All about cancellation insurance
Cancellation insurance reimburses the trip cost you lose if you cannot go. It does not cover every reason for calling off a trip, only the events set out in the policy conditions.
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In brief
Cancellation insurance works with a closed list of events. Death, serious illness or an accident involving you, a member of your family or someone close to you; involuntary loss of your job; your home becoming uninhabitable; urgent medical treatment that cannot wait. If your reason is not on that list there is no cover, however understandable the cancellation may be. That is the essential difference from travel insurance, which only starts to work once you are on your way. How the two relate is explained under travel insurance with or without cancellation cover.
If you cancel before departure, the insurer reimburses the cancellation charges that the travel provider makes under its own terms, up to the insured trip cost at most. If you cut the trip short because of a covered event, the curtailment cover comes into play: a pro rata payment for the days you did not use. That curtailment cover is not always included as standard. Article 7:960 of the Dutch Civil Code makes sure that you never receive more than you actually lose: whatever the tour operator or the airline already refunds is not paid out a second time.
Two deadlines often decide the outcome. You have to take out the insurance shortly after booking, usually within seven days, or it will not apply to that trip. And you must report it immediately as soon as you know that you are cancelling; Article 7:941 of the Dutch Civil Code obliges you to do so, and the insurer will reimburse the cancellation charges applying at the moment you report it, not those of weeks later. If you book several trips a year, compare that with the short-term version with a continuous cover.
This page deals with one situation. The full overview is on Compare cancellation insurance.
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What to look out for
Four points that make the difference between a payment and a refusal.
Known circumstances are excluded
If a family member's illness was already known when you booked, cancelling for that reason falls outside the cover. The same applies to an announced reorganisation or a course of medical treatment already under way. Article 7:928 of the Dutch Civil Code requires you to declare those circumstances when you apply; withholding them can, under Article 7:930 of the Dutch Civil Code lead to a reduced payout or to a refusal to pay.
Not every reason counts
Changing your mind, a holiday your employer refuses to approve, a visa or passport that did not arrive in time, or fear of the situation at your destination: those are not covered events. Nor does a negative travel advice in itself give any right to a payment, unless the conditions expressly provide for it.
The provider going bankrupt
If the tour operator goes bankrupt, that is usually not a cancellation loss but a matter for the guarantee fund the operator belongs to. If you book directly with a carrier or a rental company, there is often no fund and no cover either. Check that when you book, not afterwards.
Who exactly counts
The list of events refers to family in the first and second degree, members of your household and sometimes a travelling companion with a policy of their own. Exactly who falls within that differs from insurer to insurer and determines whether the illness of a parent-in-law, for example, is a ground for cancellation. Read it before you choose.
What does your premium depend on?
- Insured trip cost: the premium is usually a percentage of it
- Single-trip or continuous: per trip, or an annual cover for all your bookings
- Number of insured persons: on your own or the whole family
- Destination. Europe or worldwide, with the costs that go with it
- Curtailment cover: payment for unused travel days costs extra
- Additional modules: self-assembled trips or winter sports, for example
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is where your saving is.
What is covered
| Situation | Cancellation | Cancellation with curtailment cover |
|---|---|---|
| Your father dies four days before departure | Yes | Yes |
| You are made redundant shortly after booking | Yes | Yes |
| You break your ankle on the second day of your holiday and fly home early | No | Yes |
| You return halfway through because your mother has been admitted to hospital as an emergency | No | Yes |
| You are unexpectedly allocated a rented home with a key date in your travel week | Provided that | Provided that |
| Your dog falls seriously ill and you stay at home because of it | No | No |
You arrange curtailment cover when you book. It can no longer be added to a trip that is already under way.
Frequently asked questions
This is what people ask us most.
Up to when can I take out the insurance?
Virtually all providers require you to take it out within seven days of booking. If you take it out later, the cover does not apply to that trip, or only after a waiting period. With continuous cancellation insurance this does not arise, provided the policy was already running when you booked. That is the practical advantage of an annual cover for anyone who books several trips a year.
Do I get the full trip cost back?
You are reimbursed the cancellation charges the provider makes under its terms, up to the sum insured. If you cancel well in advance that is often only part of it; close to departure it rises to the whole amount. Whatever the provider already refunds, or whatever you get back from a carrier, is deducted.
Is illness during the trip covered as well?
Medical costs on the way fall under travel insurance, not under cancellation insurance. A cancellation policy with curtailment cover can, however, reimburse the travel days you did not use if illness or an accident forces you home early. Without that module you are left with the medical costs and repatriation through the travel insurer's emergency assistance centre.
Does the insurance cover cancellation because of an epidemic?
Only if the conditions expressly provide for it. Many policies exclude cancellation because of an epidemic, a pandemic or government measures, or cover only the case in which you are demonstrably ill yourself. Read the list of events and the exclusions side by side; providers differ widely on this point.
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