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Enhanced protection for unforeseen events

Our travel insurance already covers medical assistance if you’re injured due to a natural disaster, terrorist act or fall ill with Covid-19.

This optional extra provides more reassurance for other disruption they or airspace problems might cause. This includes delays due to unauthorised aircraft like drones. Terms and conditions apply

What’s covered?

It’s simple to add all this extra cover for trip disruption when you get your quote. Terms and conditions apply

Check policy wording for full details

Cancelling your trip

If a natural catastrophe or terrorist event happens within 20km of your pre-booked accommodation and within the 14 days before you’re due to leave, you can decide you don't want to go

Abandoning a trip

If a terrorist event or natural catastrophe delays you by more than 12 hours on the outward leg of your journey from the UK, you can make a claim to cancel your trip

Missed departure from the UK

You’re covered against costs if you miss your scheduled departure from the UK. This might be due to terrorist activity or a natural catastrophe. Airspace problems, such as drones or computer failure. Or an event at your departure point that causes the closure or evacuation of your airport

Missed departure and connections outside the UK

If you miss a departure or connections outside of the UK because of a covered event, you can claim for your extra travel and accommodation costs. And if you’re stuck abroad (including in compulsory quarantine), we’ll pay between £50 and £100 per day for up to 10 days beyond your original return date

Cutting short your trip

If a natural catastrophe or terrorism event happens within 20km of the accommodation you're staying in, you’re covered for any extra costs to get you home early and for the unused part of your trip. You’re also covered if you miss the rest of your trip due to self-isolation or compulsory quarantine due to Covid-19

Substitute accommodation

If a covered event forces you to move to alternative accommodation that’s not supplied by your travel provider, we’ll cover the extra cost of somewhere of the same standard up to the sum insured

Choose your travel disruption cover

The table shows the maximum cover limits the trip disruption option offers for each of our cover levels. You can add trip disruption cover for an additional premium

Policy wording

Economy

£125 excess

Cancellation and cutting short your trip

Up to £1,000

Missed departure from the UK

Up to £500

Delay (per 4 hours/max)

Up to £20/£60

Abandonment

Up to £1,000

Additional transport

Up to £350

Substitute accommodation

Up to £750

Missed departure and connections outside the UK

Up to £500

Additional daily benefit (per day/max) (1)

Up to £50/£500

Change in Covid testing/quarantine requirements during the trip

Up to £500

Additional Covid-19 test benefit

Up to £150

Standard

£99 excess

Cancellation and cutting short your trip

Up to £3,000

Missed departure from the UK

Up to £750

Delay (per 4 hours/max)

Up to £30/£90

Abandonment

Up to £3,000

Additional transport

Up to £450

Substitute accommodation

Up to £1,000

Missed departure and connections outside the UK

Up to £750

Additional daily benefit (per day/max) (1)

Up to £75/£750

Change in Covid testing/quarantine requirements during the trip

Up to £750

Additional Covid-19 test benefit

Up to £200

Premier

£50 excess

Defaqto 5 star award

Cancellation and cutting short your trip

Up to £5,000

Missed departure from the UK

Up to £1,500

Delay (per 4 hours/max)

Up to £50/£150

Abandonment

Up to £5,000

Additional transport

Up to £550

Substitute accommodation

Up to £1,500

Missed departure and connections outside the UK

Up to £1,500

Additional daily benefit (per day/max) (1)

Up to £100/£1,000

Change in Covid testing/quarantine requirements during the trip

Up to £1,500

Additional Covid-19 test benefit

Up to £250

Cancellation and cutting short your trip

Cancellation and cutting short your trip

Up to £1,000

Cancellation and cutting short your trip

Up to £3,000

Cancellation and cutting short your trip

Up to £5,000

Missed departure from the UK

Missed departure from the UK

Up to £500

Missed departure from the UK

Up to £750

Missed departure from the UK

Up to £1,500

Delay (per 4 hours/max)

Delay (per 4 hours/max)

Up to £20/£60

Delay (per 4 hours/max)

Up to £30/£90

Delay (per 4 hours/max)

