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Guidance on travel disruption after volcanic ash
BIBA has confirmed that the BIBA Protect travel insurance policy from Tokio Marine, as sold by Coulter Hurst, will be dealing with travel delay claims resulting from the volcanic ash incident.
Customers should in the first instance seek a refund from their travel agent, airline or tour operator. If the holiday was purchased by a credit card, clients should contact the card provider.
The following clarification has been put together to offer some guidance
Q. What are the benefits provided from the BIBA protect policy?
A. The benefit provided is as below:
• £50 paid for the first 12 hours and £25 for each subsequent 12 hour period up to a maximum of £400.
• If after 24 hours delay in departure of the initial outbound leg of the journey the Insured Person wishes to cancel, the Company will reimburse the irrecoverable loss of deposits, instalments and balances paid in respect of travel and accommodation up to but not exceeding £5,000.
The intention of the travel delay benefit is to compensate the Insured for the additional expenses suffered in being delayed at the airport or overseas.
To qualify for the travel delay benefit on the outbound flight:
• The Insured Person must check in at the airport.
• If the flight is cancelled the Travel Delay benefit will not be paid as they are no longer delayed.
• After 24 hours delay the Insured Person may choose to cancel their Journey.
• If the Insured's outbound flight is cancelled by the airline they will be entitled to a refund of the flight costs from the airline and, if a package holiday, the entire cost of the holiday from the tour operator. Any independently booked flights and accommodation for which the Insured Person is unable to obtain a refund will be covered by the policy subject to the policy limit.
• The Insured is under a duty to mitigate their losses as far as possible. If they are unable to travel they should notify the operators of any pre-booked flights or accommodation in order to keep cancellation costs to a minimum.
For the inbound return journey:
• As the Insured Person will incur additional accommodation costs as a result of the delay or cancellation of their inbound flights we shall pay the Travel Delay benefit until the Insured person is able to return home, subject to the policy limit.
Please note that there is no cover for alternative transportation costs.
Q. What is the position for people buying cover now for holidays starting later in the year?
A. The current volcano must be declared as dormant before cover will be introduced for that volcano.
Q. For policy holders already stuck abroad, will cover automatically be extended to cover medical conditions?
A. Yes, medical will be extended as per the normal terms of the policy.
