Travel Disruption Cover (TDC) is an optional upgrade to your CoverForYou travel insurance policy that provides additional protection if unexpected events disrupt your holiday.
It can help with the cost of cancelling or cutting short your trip, or making alternative arrangements to continue travelling.
To benefit from this cover, you must have purchased the Travel Disruption upgrade and it must be shown on your policy schedule.
Important: Travel Disruption Cover is subject to specific conditions, exclusions and benefit limits. This article provides an overview of the benefits available, but your policy wording determines whether a claim is covered.
Travel Disruption Cover provides two main types of protection:
Cancellation or Curtailment: Financial protection if an eligible disruption means you cannot travel or must cut your holiday short.
Continuing Your Trip: Help with certain additional accommodation and transport expenses if an eligible disruption affects your journey but you can still continue travelling.
The cover available depends on what caused the disruption and the circumstances of your claim.
If an unexpected event prevents you from travelling or means you need to cut your holiday short, Travel Disruption Cover may reimburse eligible unused, non-refundable travel and accommodation costs.
You may be covered if:
Your booked public transport is delayed or cancelled.
No suitable alternative transport is provided within 12 hours of your original scheduled departure time.
This may allow you to cancel your trip and claim eligible non-refundable costs.
You may be covered if you miss your outward international departure because of:
A failure of public transport.
A road traffic accident.
A vehicle breakdown.
Severe traffic delays.
Cover may apply where no suitable alternative arrangements can be made and the disruption causes you to miss 50% or more of your total trip.
You may be covered if your public transport provider changes or rearranges your departure or return journey:
Within 7 days of the original scheduled date, and
The change causes you to miss 50% or more of your holiday.
Cover may apply if:
Your accommodation provider or its booking agent becomes insolvent.
A natural catastrophe, such as an earthquake, wildfire or hurricane, affects your destination and prevents your trip from going ahead.
The circumstances must meet the definitions and conditions in your policy.
You may be covered if:
Your passport or travel visa is stolen within 72 hours of your scheduled departure.
The theft prevents you from taking your planned trip.
You must meet the relevant policy conditions and provide any supporting evidence required for your claim.
If your journey is disrupted but you can continue your holiday by making alternative arrangements, Travel Disruption Cover may help with eligible additional expenses.
If you're denied boarding because your flight or other public transport is overbooked, you may be covered where no suitable alternative transport is provided within the timeframe specified in your policy.
Eligible expenses may include:
Additional accommodation: Reasonable room-only accommodation costs.
Alternative transport: Reasonable economy-class public transport costs to help you continue your journey.
Cover is subject to the applicable policy limits.
If a public transport delay causes you to arrive at your final destination more than 12 hours later than planned, you may be entitled to benefits towards:
Meals and refreshments purchased during the delay.
Necessary telephone calls.
A proportion of unused travel or accommodation costs, where covered under your policy.
The amount payable depends on the qualifying delay and your policy's Table of Benefits.
If a natural catastrophe affects your destination while you're already travelling, you may be covered for reasonable additional expenses needed to continue your trip or travel to an alternative location.
Examples of qualifying events may include:
Earthquakes.
Wildfires.
Hurricanes.
Other events meeting the policy's definition of a catastrophe.
Eligible expenses may include additional accommodation and public transport costs, subject to the policy limits.
If your accommodation provider or booking agent becomes insolvent while you're travelling, you may be covered for reasonable additional expenses to continue your holiday.
This can include:
Replacement accommodation.
Additional public transport costs where necessary.
Replacement arrangements must be of a standard equivalent to your original booking, subject to the policy terms and limits.
If your flight, accommodation or other travel arrangements are affected, the following steps can help protect your ability to make a claim.
If your flight is delayed or cancelled, contact your airline, tour operator or travel provider to establish what assistance they can provide.
Depending on the circumstances, you may be entitled to:
Alternative transport.
Meals, refreshments or overnight accommodation.
A refund for unused services.
Compensation under applicable passenger rights legislation.
You must seek any assistance, refunds or recoverable costs available from your travel provider before claiming those costs through your insurance.
You should retain relevant documents, including:
Written confirmation of the delay, cancellation or disruption.
Confirmation of the reason for the disruption.
Original booking confirmations.
Evidence of alternative arrangements offered.
Receipts for eligible additional expenses.
Confirmation of refunds or compensation received or refused.
Your claims team may require additional evidence depending on the circumstances.
If you need to return home early because of an emergency, you must obtain prior approval from our Emergency Medical Assistance Service before booking your return travel.
This allows the team to assess your circumstances and confirm the appropriate arrangements.
Find out about Emergency Medical Assistance
Travel Disruption Cover does not provide protection against every unexpected event.
The following are important exclusions and restrictions.
You cannot claim costs that are legally recoverable from another provider, including:
Airlines or other transport providers.
Hotels or accommodation providers.
Travel agents or tour operators.
ATOL protection arrangements.
Credit card providers or payment services such as PayPal.
Your insurance is not intended to reimburse expenses that another provider is legally responsible for refunding.
The upgrade does not provide cover where your package holiday is cancelled by the tour operator or where travel rules change, as specified in your policy.
You should contact your package holiday organiser to establish your rights to alternative arrangements or a refund.
Claims arising directly or indirectly from the following are excluded as specified in your policy:
War or terrorism.
Pandemics.
Regional quarantines.
Changes to FCDO travel advice.
Always check the latest FCDO travel advice before travelling.
Travel Disruption Cover does not reimburse:
Air Passenger Duty (APD).
Expenses arising from personal journey-planning errors.
Missed travel caused by failing to allow sufficient time for your journey.
Costs outside the benefit limits or circumstances covered by your policy.
Important: All claims must meet the definitions, conditions and exclusions in your policy wording.
No. Travel Disruption Cover is an optional upgrade.
You must purchase the upgrade for the additional benefits to apply.
You can check whether you have this cover by reviewing your policy schedule.
Sign in to your Customer Zone.
Open your travel insurance policy.
Review your policy schedule and any optional upgrades.
Check whether Travel Disruption is listed.
If the upgrade is not shown on your schedule, you should not assume that these additional benefits apply.
Your standard travel insurance may still provide certain delay, missed departure or cancellation benefits, depending on your policy.
If you've experienced an eligible travel disruption, you can find information about the claims process and the supporting documents required through our claims page.
How to make a travel insurance claim
For general questions about your policy or whether you have purchased the Travel Disruption upgrade, please contact CoverForYou.
Please note: This article provides general guidance about the optional Travel Disruption upgrade. All cover is subject to the terms, conditions, exclusions, benefit limits and any applicable excess in your policy wording. Your policy documents take precedence over this summary.
