As with so many things, COVID-19 has complicated travel insurance. When it was new to the world, COVID-19 was covered. Then, it was sometimes covered and now, some policies cover you and others don’t.
So where does that leave travelers? For Dazzle Africa travelers it leaves you with very little to figure out because we have already waited on hold and gotten the answers you need to make an informed decision. We will walk you through it.
The first thing that you should know is that if you currently have travel insurance then there is a chance your current plan covers COVID-19 related interruptions. If you bought your insurance before the pandemic exploded (mid-January) then your policy might have you covered. In this instance, you should call your insurance provider and ask about your specific policy.
Things are a little clearer for new policies. There are two kinds of policies that we are going to discuss: basic policies and cancel for any reason policies. Basic policies cover your whole trip, but are focused on unforeseen events that would make you cancel or interrupt your trip. The key there is “unforeseen events”. COVID-19 is now seen as a “known issue” which means it doesn’t fully fall under most basic coverage policies. Most basic policies will cover your travel if you get COVID-19 or if you have to quarantine because you recently had the virus. Shelter-in-place orders or not being able to get into countries due to their COVID policies are not covered.
This can be frustrating because the biggest reason that people are having trouble traveling right now is COVID-19. Fortunately, there is a way to get COVID-19 covered. You need to buy a policy with “cancel for any reason” coverage. These policies will typically be about 50% more expensive and will refund you only 75% of what you’ve paid if you cancel for anything other than an unforeseen issue. With a cancel for any reason policy, you can literally cancel for any reason at all so everything is covered at 75% reimbursement. If you are canceling for an unforeseen issue you still get 100% of your money back.
We recommend that you purchase cancel for any reason coverage for any trip where COVID-19 could affect you. The 50% increase in cost is only a couple hundred dollars in most cases and you still have 100% coverage for any unforeseen issue. The upgrade to cancel for any reason insurance will give you more flexibility and peace of mind for your adventures. We recommend using Squaremouth to help you find insurance that works for you. It costs you nothing extra and we get a small percentage if you buy with them using our link: https://www.squaremouth.com/21416.
The best recommendation is to work with a company that takes your money as seriously as you do. Fortunately, Dazzle Africa does just that. We will not put our travelers in a place where they are losing money due to COVID-19. We have space on some of our trips in 2021 and we would love to show you the magic of Africa.