’ll be happy to help.

Our Single Trip, Annual and Backpacker policies all suit different needs. Plus, our Bronze, Silver and Gold policies provide you with different levels of cover and claim limits. Depending on which policy you choose, you’ll be covered for:  

• Cancelling or cutting short your trip
• Emergency medical and associated expenses
• Loss of passport*
• Delayed personal possessions
• Lost, stolen or damaged personal possessions*
• Loss of money*
• Personal accident cover
• Missed departures
• Delayed departures
• Personal liability
• Legal expenses
• End-supplier failure**
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• *Not available with Bronze cover
• **Only available with Gold cover
  
• Terms and conditions apply.

Yes – some exclusions and conditions are specific to individual sections and general exclusions and conditions apply to all of our travel insurance policies. There’s also a health declaration with health exclusions that apply to the emergency medical expenses, cancellation, curtailment and personal accident sections of cover. When you buy a travel insurance policy, you should always read your policy document carefully to make sure that you understand what you’re covered for. You can cancel the policy within the given cancellation period, providing you haven’t travelled and are not making a claim, if you decide that the policy isn’t suitable for you. 

You should buy travel insurance as soon as possible after you’ve booked your trip. Remember that your travel insurance covers you for incidents that happen before you travel, as well as things that occur during your holiday. With cancellation cover, you’ll be reimbursed if you can’t travel due to sickness, for example. Your cover starts as soon as you buy your policy, and we’ll pay up to the amount shown in your policy documents for unused accommodation, transport, excursions and other travel expenses you have paid or will have to pay, and that you cannot recover from anywhere else.

Terms and conditions apply.

When you get a travel insurance quote, you’ll notice our Bronze, Silver and Gold policies come with an ‘excess’. This is the amount you agree to pay when you make a claim under certain sections of your policy. Once your excess has been paid as part of the claim, we’ll pay the remaining expenses up to the limit of your cover. It is important to be aware that the excess on our travel insurance policies applies per person, per claim and per section, so more than one excess may apply when you claim.

As government negotiations in relation to Brexit are still ongoing, we don’t know exactly how our travel insurance products will be impacted and whether any reciprocal health arrangements will continue. When we know more, we may decide to update some of our policies in the future to make them more suitable for travellers. However, if you already have a policy with us, you will continue to have cover as per the terms and conditions that were in place when you bought it. 

Most of our policies include cover against the loss, theft or destruction of your passport whilst on your trip. To claim, you must have an official letter from the consulate you reported the loss to.

Cover includes costs up to the amount shown in your schedule for extra transport, accommodation and administration costs you have to pay to get a temporary passport so you can return home. It also includes the remaining value of the original passport that is lost, stolen or destroyed (based on current standard replacement costs).

Exclusions and conditions apply so make sure you read your policy document carefully.

Most of our policies include cover for personal money and have a sub-limit for the amount of cover for cash. This cash limit applies even if you were looking after more than one person’s money when it was stolen. There is a summary of cover provided during the quote process and also full details in the policy wording.

Your baggage is covered in the ‘personal possessions’ section of your travel insurance policy. Most of our policies include cover against loss, theft or damage to personal possessions up to a specified limit, as stated in your summary of cover. Some policies also include cover against delayed arrival of your personal possessions on your outbound journey.

However, some policies do not include personal possessions cover, and in all cases, conditions and exclusions apply including limitations on certain types of items. Please read your policy document thoroughly to make sure that your needs are met by the cover level you’ve chosen.

Whilst each of our policies have varying levels of cover depending on the needs of the policyholder and the level of cover they have chosen, it is important to note that under all of our travel insurance policies, changes in Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) travel advice are not covered events. However, for all of our travel insurance policies we’ve made specified exceptions to the general exclusion against claims arising from or relating to a pandemic or epidemic. This means that if you buy a new policy now, or even if you already have a policy and are yet to travel, you’ll have cover if:

 

• You contract Coronavirus whilst abroad and need medical treatment, or have to return home early as a result of your condition.
• You contract Coronavirus or are required to quarantine abroad following virus exposure and need to extend your policy. We’ll cover the cost of additional accommodation and transport until its safe for you to return home.
• You or your travel companion develop symptoms and are advised against travel by your GP, test positive for Coronavirus or are asked to self-isolate by your GP, NHS 111 or under the government’s ‘track and trace’ scheme and have to cancel your trip. Please note that this applies to isolation in individual circumstances only; you won’t be covered if you can’t travel due to a local or national lockdown.
• You’re denied boarding on pre-booked public transport because you or your travel companion are showing signs of Coronavirus and are unable to travel as a result.
• A close relative of you or your travel companion becomes seriously ill with a pandemic/epidemic illness and you need to cancel or cut your trip short.