Up to £50/£150

Abandonment

Abandonment

Up to £1,000

Abandonment

Up to £3,000

Abandonment

Up to £5,000

Additional transport

Additional transport

Up to £350

Additional transport

Up to £450

Additional transport

Up to £550

Substitute accommodation

Substitute accommodation

Up to £750

Substitute accommodation

Up to £1,000

Substitute accommodation

Up to £1,500

Missed departure and connections outside the UK

Missed departure and connections outside the UK

Up to £500

Missed departure and connections outside the UK

Up to £750

Missed departure and connections outside the UK

Up to £1,500

Additional daily benefit (per day/max) (1)

Additional daily benefit (per day/max) (1)

Up to £50/£500

Additional daily benefit (per day/max) (1)

Up to £75/£750

Additional daily benefit (per day/max) (1)

Up to £100/£1,000

Change in Covid testing/quarantine requirements during the trip

Change in Covid testing/quarantine requirements during the trip

Up to £500

Change in Covid testing/quarantine requirements during the trip

Up to £750

Change in Covid testing/quarantine requirements during the trip

Up to £1,500

Additional Covid-19 test benefit

Additional Covid-19 test benefit

Up to £150

Additional Covid-19 test benefit

Up to £200

Additional Covid-19 test benefit

Up to £250

Ready to get a quote?

Let’s find the protection that’s right for your travels. Get a quote for Post Office Travel Insurance

An award-winning provider

Personal Finance Winner 2023 award

Best Travel Insurance Provider

Post Office won a ‘Best Travel Insurance Provider’ award at the Your Money Awards in 2021, 2022 and 2023

Bronze British Travel Awards 21/22 Best Company for Travel Insurance award

Best Travel Insurance Provider

Post Office won a “Best Travel Insurance Provider” award at the British Travel Awards in 2023

Defaqto expert rated Travel Insurance 5 star award

Defaqto 5-star rated cover

Our travel insurance policies with premier level cover are Defaqto 5-star rated

Common Trip Disruption (including Terrorism, Natural Catastrophe and Air Space disruption) questions

  • Terrorist attacks can be indiscriminate. They don’t only occur in areas already steeped in conflict. While we hope no one is the victim of a terrorist attack, it’s important to have the right protection in place for peace of mind.

    Terrorism cover enhances your existing travel insurance with cover:

    • Travel disruption and alternative travel arrangements if you’re already at your destination when an attack occurs
    • Having to return home after receiving medical attention for shock, due to stress or trauma following a terrorist event.
    • Cancellation before departure or if you decide to call it a day due to excessive delay

    And, should something happen to your baggage as a result of a terrorist act– we’ll cover this up to certain limits. This could be damage, loss or even your baggage not arriving at all.

  • Having cover for terrorist events doesn’t mean that you can travel to areas that the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) have advised against all travel to. Doing so will likely invalidate your insurance so always check the latest foreign travel advice. You’re still limited by the same rules governing travel safety as general travel insurance.

  • Nature is unpredictable. Extreme weather events are becoming more commonplace. And while natural catastrophes are more likely to happen in some regions of the world it’s impossible to know for sure when and where they’ll occur.

    Our travel disruption add-on can bring peace of mind knowing you’re covered if you find yourself at the mercy of Mother Nature before you leave, are in transit or while you’re on holiday.

    It defines the following as natural catastrophes:

    • Volcanic activity
    • Volcanic ash
    • Earthquake
    • Tsunami
    • Hurricane
    • Cyclone
    • Flooding of more than 50 square km
    • Wildfire of more than 50 square km

    Natural catastrophe cover can provide reassurance you’ll be covered if such events:

    • Disrupt your holiday while you’re already there
    • Prevent or delay you getting there by more than 12 hours, or
    • Mean you have to turn back home in transit

    Whether you need it depends how much you want to leave to chance and what extra reassurance you need. Especially if you’re travelling somewhere with a higher risk of natural catastrophes. 

  • Airspace disruption can take many forms. They include:

    • Air traffic control restrictions (eg airspace closure)
    • Unauthorised, unmanned aircraft used close to airports causing flights to be grounded
    • Failure of air traffic control or airport computer systems (except those caused by cyber terrorism)
    • An event at your departure point that causes its closure or evacuation 

    While it's uncommon, airspace disruption can cause major delays. And its causes may not be obvious.

    If you add our trip disruption option to your travel insurance it includes airspace disruption cover. If airspace closure lasts over 24 hours, your pre-booked travel and accommodation expenses are covered. And, if you’ve already left, it covers additional travel and accommodation expenses for every day you can’t reach your destination or get home (up to a limit).

