Does travel insurance cover cancelled flights?

Am I covered if I choose to cancel a flight myself?

Your travel insurance policy can cover costs if you need to cancel your flight. However, this is usually under specific circumstances, such as:

• Unforeseen illness, injury or medical emergencies suffered by you or by a close relative, by your intended travelling companion or by the person you were going to stay with when you were away.
• If you must attend a court of law as a witness or on jury service.

• If you’re made redundant from your job.
• If you or your travelling companion is a member of the armed forces, police, fire, nursing, or ambulance services or a government employee who can no longer travel because authorised leave has been cancelled.
• If the police ask you to remain at home or return from your holiday because of damage to your home caused by fire, explosion, flood or theft.

If you’ve just decided not to travel, or if you’ve been dismissed or resigned from your job and can’t afford your holiday anymore, you’re unlikely to be able to use your travel insurance to claim back flight costs.

What does travel insurance cover?

Different travel insurance policies will cover different things, but here’s an idea of what you can expect to be covered and the common exclusions. As insurance is designed to cover things you can’t predict, such as unexpected medical treatment, not every scenario will be included.

Common inclusions (unforeseen circumstances):

• Natural disasters
• Injury or illness (these may vary)
• Emergency medical treatment
• Medical expenses (this may also vary)
• Travel destination becomes unsafe
• Bereavement
• Flood, fire or burglary at your home shortly before your departure date
• Redundancy
• Jury duty

Common exclusions (foreseen circumstances):

• Undeclared medical conditions
• Known illness of a close relative (bereavement wouldn’t be included in this instance)
• Injury, illness or medical treatment related to alcohol or drugs
• Organised strike action

As always, make sure you check this with your travel insurance provider before you take out a policy and prepare to travel to avoid a nasty surprise. All it takes is a quick scan of the small print or a call to a provider.

It’s never a fun job, but making sure you have the right cover could save you a big bill and a lot of stress. Especially if you require specialist cover.

What are my rights if my flight is cancelled?

If your flight is cancelled or significantly delayed, then your airline may be obliged to offer compensation. But this depends on whether the flight is covered by UK compensation rules, as well as the cause of the cancellation.

Depending on the circumstances of the cancellation, you may be able to get your money back directly from the airline or by claiming on your travel insurance policy. Check your policy wording for details on whether you’re covered.

How long do you have to be delayed on a flight to get compensation?

What you’re entitled to will depend on how long you’ve been delayed for and whether your flight is covered by UK compensation rules. To receive compensation, the delay must be caused by something deemed to be within the airline’s control, such as staffing problems. Bad weather or a strike by airport staff would be deemed as outside the airline’s control (provided it’s not the airline’s staff who are striking).

If your flight’s delayed by long enough, then the airline has to provide you with vouchers for food and drink. They’ll also need to ensure you have the ability to make phone calls or send emails. The length of delay depends on the distance of the flight and the countries it’s flying between.

If your flight arrives at its destination more than three hours late, you’re entitled to financial compensation. What you’ll get will depend on the distance of the flight, the length of the delay and where you’re flying between. You could be entitled to up to €600 (approximately £520) per passenger, except if the passenger travelled for free.

If your flight arrives more than five hours late, the airline must give you a refund if you decide not to take the flight. This includes onward flights and return flights, if they're part of the same journey.

If you’re delayed overnight, you’re entitled to accommodation, even if you decide not to take the flight. Airlines will reimburse you for ‘reasonable’ expenses, such as getting a taxi to the hotel.

When to claim from the airline

If the airline cancels the flight for say, being short-staffed, it has an obligation to offer you an alternative flight or a full refund. If you decide to rearrange your flight, the airline should work with you to find suitable dates and will then simply transfer your booking. Your airline may offer you a voucher/credit for the cost of your flight, but you’re under no obligation to accept this and are well within your rights to demand a full cash refund.

When to claim on your travel insurance

If the airline is forced to cancel the flight due to circumstances outside of their control, then you might not be entitled to compensation from the airline. If this is the case, you should then look to make a claim on your travel insurance policy.