There is no cover for cancellation or curtailment due to changes in FCO advice. However, there are other ways you can protect yourself against financial losses in these circumstances. Many travel providers will enable customers to cancel or alter their booking free of charge if the FCO is advising against travel to the destination, especially if it is a package booking and the travel provider is ATOL or ABTA protected. Costs over £100 that are not recoverable from your airline and/or travel provider may be recoverable from your credit card company if your credit card was used to make the purchase. You may also have buyer protection if payments were made through PayPal.

Due to a change in FCO advice not being an insured event, you wouldn’t be covered under your travel insurance policy for any unexpected additional costs incurred as a result of the advice for your destination changing during your trip. In these circumstances, you should contact your airline/transport provider or tour operator to make amendments to your trip as necessary. If the FCO advises all British travellers to return home and you’re unable to arrange an earlier return, you should contact the FCO or local embassy or consulate for advice. In the unlikely event that the FCO changes the travel advice for your destination but you are not required to return home earlier than planned, your cover would be in place for the remainder of your period of insurance.

You should contact the airline and/or travel provider to discuss your options for amending or cancelling your trip. Many travel providers will enable customers to cancel or alter their booking free of charge if the FCO is advising against travel to the destination. Costs over £100 that are not recoverable from your airline and/or travel provider may be recoverable from your credit card company if your credit card was used to make the purchase. You may also have buyer protection if payments were made through PayPal. Your travel insurance policy will not cover financial losses for cancelled flights if you are not reimbursed by the airline or travel provider.

As long as you haven’t travelled against FCO advice, we can consider claims under the medical expenses section of your travel insurance policy for expenses incurred from receiving medical treatment. Should you contract Coronavirus during travel, follow any advice given by the local authorities and contact your travel provider to notify them as soon as possible. If you are suffering with Coronavirus abroad, please contact our 24-hour emergency medical assistance line for advice. If your trip needs to be extended as a result of your condition, please contact our 24-hour emergency medical assistance line to discuss your cover. 

As long as you haven’t travelled against FCO advice, you will be covered in line with the usual terms and conditions of your travel insurance policy. If you’re suffering with Coronavirus abroad, please contact our 24-hour emergency medical assistance line for advice and support with your arrangements.

If you buy a single trip or backpacker policy with us to cover a specific trip and make changes to the dates, destination or other aspects of your trip, you can contact us to discuss your options for amending your travel insurance policy. If you have an annual multi-trip policy with us and reschedule your trip, cover will only apply during the period of insurance; if your rearranged trip is taken after your policy expires, you won’t be covered unless you take out another policy. If you want to cancel your travel insurance outside of the 14-day cancellation rights period, we can cancel your cover but will be unable to offer you a refund. However, we might be able to offer flexibility on the 14-day cancellation period if you’ve come into financial difficulty as a result of the Coronavirus crisis, as long as you haven’t already used or claimed on your policy. Please get in touch with us directly to discuss your options. 

Your travel insurance policy wouldn’t cover you for any financial losses incurred from cancelling your trip if you aren’t able to quarantine on your return to the UK. This is because your travel insurance is there to cover you during travel and for unexpected events that take place before your trip impacting your ability to travel. Quarantine takes place after the trip ends, so this period of time isn’t covered under your travel insurance policy.

Depending on the level of cover you chose to purchase, you may be covered for some of the losses incurred under the End Supplier Failure section of the policy. If you choose to take out a policy with Gold level of cover, you may be able to claim for expenses paid to the relevant supplier, but not for cancellation of the trip overall. However, you should find out whether you are covered for these losses by any other means before making a claim on your travel insurance. If the company is ATOL protected, you would already have protection against end supplier failure. If you’re unable to recover costs from the company, they may be recoverable from your credit card company if your credit card was used to make the purchase. You may also have buyer protection if payments were made through PayPal. If you choose to take out a policy with Silver or Bronze level of cover or our bacpacker policy, you won’t be covered for financial losses in the event of end supplier failure, even if you can’t recover the costs by any other means.

