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Here at Postcard we understand that needing to cancel, abandon or cut short your trip can be extremely stressful, which is why we include the following cover on all of our policies.
This is cover in the event that you need to cancel your trip before you have started your journey. Usually this cover is for when something has happened which means you can no longer go on holiday and need to claim either your deposit or the full cost of the holiday back. You can check your IPID document and/or your policy wording for specific exclusions relating to the cancellation cover on your policy, but some examples could include no longer wanting to travel because the weather at your destination is poor, if you are claiming due to a known event, or if you knew you’d have to cancel your trip when you purchased the policy.
This sounds complicated, but it actually only means that you’re covered in the event that you have to cut short your trip and come home unexpectedly. Please ensure that you check your IPID document and/or policy wording for exclusions, as often curtailment exclusions mirror the same exclusions set for cancellation cover.
Postcard policies will cover you for ‘effective curtailment’. This means that should you be hospitalised overseas and have to return home without ‘using’ the remainder of your holiday, we will reimburse you for the unused elements of your holiday from the date you are hospitalised. Does your travel insurance provider offer this?
Most travel insurance policies (including ours!) provide cover in the event that you ‘abandon’ your trip after a delay. This means that should you turn up to the airport to a ‘Delayed’ message on the departure board, to the point that you give up waiting after a certain amount of time, you should be covered. The time limit varies from policy to policy but on Postcard, we cover you for abandonment after 24 hours within all our policies.
Postcard isn’t like other insurance providers. We combine speed and online efficiency with the individual attention and service you deserve. We have based our cover on what you, the customer, would expect and need from a travel insurance policy.
Cancellation cover is one of the most important parts of a travel insurance policy. We bet you know someone who has had to cancel a trip in the past. At Postcard we like to innovate and are set on changing the travel insurance market. We’re proud to be able to offer cancellation cover for a host of reasons that most typical providers would not cover, including your pet being poorly or your relationship breaking down.
You may have already noticed if you’ve started a quote with us, but here at Postcard we ask you for the value of your holiday per person up front. This is because we want to make sure you have the correct cancellation cover for your trip.
Usually, travel insurance providers will have a set amount of ‘cancellation cover’ detailing the maximum amount they will pay in the event of a claim. If you enter or choose an amount which is less than the cost of your holiday, then you may not be fully covered in the event of a claim.
At Postcard, your satisfaction is paramount, which is why we ask you directly for the value of your holiday to make sure we have everything covered for you. For example, if you are going on a trip that cost you £1,000 (per person), and you enter this, your cancellation cover will be £1,000 (per person). This ensures that you are not paying over the odds for travel insurance cover that you do not need, but also ensures you, the customer, are not left out of pocket in the event of a claim.
Most of us have family that are staying at home when we are due to go abroad. If a member of your close family was to fall ill or become injured unexpectedly and you needed to cancel your trip, many travel insurance policies wouldn’t provide cover if your relative had existing medical conditions. That’s not a problem with Postcard Travel Insurance.
At claims stage, our claims team may request further detail from your relative’s GP regarding their health at the time the travel insurance was purchased. This is just to establish whether or not the cancellation or curtailment of your trip was due to an unexpected change in health that you could not have predicted or foreseen.
We all book holidays with partners, but in the unfortunate circumstances of a relationship break-up or separating from a partner after both your holiday and travel insurance has been purchased, claiming for cancellation from either your operator or a travel insurance provider can be next to impossible. We’ve based our cover on customer feedback, so in the event that you no longer want to go on your trip due to relationship breakdown, Postcard will provide cancellation cover.
With the increase in force majeure events, such as a terror attack or hurricane, Postcard has sourced and included specialist force majeure cover that will deliver cover if your trip were to be cancelled or disrupted. This will also be applicable if a terrorist attack occurs in the country, you are wishing to travel to. Here at Postcard we understand that this could cause concern for you and your family, therefore we wanted to include this cover.
We don’t want to even think about it, but having a pet unexpectedly fall ill or die can be another reason that you could need to cancel your trip. Make sure your travel insurance covers you for this instance. Postcard will provide cancellation cover for your trip or allow you to return home early if something were to happen to your pet on all our policies.
