Search Travel Market Report

cruise planners
ALG Sponsored
ALG Sponsored
mainlogo
www.travelmarketreport.com
  • News
  • Tours & Packages
  • Cruise
  • Hotels & Resorts
  • Destinations
  • Retail Strategies
  • Niche & Luxury
  • Well-Being Travel
  • Training & Events
  • Who We Are
    • Anne Marie Moebes
    • Brian Israel
    • Dan McCarthy
    • Denise Caiazzo
    • Marilee Crocker
    • Paul M. Ruden
    • Dori Saltzman
ALG sponsored

Do Your Clients Know What 'Quarantine' Means to Their Travel Insurance Coverage?

by Richard D'Ambrosio / June 01, 2020
Do Your Clients Know What 'Quarantine' Means to Their Travel Insurance Coverage?

Staying up to date on the ins-and-outs of travel insurance is getting increasingly difficult for travel advisors. Photo: Shutterstock.com.


The English language can be tricky when it comes to travel insurance, a product already belabored with legal language and pages filled with small font terms and conditions that don’t always explain travel insurance coverage clearly.

Add in a pandemic, and then mix in state and country-specific health rules that restrict resident movement, and you have a recipe for traveler misperceptions about how vacation purchases can be left exposed – even when a client believes their travel insurance protects them.

Fort Worth, Texas resident Brian Hale told a Dallas CBS television affiliate he cancelled an April trip to Tennessee for a family reunion after Texas Governor Greg Abbott issued a statewide stay-at-home order.

“We didn’t really feel like a family vacation warranted essential travel,” Hale said. When he filed a claim with his travel insurance company, Generali Global Assistance denied it.

When contacted by the Dallas CBS affiliate, Generali Global Assistance stated: “Shelter in place orders do not fall under coverage for quarantines as insureds have the ability to leave their homes to go shopping, get medications, and other essential tasks. For an event to be covered under quarantine, the insured would have to be put under a mandatory ‘enforced isolation’ which is not the case for shelter in place orders.”

“Since the beginning of the outbreak, us along with the rest of the industry have seen a surge of calls on COVID related issues with the distinction between “self-isolation” and “quarantine” being a reoccurring topic,” said James Sion, COO of Generali Global Assistance. “Consistent with the rest of the industry, for an event to be covered as a quarantine, the insured would have to be under a specific mandatory ‘enforced isolation’ order from an authority which is not the case for stay at home orders and shelter in place advisories.”

“It’s important for travel advisors and their clients to stay as up to date as possible before and during their trip on any travel restrictions that may impact them,” said Dan Durazo, Communications Director at Allianz Global Assistance.

With so many fast-moving changes to things like stay-at-home orders and contact tracing requirements, staying up to date is getting increasingly difficult for travel advisors.

“We understand that travel advisors may have questions about how our travel insurance plans may cover situations related to COVID-19,” Durazo added. “We’ve been in regular contact with them throughout this crisis to remind that we are here to help answer customer’s questions and to make sure that both the agents and customers are getting access to the most up-to-date information available, including coverage alerts and other information on coverage and exclusions, our temporary claims and refund accommodations, and answers to other frequently asked questions.”

Durazo acknowledged that the fluid nature of travel restrictions like quarantines could lead to more confusion for consumers, which is why the company believes “travel advisors can be a terrific resource in helping consumers to navigate this unprecedented situation where regulations may vary significantly from one destination to another.”

This confusion is not likely going to abate any time soon, especially as the world progresses through the pandemic. As more destinations open up for travel bookings, new rules are appearing that could create the need for further education and communication to travelers and travel advisors.

For example, the island of St. Lucia recently announced that it will be reopening for inbound tourism on June 4.  On the island’s COVID-19 FAQ website, it states that if a traveler is identified as someone who has been in contact with another person at the resort who is determined to be COVID positive, the traveler “will be required to go into quarantine for 14 days.”

“If mandatory enforced isolation occurs the event does meet the criteria to be covered under quarantine,” Generali’s Sion said when asked about St. Lucia’s policy. Similar examples where travel insurance would kick in would be for “specific and mandatory quarantines placed on certain cruise ships, meaning that travelers could be reimbursed for related costs due to trip interruption.”

