UPDATE: Outbreak of COVID-19 Worldwide – How Does It Affect You?
Issued 11:00am AEST, 6th May 2020.
Updated 11:30am AEDT, 11th March 2021
On 18 March 2020, Prime Minister Scott Morrison updated the travel advice for Australians to level four (Do Not Travel) for the entire world.
If you haven’t yet started your trip, you may be covered for the Cancellation Costs under our policies^ sold before 4pm on 31 January 2020 (AEDT).
When making a claim, we remind you it is a policy condition that you take reasonable steps to avoid or reduce any loss. For this reason, we suggest that all travellers contact your airlines, tour operators, travel agents, transport providers, or accommodation providers to seek refunds (or credits, if refunds are not possible). Subject to this, any outstanding out-of-pocket expenses may be submitted for consideration of payment. Please note that there may be some delays with airlines and hotels and other providers as they are experiencing high volumes of claims and enquiries at this time. If there is no necessity for you to cancel your trip at this time please consider waiting as the travel advice could change, allowing you to continue your travel as originally planned.
The current travel ban determination by the Australian government under the Biosecurity Act is in place until the 17th December 2021. You are still welcome to lodge a claim but it is likely that any claim, based on an inability to travel due to government restrictions, with a departure date from the 18th December 2021 onwards will be treated as “change of mind” and will not be approved at this time.
If you purchased your policy after 4pm on 31 January 2020 (AEDT), please note there is no cover available on any of our travel insurance policies^ if your claim relates to COVID-19. After this time, we consider COVID-19 to be a known incident. The travel insurance policy does not provide cover for any claims relating to an incident which you were aware of at the time you took out the insurance and which could reasonably be expected to lead to a claim. You should seek refunds from the relevant travel providers.
Our teams are working non-stop to serve all our customers and to review each customer’s situation as soon as possible. We are all affected by this unique situation, so we ask for your cooperation at this difficult time.
We strongly encourage you to gather all the information regarding your claim including evidence of all costs refunded and credited to you (if any) before lodging your claim online. Lodging your claim online will help us to manage your claim more efficiently and will save you time. The “How to make your Cancellation Claim online?” guide can be found here.
Please note that while the level 4 alert is in place for the whole world, your Policy will now not cover you if your claim results from any overseas travel, including if you decide to remain overseas.
For those overseas who wish to return to Australia, the Australian government recommends you do so as soon as possible by commercial means.
Tick Insurance understands that in these unprecedented times the disruption and economic ramifications from the pandemic have significantly affected many of our customers.
So far, we are proud that our team have been able to assist our most in need customers who have had to make a claim for out of pocket expenses due to the inability to travel.
We are grateful to our customers for their patience as we work through this unprecedented volume.
If you have any questions or concerns, please email us at info@tickinsurance.com.au”
*Terms and Conditions apply.
Whether or not you intend to travel or return home at this time, we urge you to stay abreast of the government updates via www.smartraveller.gov.au.
We appreciate your patience and cooperation during this unimaginable situation.
You will appreciate that the situation continuous to evolve and we encourage you to stay up to date with both our website and all relevant government advisory bodies.
This update is for information and assistance and does not alter the terms of your Policy.
Regards
The Tick Insurance Team