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You probably want cover for force majeure on your travel insurance, but if you’ve never heard of this jargon, we don’t blame you.
Examples of Force Majeure events include, acts of terrorism, or a natural event such as an ash cloud. Not exactly the things most people want to think of when planning an exciting holiday abroad, and things you’d expect to be included within your policy.
Luckily for you, Postcard covers major events like the above within our Rookie and Legend policies.
The phrase ‘Force Majeure’ is French for ‘Superior force’. Generally, force majeure is defined as “a 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”.
In simple terms, you wouldn’t travel to Kansas knowing it was in the middle of a tornado and expect to be covered when your accommodation ends up in the Land of Oz, would you? On a more serious note, insurance is there to cover unexpected or unforeseen events.
We cover it as standard across our AllStar and Legend policies, but be aware that most insurers don’t. They might instead offer a Force Majeure extension for an additional premium… which relies on you selecting something, and gives them wiggle room if you make a claim and haven’t selected the right cover. At Postcard, we include it as standard so that you’re not caught out.
Not everyone will be familiar with the fancy French term so you might also see it called a ‘Catastrophe’ or ‘Natural Disaster’ extension. No one likes reading small print but it is important to check the small print in your policy wordings to check exactly what is covered under your Force Majeure cover.
With our no bullsh*t approach, you can be sure that if you’re due to travel and experience any disruption on your trip as a result of a major event like a tornado, storm or civil unrest, you’re covered.
What’s more, we’ll pay your claim within 48 working hours of receiving all your claim information.
Now the part you’ve been waiting for… What our Force Majeure cover actually means for you:
How we cover the expenses:
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Based on your feedback, we realised a growing concern our customers were having was the rise of terrorism acts in recent years. So, what did we do? We chose to include terrorism cover on all of our policies. It’s that simple.
Remember that as we mentioned previously above, travel insurance is there to cover unexpected or unforeseen events. Therefore, purchasing your policy after you know the event has happened will not provide cover.
It is important to be informed about your travel destination through the FCDO travel advice website. Their advice is always up to date, and many insurers will refer to the advice given by the FCDO, on whether travel claims follow the advice given. If you are concerned about the destination you are travelling to, it is recommended you keep updated on the FCDO travel advice website. By selecting the country, you are travelling to, it will allow you to read a country breakdown, and warnings or alerts to the status of the country.
Policy Wordings: We have designed innovative and industry-leading policy wordings which are simple and easy to read and understand. 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 or confusing language.
To read our Policy Wordings Click here.
When is the best time to purchase 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!
Will my policy cover me against a terrorist activity or civil unrest?
Terror attacks are covered on all Postcard policies. This includes: cover to cancel your trip if the FCO says it is unsafe for tourists to travel to your destination of choice, following an incident. Visit the FCO’s website for up to date information on your destination: https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice
Does travel insurance cover terrorist attacks for cancelled flights?
If the FCO have advised against all air traffic after purchasing your travel insurance to the selected destination, then your Postcard policy will provide cover. However, if the FCO have not advised against this, and the airline company decide not too travel, then you should contact the airline company for compensation.
How do I make a claim for Force Majeure?
How do I make a claim for Force Majeure? When it comes to making a claim, we ask that you contact International Passenger Protection Limited’s (IPP) claim team to submit your claim information. For more information on how to make a claim, visit our ‘How to make a claim’ page.
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