Coronavirus: your travel questions answered

You should first contact your airline, travel or accommodation provider to see what your options are. If you decide to cancel the booking by not paying the remaining balance, you may not get a refund of any deposit already paid from your travel provider. You’ll also not be covered under your HSBC Travel Insurance policy.

If your booking was for a package holiday or for flight covered by the EU Passenger Rights Regulations (meaning flights departing from a UK or EU airport and operated by any airline, or arriving at a UK or EU airport and operated by a UK or EU airline), your travel provider is responsible for providing a refund in the event they cancel your flight/trip. You aren’t obliged to accept a re-booking or refund credit note.

If you’re due to travel in the next 31 days and the FCO advice/UK government lockdown guidelines are still in place and you’ve paid further instalments or the final balance which can’t be recovered elsewhere (for example, if the travel provider is no longer trading), you can make a claim on your HSBC Travel Insurance policy for the cost of your non-refundable deposit, or the full amount of your trip.

If you booked your trip before 17 March 2020 when the FCO advised against all but essential travel abroad and that advice is still in place within 31 days of your departure date, your cancellation costs will be covered. 

• you have 2 consecutive nights pre-booked holiday accommodation
• you’re due to travel while the UK lockdown is still in place
• you booked your trip and took your policy out before the UK Government advised against all non-essential travel on 17 March 2020 

Before making a claim, you should check whether you’re able to get a refund or make alternative travel arrangements with your airline, travel or accommodation provider or credit/debit card provider.

If you have an HSBC credit card, you can find out how in the credit card claims section below.

Our insurer, Aviva, is unable to consider claims for cancellation due to the FCO advising against travel more than 31 days prior to your trip. You should think carefully about cancelling your trip now as you might not be able to get a refund from your travel provider.

You should check with your airline, travel or accommodation provider to see what your options are and if you’re entitled to a refund or make alternative travel arrangements. If you paid any part of your trip with your credit or debit card, you should check with your provider to see if you’re entitled to a refund. 

If you have an HSBC credit card, you can find out how in the credit card claims section below.

You should contact your airline or travel provider in the first instance to find out what your options are.

Our insurer, Aviva,  understands that if your airline has cancelled a flight that’s from or within the EU, or to the EU with an EU airline, your airline may be obliged to assist you with refunds or re-routing and care (including accommodation) under EU regulations and/or the terms and conditions of your booking.

Your airline may offer you a voucher for future travel, but we understand that you are not obliged to accept this and are entitled to ask for a refund of the price paid for your ticket. 

If you accept a voucher or a refund, you cannot then claim for the cost of this from your insurance and your airline may not be required to assist you with re-routing and care. However, if you rebook your trip and you’re still unable to travel due to ongoing coronavirus restrictions and your airline/accommodation provider is unable to assist you, you’ll be able to make a claim.

The Civil Aviation Authority has guidance on passenger rights which you can find at  https://www.caa.co.uk/COVID-19

If you’re unable to recover your losses from your airline or travel and accommodation provider, you can make a claim under your policy.

Yes, you would be covered. However, you should be aware that treatment is subject to the locally available facilities. Medical repatriation or transfer to alternative medical facilities would be subject to any travel restrictions.

If you’re quarantined at an airport when travelling to or from your destination, then you’ll be covered. You can claim for unused non-recoverable costs for accommodation should you choose to abandon your trip and come home early, as well as additional travel and accommodation costs to get everyone insured under the policy home.

If you’re stuck abroad and cannot get back before your travel insurance ends, emergency medical cover will remain in force without you having to pay any additional premium, providing you’re making every effort to return home where possible.

Unfortunately, this would not be covered under HSBC Travel Insurance. You may be able to reclaim your costs through the event organiser or your credit/debit card provider.

If you have an HSBC credit card, you can find out how in the credit card claims section below.

We urge you to follow the advice outlined by the FCO and local authorities and not to place yourself at additional risk. However, if you decide to travel against the FCO advice, you will still be covered for medical emergency claims. You will not be covered under your policy for abandonment if the travel advice was in place when you left the UK because coronavirus is now a known event.

If you’re members of HM Armed Forces, the Emergency Services or a UK government department and your leave is cancelled due to an unexpected posting or an emergency in the UK, you’re covered for cancellation claims. This includes doctors and nurses too.

You should contact your airline or travel provider in the first instance to find out what your options are. You should also check the FCO website for advice in the country that you are in. Many countries have imposed restrictions on flights and movement across borders.

The UK government announced on 30 March 2020 a new partnership with the airline industry to help British people travelling abroad to return to the UK. Where commercial routes remain feasible airlines will be responsible for getting their passengers with pre-booked tickets home.

Where commercial routes do not exist, the UK government will provide up to £75 million to enable special charter flights to priority countries to bring back UK residents. To see if you are eligible, and to find out how to book and sign up to email alerts, see the ‘Return to the UK’ section of the UK government’s travel advice page of the country that you are in. When special return flights become available, these will be advertised by the embassy and British nationals on Travel Advice pages and Embassy social media and those who have registered for updates will be contacted via email.

Where the airline has cancelled your flight, our insurer (Aviva) understands that if your flight is from or within the EU, or to the EU with an EU airline, your airline may be obliged to assist you with refunds or re-routing and care (including accommodation where necessary) under EU regulations and/or the terms and conditions of your booking.

Your airline may offer you a voucher for future travel, but we understand that you are not obliged to accept this and are entitled to ask for a refund of the price paid for your ticket. 

