woodyuk All insurers will have a clause buried in their small print that says if you go against FCO advice/guidelines by travelling to “wherever” then your policy will be void no matter when you booked your holiday and paid for your insurance.
Hmm…Some people book their holidays over a year in advance, well before anything like Covid-19 could have been forseen. I would’ve thought if somebody had booked their summer holiday in Spain for this week back in last August they would’ve been fully covered for cancellation/abandonment of their trip, surely? 🙂
I can understand that trips booked after Covid-19 came to the fore (i.e: Between the 17th March and whatever date Covid-19 officially becomes a non-issue) might be excluded as the insurer could reasonably argue that one was booking with the knowledge their holiday might be happening at a time of uncertainty…But if the booking pre-dated that I think it’d be hard to argue a case for the customer being reasonably aware or informed of the situation as it’d be at point of departure. 🤯
After all: Unless insurers have crystal balls and grant customers access to them there is absolutely no way one can reasonably be expected to forsee the future! 🔮
woodyuk This means that in some worst case situations which I wouldn’t wish on anyone,if you were to fall ill or have an accident in Spain you could find yourself with a very large bill from their health services and if you were to get robbed while you were there you’d have to replace everything that was stolen out of your own pocket because in all these cases your insurance company would say “sorry but you shouldn’t have been in Spain in the first place as you were going against FCO guidelines so clause “x” applies”.
I’m quite familiar with the high costs of foreign medical treatment - After seeing the prices a former boyfriend (Italian) was quoted when he contracted tonsilitis whilst visiting the UK - And this is why I won’t travel without insurance full-stop. I can understand that insurers won’t cover anybody who puts themselves at risk without good reason (Attempting to save life is the usual example given in policy terms) - And that includes travel to a country which is considered Covid-risky (Even if Spain is generally safer than the UK in many other respects) - But if I was already in Spain when the FCO issued their advice, I’d still (Reasonably?) expect to be covered for life necessities like emergency medical treatment. 🚑️
I know that insurers need to turn a profit in their business, but this whole “You still have to pay your premiums but we’re not giving you cover atm” thing is a total mick-take. 🤔
I’m actually wondering if I should invoice the FCO for the policy premiums I’ve been charged since March. I wouldn’t mind if their advice obliged insurers to “mothball” policies and stop taking premiums for it (A “No payment, but no cover” easement)…But what the FCO have done is given carte blanche to insurers to keep collecting revenue but decline to provide the service they’re being paid for! 🤯
angelfzpz because [Spain is] the best cheap holiday destination nearby by a country mile
Not only that, but for some of us Spain is a country where we find ourselves treated by others a lot better then in the UK, and observance of disability rights appear far better in Spain in practice then they do over here! 🦽
I can’t say I’ve ever been socially excluded or disregarded for having ASD in Spain, and I’m pretty certain that most Spanish employers would consider my applications in the same light as for a non-disabled person. Far different from how people like me are treated in the UK, at least… ⚠️
I know that Covid is making any sort of plans very difficult for everybody at the moment, but I don’t think it’s right that insurers are allowed to continue collecting premiums when their customers cannot avail themselves of the protection those premiums pay for. I don’t think that sentiment is in any way unreasonable, either. 😇
+++ 🚄 ThunderDragon 🤘 +++
