Will your travel insurance pay if you have to come home early?

Which reasons for coming home early does your policy pay for?

Only the reasons it lists. Illness, injury or death of you or a travel companion is on every list, and most add a close relative. Seven policies have a benefit for cutting a trip short. Salama has none in its table of benefits. A separate Salama benefit pays travel home when a trip is interrupted by the death of a close relative.¹

Sources for Table 1

AIG,² Liva,³ Allianz Partners,⁴ Orient,⁵ GIG Gulf,⁶ Mastercard,⁷ Daman.⁸

Daman excludes any reason not listed in its Schedule of Benefits section.⁸ Mastercard lists security reasons or a mandatory evacuation at the destination, and a common carrier delay.⁷ Allianz Partners lists missing at least 50% of the trip because of named events, and a government-mandated evacuation for a natural disaster.⁴ Orient’s reasons are those listed under its cancellation section.⁵ Conflict and government advice terms are in war, conflict and airspace closures.

AIG excludes known conditions, and Mastercard excludes pregnancy and pre-existing conditions.²⁷

Does a hospital stay abroad count as cutting your trip short?

At GIG Gulf and Orient, yes. GIG Gulf’s definition of curtailment includes being an in-patient in a hospital abroad for more than 48 hours, as well as returning home straight away.⁶ Orient includes being in hospital for the rest of the journey.⁵

How much will you get back?

Unused costs, extra travel, or both, depending on the policy.

• Orient pays for each 24-hour period lost from the date you need to return or are admitted to hospital. It does not refund an unused return ticket if it repatriates you.⁵
• Allianz Partners pays the prorated part of unused non-refundable payments, with a 10% or 15% deductible on its Standard and Premium levels. It will not pay for both the unused return ticket and a new one.⁴
• AIG pays costs you cannot recover, plus the extra cost of a one-way economy fare home after the death or serious illness of a relative in your country of residence. It excludes cutting the trip short without returning to your country of residence.²
• Mastercard splits the benefit. Trip Curtailment pays lost deposits. Trip Interruption pays cancellation penalties, a pro-rated room rate and extra transport. The two do not pay twice for the same cost.⁷
• GIG Gulf pays up to USD 5,000 of costs you cannot recover on the Travel Smart plan, and a separate economy return after the sudden death of a close relative.⁶
• Daman sets its limit in the Schedule of Benefit. Ask Daman for it.⁸

The other policies do not say whether a medical repatriation arranged by the insurer changes a claim for cutting the trip short.

When must you tell your insurer?

From immediately to within 72 hours. Orient, and GIG Gulf for a medical reason, need their agreement first. Orient must be told immediately if you think you may need to cut the journey short, and the claim needs its agreement and a certificate from the treating doctor.⁵ GIG Gulf needs a medical certificate and its prior approval where the reason is medical.⁶ AIG needs a physician’s certificate.² AIG and Mastercard ask for notice as soon as reasonably possible and will not pay penalties that earlier notice would have avoided.²⁷ Allianz Partners asks you to tell travel suppliers within 72 hours, or as soon as you are able if illness or injury prevents it.⁴

These are notice rules for the event. Deadlines for filing the claim are in the claims guide.

The small print

• Names for the same benefit. Policies call it curtailment, interruption, cutting short or premature return. Allianz Partners splits its section into Trip Curtailment, Early/Delayed Return, Trip Continuation and Extended Stay, and the last three apply to the Standard and Premium levels only.⁴
• Salama’s benefit. Emergency Return Home following Death of Close Relative pays travel to the usual country of residence and needs a death certificate.¹
• Clause names. AIG, Section 3, Trip Curtailment. Liva, Section A, 1. Allianz Partners, B. Trip Interruption Coverage. Orient, Section 5. GIG Gulf, Chapters L and F. Mastercard, Trip Curtailment / Trip Interruption. Daman, Trip Cancellation and Delay, 1.