If you accept a voucher or a refund you cannot then claim for the cost of this from your insurance (including if there are issues with the voucher in the future) and your airline may not be required to assist you with re-routing and care.  

The Civil Aviation Authority has guidance on passenger rights which you can find at  https://www.caa.co.uk/COVID-19

If the airline has been unable to assist you, providing you took out your policy, booked your trip and travelled before the FCO advised against all but essential travel, you may be covered under your travel insurance as follows:

• You can claim for additional travel and accommodation costs, that are not recoverable from your airline or travel provider, up to the policy limit, to allow you to return to the UK early due to the FCO advice.
• If you’re stuck abroad and cannot get back before your travel insurance cover ends, emergency medical cover will remain in force without addition premium, providing you’re making every effort to return home where possible.  
  

You can claim for specific associated expenses outlined in your policy that are unrecoverable from your travel or accommodation provider. If your policy is due to end while you’re in lockdown, emergency medical cover will remain in force without addition premium, providing you’re making every effort to return home when possible.  

To allow our insurer (Aviva) to prioritise customers who are stuck abroad or who were due to travel in the immediate future, we’re asking you to only call us if you’re due to travel in the next 7 days.  You can find the relevant phone numbers on our travel insurance claims page.

If your travel date is more than a week away, please don’t call just yet.

Aviva are doing everything they can to give you the support you need. However, their call centres are facing extremely high call volumes with lower-than-usual staff levels due to the virus.

By not calling now and waiting to call nearer the time you were supposed to travel, this will allow them to focus their immediate efforts on helping those most in need – such as those who are outside the UK and/or facing a medical emergency.

You’ll need to provide:

• confirmation of the original booking and which parts of it are non-refundable
• evidence you’ve tried to get your money back through the travel, accommodation or credit/debit card provider
• details of any self-isolation advice you’ve been given by either your GP or from NHS 111

Normal policy excess, terms and conditions, exclusions and claims assessment will apply.

For more on claims, visit our travel insurance claims page.

We’ve decided to temporarily withdraw HSBC Travel Insurance from sale to new customers. We’ve taken this decision so we can focus our attention on existing customers whose travel plans have been disrupted. We’ll continue to keep a close eye on developments and we hope we’ll be able to offer new policies again soon.

Remember that travel insurance is designed to cover unforeseen events. With the outbreak of coronavirus, there’s now a high likelihood of disruption to travel plans. As this is being continuously reported in the media and is widely known about, coronavirus is now considered to be a known event. Before buying any policy, check the policy document carefully as it may not cover you for cancellation or abandonment.

If flights, package holidays, or events are cancelled it is important to refer to your contract and follow the supplier’s refund/re-booking terms in the first instance. You should do this before raising any dispute or Section 75 claim as this will help your claim. 

Read this helpful guide so that you’re aware of your rights. It also explains how to dispute a transaction with your holiday provider if necessary.

If the travel arrangements are all still operational, but you want to cancel (or have already cancelled) any refunds will be subject to the refund policy within the supplier’s terms and conditions.

You may not be entitled to a refund if you have voluntarily opted to cancel. It’s worth contacting the supplier in case they’re willing to offer a refund or alternative as a gesture of goodwill in the exceptional circumstances. If your date of travel is some time in the future, you may want to wait until nearer the time of travel before making a decision to voluntarily cancel.

You will not be able to raise a dispute or claim under Section 75, unless the supplier’s terms and conditions have a refund policy which the supplier declines to honour.

You should contact the airline and hotel in the first instance to recover the cost of your flights and hotel or to re-book alternatives. The hotel costs may not be recoverable unless you have cancellation rights in the hotel supplier’s terms. If this isn’t successful, you may be able to dispute the transaction.

Read this helpful guide so that you’re aware of your rights, and if necessary informed on how to dispute a transaction with your holiday provider.

This will depend on the travel provider’s terms and the specific circumstances of your case. You may not be entitled to claim a refund if the closure of facilities is outside of their control. The travel provider should communicate with you if the facilities which you have booked for your holiday are not going to be available during your stay. 

We would urge you to follow the advice as outlined by the FCO and local authorities and not place yourself at additional risk. 

You should contact the airline, travel operator or tour organiser and explain that you’re unable to travel. Depending on the supplier’s terms, you may be able to recover the cost of your trip or re-book alternatives.

In order to raise a dispute or claim under Section 75, please ensure you provide us with the full details relating to the booking and all correspondence with the suppliers and insurers. We’ll review your specific case on its merits.

Read this helpful guide which outlines how to dispute a transaction.

If you have HSBC Travel Insurance and decide to travel against the FCO and/or local authority advice, you'll still be covered for medical emergency claims, but you may not be covered for abandonment claims relating to coronavirus as this is now a known event.

You should contact the airline, travel or accommodation provider in the first instance and explain that the event has been cancelled and ask if you’re able to get a refund. This will depend on your cancellation rights. Some companies may offer you a refund or allow you to re-book given the circumstances.

You may be able to make a claim under Section 75 depending on the circumstances of your case, as long as the total purchase price of the event tickets are greater than £100 and less than £30,000. You’ll need to provide us with the full details of your booking, the supplier’s terms and all subsequent correspondence with the suppliers and insurers. We’ll review your specific case on its merits.

Read this helpful guide which outlines how to dispute a transaction.

If the event has been cancelled due to the UK government advising against all or all non-essential travel and you took out an HSBC Travel Insurance policy and booked your travel before the advice was in place, and you’re unable to get a refund elsewhere, your travel insurance may cover unrecoverable costs for your travel and accommodation.