To read more about our Postcard cover benefits, take a look at our ‘Experience the Postcard Difference’ page here.
We have designed innovative and industry-leading policy wordings which are simple and easy to read. We’ve decreased the amount of insurance jargon, so that everyone can read and understand our policy wordings instead of being overwhelmed by blocks of long text.
By removing a lot of insurance jargon, our cancellation section of our policy wordings is simply labelled by scenario: ‘If you are unable to go on your trip’ and the curtailment section is labelled ‘If you decide to abandon your travel plans’.
Does travel insurance cover cancellation?
Almost certainly! After booking a holiday, something could happen that would mean you would need to cancel your holiday. Most travel insurance policies do cover for cancellation, so double check your paperwork. If you’ve bought a last-minute policy or opted-out of cancellation cover then understandably you won’t be covered for this type of claim. Although it might not be top of your must-have-cover list, cancellation cover is an important feature of your travel insurance.
When is the best time to purchase cancellation or travel insurance cover?
The best time to buy travel insurance is as soon as you have booked your holiday. This is because the sooner you purchase your travel insurance, the sooner you have cancellation cover in place if an unexpected event were to happen. For example, if you waited until a volcano erupted or a hurricane hit the country you are travelling to before purchasing your travel insurance, you will not have cover, because it is not an unexpected event. This is why we would advise you purchase your insurance cover the same time as booking your holiday.
In particular cancellation is an important feature to consider. It is quite common that travel insurance becomes a last-minute thought however, the sooner it is purchased, the more protection you get for your money.
On Single Trip policies your cover for cancellation will kick in the moment you purchase the policy. However, if you opt for an Annual or Multi Trip policy, your cover won’t begin until the start date you choose for the policy – something to seriously consider when purchasing!
Does Cancellation cover apply to holidays taken in the UK?
An increasing number of people are now choosing to travel within the UK and are opting for a ‘staycation’ instead of travelling abroad, yet it’s not always an obvious choice to book travel insurance for a holiday in the UK. You still pay a deposit when staying in the UK on holiday, so getting a travel insurance policy with cancellation cover is important to protect the money you’ve put into that well-deserved trip.
What happens when you claim for Cancellation?
For full information on how to make a claim, please visit our ‘How to make a claim’ page here. We have provided claims forms for each scenario, including a cancellation claims form and a curtailment claims form. To download a claims form please click here. For travel insurance flight cancellation, you will need our Cancellation claims form.
How much am I covered for with my cancellation?
The cancellation cover will be dependent on the holiday value entered when purchasing the policy. For example, if £1,000 per person was entered as the holiday value, then £1,000 per person on the policy will be the cancellation cover you have. We can provide up to £7,5000 per person under our policies.
When does cancellation cover start?
Cancellation cover for Single Trip and Longstay policies starts the day the policy was purchased. For Multi Trip policies, your cancellation cover starts on the day you selected the policy to start but not on the day it was purchased.
Are the cover levels per person or per policy?
All the cover levels are per person and available for each insured person on the policy.
Am I covered for return flight cancellation where holiday has been pre-paid by my friend?
If the holiday has been paid in full by your friend, we would not be able to offer you cover for your return flight being cancelled, this is because you are unable to claim for something that you did not originally pay for.
What if the country is no longer safe to travel to?
If after booking your holiday and travel insurance, the Foreign Office travel advice changes to now state it is no longer safe to travel to that country, you will need to submit a claim for cancellation. Postcard claims for cancellation need a form to be submitted first – these can be found here.
If you have any other questions please visit our FAQ’s page here.
What is Force Majeure?
Force Majeure is defined as “a claim directly or indirectly occasioned by, happening through or in consequence of war, invasion, acts of foreign enemy, hostilities or warlike operation (whether war be declared or not), civil war, mutiny, military rising, insurrection, rebellion, revolution, military or usurped power, climatic conditions and acts of nature which first arise during the period of insurance and give rise to your pre-booked outward or return journey being delayed by more than 24 hours.”
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