Zurich UK to refund cancelled trips due to Covid-19
Insurer Zurich UK will be offering refunds or rescheduling cover for all trip policyholders (8,000 customers) who have been unable to travel during lockdown
For customers who had trips arranged between 12 March (following the WHO’s declaration of pandemic) and June and couldn’t travel, as long as they haven’t made a successful claim, Zurich is offering a full premium refund as they haven’t been able to make use of their travel insurance.
For those single-trip customers who are yet to travel, the company is offering flexible options - if they already know that they’re not going to travel, they can receive a full premium refund, or if they are agreeing a rescheduled trip with their travel operator, Zurich UK will move the insurance policy dates to align with their new trip dates, up to 13 months from their original trip date.
When it comes to annual multi-trip policy customers, the insurer will offer a pro-rata refund for the months they were unable to travel during lockdown. This means that around £300,000 can be returned to customers for a service they did not use when the national lockdown turned everybody’s plans and holiday bookings on their heads.
Phil Ost, Travel Insurance Expert at Zurich, said: “Travel insurance is designed to protect you whilst you’re on holiday, so with an inability to travel due to the national lockdown, it only feels fair to reimburse premiums to customers who didn’t travel, as well as giving flexibility for those due to travel by changing the policy dates to tie in with their new arrangements.
“Ultimately, they did the right thing protecting themselves from when the unfortunate happens, so now it’s our turn as an insurer to do the right thing and pay them back for a service they couldn’t use.”