Brits stranded in Thailand due to COVID-19 urged to check their travel insurance

[Jonathan Fairfield]

 

If you are British ???????? visiting Thailand ???????? and have been delayed returning home, you may need to check that your travel insurance coverage is not going to expire.

 

According to the Association of British Insurers: ‘Most travel insurance policies automatically extend so that people can continue to be covered against the risk of emergency medical treatment when they are stuck abroad due to ongoing travel restrictions.’

 

The British Government has been working with the Association to encourage UK-based travel insurers to extend the emergency medical coverage under their travel insurance policies. ✈️

 

You can find more details here: https://www.abi.org.uk/products-and-issues/topics-and-issues/coronavirus-hub/travel-insurance/

[theoldgit]

Nonsense troll post removed.

[PETERTHEEATER]

That was useful. I assumed that my policy had expired at midnight on 01 April 2020 which was my booked return date.

 

Having (again) read through the small print of the policy I found a paragraph which states that if the original return flight is cancelled by the airline then policy cover is automatically extended until final return to the departure point.

 

Could be weeks before my airline starts flying again.

[ThailandRyan]

However, do those policies cover Pandemics, or is there weasel room for the insurer.....

[ChrisKC]

14 minutes ago, ThailandRyan said:

However, do those policies cover Pandemics, or is there weasel room for the insurer.....

Yes, of course: Act of God!

[geisha]

2 hours ago, PETERTHEEATER said:

That was useful. I assumed that my policy had expired at midnight on 01 April 2020 which was my booked return date.

 

Having (again) read through the small print of the policy I found a paragraph which states that if the original return flight is cancelled by the airline then policy cover is automatically extended until final return to the departure point.

 

Could be weeks before my airline starts flying again.

Hi, have you seen the messages posted on available flights out at the moment ? Your airline might not be flying and certainly won’t for a few months to come ! But there are other flights .

[NoshowJones]

2 hours ago, ThailandRyan said:

However, do those policies cover Pandemics, or is there weasel room for the insurer.....

The insurers will have some legal jargon prepared for pandemics, surely no one seriously thinks that any insurance company will pay out on any claims for this type of thing.

[tso310]

Again the question of repatriation flights. It is possible to get back to the UK but seats are limited and if you have maxxed out your credit card on hotels and food what can you do. I see Swiss International currently have a B777-300ER at Vientienne, the largest a/c to visit there ? I am sure with a bit of political muscle HMG could use swampy as a hub for countries like Myanmar, Laos, Kampuchea and Vietnam and get people home. They could easily use part of airport like a pier and isolate it. Then people with insurance policies could refer the repat costs back to their insurer.

[shackleton]

Would be interesting to know how many people wanting to fly  out of  Thailand have logged into the British embassy website giving the information required

To get a flight out .?

[samsensam]

 

are people actually stranded? there are flights to the uk every day, if you book around a week ahead you can get a price around 500GBP.

 

anyone who wants to return to the uk can, they are not 'stranded' unless they have no money - in which case how would they survive in thailand anyway? or unless they have a medical or other condition preventing them from flying.

 

i know plenty of people who have returned to the uk since this virus began, either by rescheduling existing flights or buying a new flight, it's not difficult.

[Caine]

8 hours ago, ChrisKC said:

Yes, of course: Act of God!

Absolute rubbish, read the small print no health insurance on the planet covers Epidemics and Pandemics. 

[Mayhem11]

Caine not necessarily so. No exclusion like that on my MSIG travel insurance from Thailand when we went to Europe in early March. We got out of Dodge real quick when Greece closed down on 15 March. But Australian Insurers rely on the notice principle ie leave Australia after 31 January you knew the risk. That is why most travel insurers world wide can avoid Tourist Covid 19 claims. Lovely bunch insurers. I can post policy Ts and Cs if you like.

Edited April 5, 2020 by Mayhem11

[ChrisKC]

18 hours ago, Caine said:

Absolute rubbish, read the small print no health insurance on the planet covers Epidemics and Pandemics. 

 

18 hours ago, Caine said:

Absolute rubbish, read the small print no health insurance on the planet covers Epidemics and Pandemics. 

ie, act of god! And my comment is 100% cynical as there is no such thing as an "act of god"  but has been in insurance polices for many years, using those precise words!

Edited April 6, 2020 by ChrisKC
added comment

[VBF]

19 hours ago, Caine said:

Absolute rubbish, read the small print no health insurance on the planet covers Epidemics and Pandemics. 

Not true - mine does as follows because i took out the annual insurance in 2019 and travelled to Thailand on 5th February 2020

 

 

 

Therefore when the FCO advised all Brits to leave on 23rd March, and Emirates were not, and still aren't flying from Thailand I bought a new ticket on Thai.

This I shall be claiming whenever I can get through on the phone.

They have advised separately that there is no time limit in which to claim.

Edited April 6, 2020 by VBF