Brexit: Holidaymakers face travel insurance uncertainty in event of no deal

‘If I were you I would assume at this very point in time there is no cover,’ said the call-centre operator for Allianz

Top insurance companies have no coherent policy about cover for travellers in the event of a no-deal Brexit, according to Liberal Democrat research.

HuffPost UK reports a “mystery shopper” exercise by the party, which contacted seven leading insurance firms to ask about cover after 29 March 2019.

Two months before the UK is due to exit the European Union, many travellers are increasingly confused and concerned about travel insurance if no deal is achieved.

Brexit is scheduled for just before the Easter holidays, when millions of British families will be taking sun and ski holidays.

The companies were asked: “I’m thinking of taking out travel insurance for my holiday in the summer. Could you let me know if you will cover me for disruption to my holiday as a result of a no-deal Brexit?”

Legal & General’s call centre operator initially said: “We don’t know anything about that at the moment, unfortunately, the best people to ask are the claims department.”

When the mystery shopper was put through, they were told: “We’re not Legal and General we’re Allianz.

“We sell insurance through lots of different companies.

“If you’re thinking about buying it through Legal & General, no the insurance wouldn’t cover that situation I’m afraid… I’ve never come across one that would cover that.”

Allianz itself said: “If I were you I would assume at this very point in time there is no cover.”

Most of the other firms expressed uncertainty. Zurich’s operator said: “We haven’t had any information about it yet.

“Give us a call nearer the time we should hopefully have some more information.”

Direct Line’s operator said: “I couldn’t answer that question; we honestly wouldn’t know that.”

AXA said cover would continue as normal. So too did Aviva, which also added opaquely: “It’s best sometimes if you do book ATOL protected holidays just to cover yourself a bit further.”

A spokesperson for the Association of British Insurers (ABI) told The Independent: “The primary role of travel insurance is to provide emergency medical care for people overseas, and this will continue.

“In the event of travel disruption caused by Brexit, primary responsibility for offering travellers alternative transport or refunds rests with the airlines and travel companies who have taken customers’ money.

“During disruption, consumers may be able to make insurance claims for losses they can’t recover elsewhere, such as for unused accommodation or excursions, but people will need to have purchased travel disruption cover for this purpose.”