  • Our standard travel insurance policies cover travel disruption due to Covid-19 in some circumstances. But you may want cover for other situations. You can pay a little extra to add it to your policy with our trip disruption option.

    It covers missing a scheduled departure if:

    • You or someone you’re travelling or staying with tests positive for Covid-19 and you have to self-isolate (2)
    • Your hotel or cruise ship (3) gets put into compulsory quarantine (2) due to Covid-19

    It covers the unused part of your trip on your return if:

    • You have to self-isolate and miss the rest of your trip (2) if someone you’re travelling or staying with tests positive
    • Compulsory quarantine (2) of your hotel or cruise ship (3) prevents you completing the rest of your planned trip
    • You return home early when UK rules for your destination change to avoid having to quarantine away from home (4)
    • You have to self-isolate due to testing positive so miss the rest of your trip

    If regulations for your destination change while you’re there, you can claim for:

    • A contribution towards mandatory quarantine accommodation costs on your return to the UK
    • Costs towards Covid-19 tests you weren’t liable for when you booked your trip or bought your policy – whichever you did last (5)
  • Some exclusions apply to our trip disruption cover. You’ll find full details in the policy wording.

    We can’t cover you if:

    • You decide to abandon your holiday before it’s been delayed by 12 hours
    • You buy your cover after a terrorist event or natural catastrophe that impacts your trip has been announced in the media
    • Acts of terrorism involve nuclear, biological or chemical weapons or cyber terrorism

    Claiming compensation

    If your travel is delayed or cancelled, you’ll need to try to claim compensation from all other relevant sources first before we’ll consider a claim. For instance, your airline or holiday provider.

    Compensation for airspace disruption

    If you're faced with airspace disruption, you'll need to exhaust all other avenues for claiming compensation before making a claim on your travel insurance policy. There are certain situations where airlines must give you compensation and some where it’s discretionary. So they should be your first port of call.

  • Read more travel insurance FAQs

Need some help?

Travel insurance help and support

For emergency medical assistance, to make a claim, find answers to common questions about our cover or get in touch:

Visit our travel insurance support page

Travel insurance policy types

  • Single-trip cover

    • Cover for a one-off trip in the UK or abroad
    • Perfect for one-off trips or longer holidays of up to 365 days (6)
    • No age limit
  • Annual multi-trip cover

    • Cover for multiple-trips for a 12-month period
    • 31-day trip limit, with extensions available up to 45 and 60 days
    • Available for everyone aged up to 75 years
  • Backpacker cover

    • Cover for a one-off trip up to 18 months
    • Option to return home for up to 7 days on 3 occasions
    • For people aged 18 – 60 wanting to travel the world for a gap year or career break

About our travel insurance

Post Office® Travel Insurance is arranged by Post Office Limited and Post Office Management Services Limited.

Post Office Limited is an appointed representative of Post Office Management Services Limited which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, FRN 630318. Post Office Limited and Post Office Management Services Limited are registered in England and Wales. Registered numbers 2154540 and 08459718 respectively. Registered Office: 100 Wood Street, London, EC2V 7ER. Post Office and the Post Office logo are registered trademarks of Post Office Limited.

These details can be checked on the Financial Services Register by visiting the Financial Conduct Authority website and searching by Firm Reference Number (FRN).

Notes

(1) If you buy our trip disruption upgrade (including Covid-19, terrorism, natural catastrophe and airspace disruption), only one benefit will be applicable per person, per claim. There is no cover under this upgrade for single-trip policies. For annual multi-trip policies, UK cover is only available for cancellation and cutting short your trip.

(2) By a medical practitioner, health authority or government body.

(3) Cover only applies to your immediate accommodation, not a mandatory quarantine applied to a wider geographical area around it.

(4) Providing you cut short your trip and fly home before the quarantine restriction comes into force.

(5) There is no cover if the UK government changes the quarantine requirements before your trip starts. Additional Covid-19 cover is not applicable for trips taken solely within the UK.

(6) For economy, standard and premier policies, the single-trip policy will cover you for one trip up to:

  • 365 days for persons aged up to and including age 70
  • 90 days for persons aged between 71 and 75
  • 31 days for persons aged between 76 and above