  95
  1
ALG Sponsored

MOST VIEWED

Brought To You By
  1. European Union Will Drop Its Mask Mandate for Travel Next Week
  2. 5 Client Types You Can Immediately Disqualify for a Virgin Voyages Cruise
  3. CDC Moves Four Destinations Into “High” Risk COVID-19 Level
  4. Trivago Hit With Massive Fine from Australian Federal Court Because of “Misleading” Conduct
  5. How Is the War in Ukraine Affecting the European River Cruise 2022 Season?
  6. American Express Confirms End to its Franchise Program

MOST EMAILED

Brought To You By
  1. European Union Will Drop Its Mask Mandate for Travel Next Week
  2. Japan Could Reopen to North Americans Next Month
  3. Japan Confirms Plan to Start Its Travel Reopening This Month
  4. 5 Client Types You Can Immediately Disqualify for a Virgin Voyages Cruise
  5. CDC Moves Four Destinations Into “High” Risk COVID-19 Level
  6. Greece’s Vaccination Requirement for Inbound Travelers Ends Next Week
ALG sponsored
TMR Subscription

Subscribe today to receive daily in-depth coverage, analysis of industry news, trends and issues that affect how you do business. Subscribe now for free.

Subscribe to TMR

TMR Recommendations
Daniel Zim
Zim Travel Law, PLLC. Demystifying Complexity with Down to Earth Advice. Attorney Advertising.
hbar
Rodney Gould
Rodney E. Gould concentrates in travel and tour-operator litigation and regularly counsels travel-related entities worldwide.
hbar
Tom Carpenter
Carpenter Law Office - Representing clients in the travel and tourism industries. Attorney Advertising.
hbar
Top Stories
Travel A.L.L.I.E.S. Society Launches Advisor Mentorship Program
Travel A.L.L.I.E.S. Society Launches Advisor Mentorship Program

The six-month program is designed to develop, promote and inspire young travel professionals.

Read...
MasterAdvisor 51: What's Trending In The Cruise Industry?
MasterAdvisor 51: What's Trending In The Cruise Industry?

What are clients asking about before they sail away?

Read...
ASTA’s Legislative Day Is Just Weeks Away
ASTA’s Legislative Day Is Just Weeks Away

Scholarships are still available for U.S. advisors interested in attending in D.C. next month. 

Read...
More Consumers Interested in Travel Insurance than Pre-Pandemic
More Consumers Interested in Travel Insurance than Pre-Pandemic

Online searches for travel insurance have increased by 70% since 2019.

Read...
ALG Vacations Shows Its Amped-Up Appreciation to Travel Advisors
ALG Vacations Shows Its Amped-Up Appreciation to Travel Advisors

For the entire month of May during Travel Advisor Appreciation Month, ALG Vacations® is showing its appreciation to its travel advisor partners with “amped-up gratitude.”

Read...
Headquarter Happenings: Avenue Two Travel's First-Ever Collective
Headquarter Happenings: Avenue Two Travel's First-Ever Collective

“We have long dreamed about hosting an event like this. It's so incredible to think the dream has come true on the heels of some of the most devastating times of our lifetimes." 

Read...
TMR Outlooks
Multi-Gen Outlook
Distribution Outlook (1)
New to Cruise Outlook
Expedition 2020
Wellness Outlook
River Cruise Outlook 2019
View All
Advertiser's Voice
https://img.youtube.com/vi/87ira8MA_b8/0.jpg
MasterAdvisor: What's Trending in the Cruise Industry?
About Travel Market Report Mission Editorial Staff Advisory Board Advertise
TMR Resources Webinars Calendar of Events
Subscribe to TMR
Select Language
Do You Have an Idea Email
editor@travelmarketreport.com
Give Us a Call
1-(516) 730-3097
Drop Us a Note
Travel Market Report
71 Audrey Ave, Oyster Bay, NY 11771
News|Leisure Travel|Land Vacations|Cruise|Canada Retail Strategies|Well-Being|Luxury|Training
© 2005 - 2022 Travel Market Report, an American Marketing Group Inc. Company All Rights Reserved | 243 South Street, Oyster Bay, NY, 11771 USA | Telephone (516) 730-3097| Terms and Conditions
Cookie Policy Privacy Policy