Covid 19 and pre-booked holidays

Covid 19 and pre-booked holidays

27th April 2020

Your legal rights to cancel a holiday may depend on the type of holiday that you have booked.

When there are exceptional circumstances such as serious disease which prevent you from taking a booked holiday then you should be able to cancel your holiday without having to pay a fee.  You’ll get a full refund but won’t be entitled to any compensation. 

If you have booked flights but have not yet taken them you should be able to get a refund or, in some cases, the option to rebook for another date.

If you have booked a package holiday the cost of the holiday will be refunded. This is happening automatically for some people, but you can contact the company that you booked with for further clarification.

If you have booked flights and hotels separately you should contact the airline and hotel, asking for a refund or to change the dates of your stay.  Many airlines are allowing passengers to rebook flights for free.

If the hotel and location that you have booked are open, and the booking is non-refundable, but you are choosing not to go then you may not be able to get a refund. .

If you have travel insurance you should check the policy carefully.  The policy may offer financial compensation if you cannot get a refund.

If you have booked travel to an affected area after a warning was issued not to travel then any insurance policy may be invalidated by this.  If you are not sure whether or not you can make a claim you should contact your insurance company directly for more information.

Since the outbreak of Covid 19 any new insurance policies may not provide cover for this disease.  The Association of British Insurers has stated that travel insurance is a product meant to be used in unforeseen circumstances, and due to the current situation, issues arising as a result of coronavirus are no longer deemed ‘unforeseen’.

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/scotland/consumer/