These travel insurers will cover you if you catch coronavirus on holiday abroad

As the UK government plans to introduce ‘air bridges’ with a number of foreign destinations, the prospect of a holiday abroad is looking more positive.

The plan is to create a ‘travel corridor’ with select countries that pose a low risk of coronavirus infection, allowing tourists to travel freely between them, without being forced into mandatory quarantine.

Finalised plans for the air bridges are expected to be announced by the government “later this week”, with ministers revealing which countries a deal has been struck with.

But will UK residents be covered for travel abroad? Here’s what you need to know.

Is travel abroad allowed yet?

The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) is currently still advising against all but essential international travel.

However, this advice is expected to change following the government’s plan to introduce a new traffic light system that will determine which countries across the globe are considered safe to travel to. Destinations will be classed as either green, amber or red, with the colour-coding to be decided by the number of coronavirus cases in each country.

Countries classed as green will be considered the safest, while those classes as red will require returning passengers to self-isolate for 14 days.

Are any travel insurers covering coronavirus?

Many insurance providers stopped selling holiday cover when the pandemic broke out, and even though a lot have returned to the market, most policies still exclude any coronavirus-related claims.

Several insurers also refuse to provide cover in the event of any future pandemic, while others are not accepting any new customers.

However, there are a small number which will cover you in the event you catch the virus abroad, but all policies are invalid if you travel against advice from the FCO. At the moment, the FCO is still advising against all but essential international travel.

These are all of the insurers that have updated their policies in relation to coronavirus and the cover that will be provided, according to Which?:

AllClear – no new cover for coronavirus-related claims

Allianz Assistance UK – no new cover for coronavirus-related claims

Alpha Insurance – no cover for coronavirus-related claims, except emergency medical treatment

Asda - Existing customers will only be covered for medical costs if they contract coronavirus abroad

Axa – no new cover for coronavirus-related cancellation

Boots – no cover for coronavirus-related claims, except emergency medical treatment

Columbus Direct – no new cover for coronavirus-related claims

Debenhams – no new cover for coronavirus-related claims

Direct Travel – no new cover from coronavirus-related claims

Ergo Travel – exclusions regarding any epidemic or pandemic as declared by the WHO

Esure – no coronavirus-related claims, except emergency medical treatment

Flexicover – no coronavirus-related claims, except emergency medical treatment

Holidaysafe – no coronavirus-related claims, except emergency medical treatment

InsureandGo – no new cover for coronavirus-related incidents

Insureancewith – no cover for coronavirus-related claims, except emergency medical treatment

JS Insurance – no coronavirus-related claims, except emergency medical treatment

Nationwide – as of 18 March, new policies won’t cover coronavirus

Mutual – still selling annual policies to existing home insurance customers, but have stopped the sale of single-trip policies

Post Office – no cover for coronavirus-related claims, except emergency medical cover and repatriation costs

Saga – no new cover for coronavirus-related claims, except emergency medical cover

Sainsbury’s Bank – no new cover for epidemics or pandemics, including but not limited to coronavirus

Staysure – no travel disruption extension for new customers, but emergency medical treatment for coronavirus is covered

Trailfinders – cover for coronavirus-related cancellation and medical expenses