Zurich UK has announced they are in the process of offering a refund or rescheduling cover for every single trip policy holder (8,000 customers) who has been unable to travel during lockdown.
For customers who had trips arranged between 12 March (following the WHO declaration of pandemic) and June and couldn’t travel, as long as they haven’t made a successful claim, Zurich are offering a full premium refund as they haven’t been able to make use of their travel insurance.
And for those single trip customers who are yet to travel, they’re being flexible and giving them options. So, if they already know that they’re not going to travel, they can receive a full premium refund, or like many other travellers, if they are agreeing a rescheduled trip with their travel operator, Zurich will simply 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, Zurich will also ensure that everyone gets a fair deal by offering a pro-rata refund for the months they were unable to travel during lockdown – this will benefit approximately another 2000 customers.
This means that around £300,000 can be rightfully returned to customers for a service they didn’t use when the national lockdown turned all of our plans and holiday bookings on their heads.
Phil Ost, travel insurance expert from 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.”