As long as you’re able to provide a medical certificate completed by your GP confirming your diagnosis and to declaring you unfit to travel, you can claim for cancellation costs in line with the terms and conditions of your travel insurance policy. 

Single trip and backpacker policies:

If you took out a single trip or backpacker policy with us and have since had to move or cancel your trip, your policy with us needn’t go to waste. If you’ve changed your travel dates, you can amend your policy to reflect this, though you may need to pay an additional premium if there are significant changes to your policy, such as the length of your new trip or the number of people travelling. Or, if you have had to cancel your trip, you can cancel your policy and receive a full refund as long as you have not and currently do not intend to make a claim. Please be aware that no claims can be made on the policy after it has been cancelled.

If you move your trip to another date within the next 12 months and need to amend your policy, please get in touch with us as soon after confirming the new dates as possible. If you need to cancel your policy, please contact us to arrange this before the start date of your policy cover.

Annual multi-trip policies:

If you have an annual multi-trip (AMT) policy with us that you’re unable to use right now, you may be able to claim a pro-rata refund if you want to cancel your cover. As long as you haven’t already claimed on your policy during a previous trip and will not be making a claim, you can cancel the remainder of your AMT policy and we’ll proportionately refund you, based on how many days’ cover you have left when you get in touch with us.

Getting in touch:

You can reach us on 020 8603 9653 or internet.queries@allianz.com, Monday – Friday, 9am – 5pm. During this extremely busy time for our customer service team, we ask you to bear with us whilst we work hard to help you as quickly as we can.

You would need to contact the airline and/or travel provider to discuss your options for amending or cancelling your trip. Due to the exclusion against claims arising from or relating to financial circumstances on all of our travel insurance products, you wouldn’t be covered for cancellation in these circumstances. If you choose to buy a single trip or backpacker policy with us to cover this trip specifically and are able to change your dates of travel, you can contact us to discuss your options for amending your travel insurance policy. 

If your airline/travel provider is based in the UK, they are obliged to provide a cash refund if you don’t wish to accept a voucher or reschedule your trip. As this is not an insured event under your travel insurance policy, you should always contact your airline/travel provider if your travel is cancelled and you aren’t happy with the reimbursement being offered. 

You would need to contact the airline and/or travel provider to discuss your options for amending or cancelling your trip. Your travel insurance policy won’t cover you for cancellation in the event of a local or national lockdown. If you choose to buy a single trip or backpacker policy with us to cover this trip specifically and are able to change your dates of travel, you can contact us to discuss your options for amending your travel insurance policy.

If you’re abroad and the country or local area goes into lockdown you should contact your airline/travel provider as soon as possible to discuss your options for amending your return travel.  If you are unable to arrange travel to return home, please contact the FCO or local embassy or consulate for advice.

As long as you don’t leave the airport during your stopover and your stay doesn’t exceed 24 hours, you won’t need to upgrade your travel insurance policy and we’ll still cover you during your stopover. However, if your stopover is longer than 24 hours and/or you leave the terminal building, even if you go to an airport hotel, you’ll need to pay an additional premium to stay covered. Contact us - we’ll be happy to help.

Depending on how often you travel, you should decide between taking out a single trip or annual multi-trip travel insurance policy. A single trip policy is the best form of cover if you only plan on going away once in the near future. But if you’re thinking of going away twice or more in a year, it may be worth choosing an annual multi-trip travel insurance policy. You’ll need insurance each time you go away, and it can be cheaper and less time consuming to take out one annual multi-trip policy, rather than multiple single trip policies.

When you take out single trip travel insurance, you can travel to multiple destinations, as long as your trip does not last longer than 180 days. Whether you’re looking for single trip worldwide travel insurance or single trip travel insurance for multiple countries in Europe, we cover options for you. You can tailor our policies to suit your plans by selecting just the countries you are travelling to. 

Please note that you will not be covered if you travel to a country or region that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has advised against all or all but essential travel. 

Jet-off whenever you like with an annual multi-trip travel insurance policy, because it allows cover for an unlimited number of trips that each last up to a maximum of 31 days (over a 12-month period). There’s no obligation to tell us when you’re going away either, so you can pack your bags knowing you’re already covered.

