Boston marathon attack: travel insurance

17 April 2013

While Boston airports are operating normally today, travellers should understand what they would have been covered for by their travel insurance policy.           

At Hollard Travel Insurance, we consider this to be an act of terrorism and therefore any policyholders impacted by this event will be covered by our trip cancellation benefit if the following three criteria are met:

• Boston is a city listed on your itinerary

• Coverage was effective prior to the attack (April 15, 2013), and

• Your departure date is within 14 days of the attack (travel must commence prior to 29 April 2013)

Important to take note that it is a condition of cover Before a new “Terrorist Incident” is covered, a destination must be incident free for at least 90 days, which means any travellers booking a new trip to Boston within the next 90 days after the attack will not be covered by the cancellation benefit.

Travel insurance policies typically contain the following benefits that might apply to a disaster like a terrorist attack:

a.            Trauma assistance (telephonic via our 24-hour emergency call centre or referral to a trauma centre)

b.            Consular referral (replacement of passport, confirming your status to the consulate, etc.)

c.            Medical expenses (Guarantee of inpatient expenses or reimbursement of outpatient costs)

d.           Monitoring of situation (urgent message relay)

e.           Assistance with changes to travel & accommodation

Travellers should always ensure that they know the emergency telephone number, prior to departing from SA to ensure there is no delay in obtaining emergency assistance.