Not an expert but I would have thought that once it is advised against travel and you then take out insurance you will not be covered. Different to taking out insurance first and then being advised not to travel.

Mark

It might depend on exactly when you took out your insurance. If you decided tot ravel against foreign office advice then I doubt that you would be insured especially if you contracted the swine flu.

I think most transport would have to stop running anyway on a level 6!
I might be wrong though!
All the flights that have stopped going to Mexico have given refunds to the passengers I think. Also if it was booked by a tour op they were giving money back! I don't think people needed to use their insurance!

I've a similar question actually. My mum and dad have booked flights (jet2) and hotel (thomas cook) seperate, so I'm not quite sure where they would stand if anything was cancelled? They do have a annual insurance with M&S but I'm not too sure what that will cover.

This question was answered this morning on TV.

Anyone who is already in a country (Mexico in this case) will be covered by their insurance.

Anyone who travels to a country (Mexico in this case) where the official government advice (The FCO) is against travel to that country then their insurance will be invalidated.

You might gain some more information from the Money Box Live programme on Radio 4 at 12.00 noon today where they will be covering this. This particularly applies where you have done DIY.

fwh

Thanks for the replies - I saw that article on BBC too - very interesting. Looked at my insurance and it does state that if the gov. states not to fly to a certain country due to epidemic then I am covered.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/moneybox/8030517.stm

My holiday balance is due next month and I am a little concerned whether I should go ahead and pay it. Phoned my insurer (LTSB Premier) this morning to ask if I would be covered for cancellation should the FO advise against travel, the answer is no, only if you have already left the UK and then you'll be covered for expenses to get back home. Was told by the Insurance Adviser that the Tour Op should cover this but having checked the T&C's 'epidemic' is classed as a 'Circumstance Beyond Our Control' so they would not be responsible. Obviously will see how things go over the next couple of weeks but at the moment I feel a bit reluctant to hand over nearly £1500 for a holiday that potentially we won't be able to go on.

Any thoughts anyone...?

Where are you going nicJW?

What would be your alternative? Take the loss of deposit on the chin and stay in the UK?

I'm going to Turkey, it's booked and paid for and I'm not worried at all. I would be worried had I booked for Mexico but my understanding is that flights have been stopped anyway and tour operators are giving refunds are changing holidays.

Thanks for the reply SandC. We're going to Menorca, so I know not a problem at the moment but was just thinking 'what if?'. Am a bit of a worrier anyway but we can only just afford this holiday so would hate to hand over the money and lose it. I have a few weeks before I need to pay but yes the thought has crossed my mind should we just cut our losses and go somewhere in the UK.

To be honest, up until I read this thread it hadn't occurred to me that we could end up out of pocket, thought we'd be covered with the insurance if need be.

Will be taking a close look at my insurance cover as well. I have to pay from my Dom Rep holiday on the 13th May.

I wonder what the chances are of it hitting level 6. I'm not sure if this has happened in recent years, I dont remember it in my lifetime, although I guess it could ahe happened when I was a child and just wasn't aware. My gut feeling is if it reaches this level insurances will not pay out, even if we took the insurance out prior to level 6 being delclared. I guess it would fall into 'an act of God' teritory, so all the holiday money will be lost. (I know thats not the end of the world, and there is a need to keep it in proportion). Insurers are bound to cover themselves for something like this in their small print. Decisons, decisons.

I understand that the insurance companies wouldn't be liable in the event of flights/holidays being cancelled but surely the Travel companies will have to give your money back if they are unable to supply you with a reasonable alternative. There's no way they can justify keeping the money we paid over in good faith.

Hi Shirley
I'm not sure. Your post set me thinking. Perhaps they would allow transfers to later dated holidays when the pandemic had passed. I suppose I am a cynic and just dont trust them, I was wondering if they would say they had passed the monies on to the airlines and the hotels and therefore they were unable to refund and we would need to claim from insurance or credit card which at least the former we are pretty certain we will not be able to do.

When you see things like Freedom direct (I know its a different scenario) with people who had paid for flights and hotels in good faith, but are having to pay again for the hotels at a higher price to a company called hays travel it makes you think where on earth has all that money gone ?

To be honest I dont have much faith in the integrity of a lot of the travel industry.

I don't mean the people we talk to on the telephones, I mean the people further into the organisations the decison makers and the financiers. I am not sure how well regulated it is, but perhaps that is just born about by my ignorance of an Industry I dont understand.

Doe

ho, i have just booked today to go to majorca, this pandemic never even crossed my mind, having read some of the threads i am becoming quite worried now, im nervous of flying as it is after a scary experiance going to egypt in january and am getting sweaty palms just thinking about it.
ive paid the full balance to the holiday direct debit, bet id lose it if i wanted to cancel