You can choose the area of cover that’s most suitable for your travel plans, from Europe-only to worldwide. You can also choose a level of cover that suits you: Bronze, Silver or Gold. 

If you’re planning more than one holiday this year, you can save money by taking out one annual travel insurance policy, rather than buying multiple single trip policies. Our yearly travel insurance will save you time too, because you’ll have cover in place all year – no matter how many holidays you take.

Our Bronze, Silver and Gold levels of cover allow you to choose an option to suit your needs. Once you’ve found the right policy, you can either be covered straightaway or – if you don’t need your cancellation cover to start immediately – you can defer your start date by up to 31 days. Get a quote today to see exactly how much your policy will cost.

If you’re under 35 and planning a longer trip, such as a gap year abroad, you may want to consider taking out a backpacker travel insurance policy with us. Our backpacker insurance can last for a full 365-day period and also covers non-manual work, including professional, administrative and clerical duties (although claims under the personal liability section will be excluded). Our Backpacker insurance policies can protect you all over the world, as long as you don’t travel against FCO advice. You can select just the countries you're travelling to, which will help make sure you only pay for the cover you need. 

If you’re heading on holiday to Europe, travel insurance is still important. While the arrangment remains in place, the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) gives you some basic medical cover, but in a medical emergency you may have no control over the hospital you are taken to and the closest hospital may be private. Some of the things the EHIC card does not cover you for include:

• Cancellations, delays, lost or stolen property.
• The cost of medical treatment in a private hospital or clinic.
• The additional cost of returning to your home country or for a relative to stay or fly out to be with you.

If you fall ill and need to pay for any medical care whilst you’re away, it could cost you thousands of pounds. But travel insurance will help cover these costs.

We don’t currently provide a travel insurance product specifically for students, however you may find one of our policies meets your needs.

We are continually looking at how we can improve our customer offering so we may introduce travel insurance designed for students in the future. Keep checking our website for updates!

Whilst we don’t currently sell a travel insurance product specifically for seniors, both our single trip and annual multi-trip travel insurance policies are available to those aged 75 and under. If you take out a travel insurance policy with us, you can get a telephone or video consultation with a UK GP, wherever you are and whatever the time. For more information click here.

If you’re over the age of 75 then there’s no need to panic. You may still find a specialist insurer who can handle your seniors travel insurance policy. We suggest you contact either: Free Spirit Travel Insurance; Tel: 0800 170 7704 (Lines open 8.00am - 6.00pm, Monday to Friday). For an exclusive discount, use quote code: B2C1000, or, The British Insurance Brokers Association: Tel: 0870 950 1790 (Lines open 9am - 5pm, Monday to Friday).

If you have a pre-existing medical condition, you may be concerned about traveling abroad or finding a travel insurance policy that suits you and your individual needs. Our travel insurance policies with medical conditions included cover a number of pre-existing conditions, depending on their severity.

To find out more about booking a travel insurance policy with pre-existing medical conditions, visit our Travel Insurance for people with Medical Conditions page.

No, our travel insurance policies only cover you if your main home is in the UK (including the Channel Islands and Isle of Man), you are registered with a doctor within the UK (including the Channel Islands and Isle of Man) and have not spent more than six months abroad in the last 12 months.

Whilst we are always looking at ways we can improve our offering to our customers, at Allianz Assistance we do not currently provide a travel insurance product for British Expats abroad.

However, our sister company Allianz Care might be able to help. You can get further information on our page Travel Insurance for Non-UK residents or take a look at Allianz Care website for further information.

Yes, we do have an age limit on our policies. Both our Single Trip and Annual Multi-Trip policies are only available to persons aged 75 years and under.

Our Backpacker policy is only available to people aged 35 years and under.

Although we at Allianz Assistance won’t be able to provide you with cover, you may be able to obtain an alternative travel insurance policy from another provider.

We suggest you get in touch with either of the following companies for a quote:

Free Spirit Travel Insurance; Tel: 0800 170 7704 (Lines open 8.00am – 6.00pm, Monday to Friday). For an exclusive discount, use code: B2C1000.

The British Insurance Brokers Association; Tel: 0870 950 1790 (Lines open 9.00am – 5.00pm, Monday to Friday).

No, you must purchase your travel insurance policy before you travel. Your policy will not be valid if you have already left to go on your trip.