Canadian travel insurers stop covering coronavirus trip cancellations

Two Canadian travel insurers are no longer covering customers who want to cancel their trip due to COVID-19, and the rest of the industry is likely to follow suit.

Manulife and TuGo have both decided that coronavirus is now a “known” issue and cancellation coverage no longer applies.
TuGo’s change in policy came into effect Tuesday, March 4, while Manulife said the exclusion applies from today, March 5.

“Manulife has determined that COVID-19 is now considered a known event and the applicable exclusion will be applied for individual travel insurance policies issued on or after this date,” Manulife said in a statement to CTVNews.ca.

“The application of COVID-19 as a known event does not apply to existing customers who bought our travel insurance policies prior to March 5, 2020.”

Manulife trip cancellation/interruption insurance (TCII) customers can submit a claim if the product was bought before a “high level government of Canada travel advisory,” but this will likely be “unpayable.”

“If TCII was purchased after the government of Canada issued a high level advisory, you cannot use it as a reason to cancel or interrupt your trip,” Manulife said.


Source: CTV News