Cologne The desire to vacation is great after two years of the corona pandemic. According to the Tourism Analysis 2022 by the Foundation for Future Questions, 61 percent of Germans would like to travel this year. Besides Germany, Spain and Italy are the most popular travel destinations. But as great as the anticipation of relaxation on the beach or in the mountains is, the environment remains uncertain.
Again and again, travel warnings because of Corona or one’s own infection could thwart travel plans. The Russian war of aggression also causes uncertainty.
Many people want to take out travel cancellation insurance to protect themselves against the financial consequences of cancellation or termination. Basically, a war is not one of them. Insured persons can only insure against risks that affect them or a person close to them, such as a spouse or children, for example an illness or an accident before departure.
“There is no insurance cover if the insured event is due to war, civil war, war-like events or civil unrest,” says Thomas Biersack, spokesman for the ADAC.
Top jobs of the day
Find the best jobs now and
be notified by email.
Only individual risks can be insured. The offer is immense and includes tariffs that insure trip cancellation, trip interruption or luggage. “There are offers with and without a deductible. Basically, there is no one best policy for every person. Insurance companies are characterized by their strengths and weaknesses,” says Sebastian Ewy, Senior Analyst at the German Financial Services Institute (DFSI).
>> Read also: The best insurance against cyber crime
It would always depend on the individual case. The DFSI has examined the offer for various sample cases. The quality of the policies was included in the assessment with 70 percent. The price of the policies accounts for 30 percent of the overall rating.
Annual policies are worthwhile if you make several trips a year
The experts assumed typical scenarios. On the one hand, by a person aged 35 traveling alone and a family that includes a father and mother as well as a child. The insurance experts also examined the model case of a couple without children and a senior citizen traveling alone. This article presents the results for a woman or man aged 35 traveling alone and for a family with a child.
The testers assumed that the insurance was taken out for a period of one year: “These policies make more sense. Because they are usually worthwhile from the second trip booked in a year. Therefore, customers should always start with the most expensive trip and insure its value,” explains Ewy.
When it comes to Corona, insurance companies have different policies. For example, LTA insurance protection offers an additional Covid module. “The additional insurance is a supplement within the framework of the travel cancellation insurance and the travel cancellation protection,” explains Michael Dorka, Managing Director of LTA Reiseschutz.
It then basically offers insurance cover in the event of a diagnosed infection with Sars-CoV-2. Ergo travel insurance also has extended “Covid-19 supplementary protection”. The offer is well received: “Most of our customers, around 90 percent, are currently booking supplementary protection,” says Florian Fehr, Head of Product Management at Ergo Reiseversicherung.
With the Barmenia insurance, corona infections are generally also insured, but only “if specific symptoms of illness occur that prevent the start of the trip. So if the complaints affect the insured person so badly that a trip would be unreasonable,” says Michael Groß, Head of the Tariff Department at Barmenia. A positive test without symptoms is therefore no reason for canceling the trip.
The topic of Corona is an example of the variety of tariffs on offer. “A thorough selection and a look at the conditions are important. This is the only way to find the individually suitable offer,” recommends Ewy. The maximum insured travel duration with Ergo Reiseversicherung is 28 days, with LTA Reiseschutz 56 days, while there are no restrictions with ADAC insurance. When it comes to canceling a trip, all insurance policies cover an unexpected illness or an accident. In this case, insured persons can withdraw from their trip and the costs will be reimbursed.
In the exemplary case of a family that takes out insurance that includes travel cancellation and luggage, LTA Reiseschutz comes off best with the “All in one annual insurance” tariff without a deductible. It is awarded the highest grade of “excellent”. The annual premium costs 175 euros. With this tariff, cancellation costs of up to 10,000 euros are reimbursed. If the insured person has to interrupt his trip, the reimbursement of the pro rata trip price is not limited. This is an advantage over other providers, some of whom set a limit here. Luggage is insured with the “All in one annual insurance” tariff up to a value of 5,000 euros.
If you want to protect yourself from the consequences of a corona infection with LTA Reiseschutz, you have to book an “additional module”. In the test, the tariffs of ADAC Versicherung, Barmenia Allgemeine Versicherung and Arag scored “very good” in the model case of a family with a child.
In the study “Travel and Tourism in Germany 2022″ by Statista, 13 percent of the 2149 respondents stated that they were traveling alone. In the group of solo travelers aged 35 and over, the Ergo with the “Nexible” fare received the highest rating of “excellent”. The annual premium for one person is 145 euros. “Our insurance cover also includes countries for which there is a Corona travel warning. You don’t need an extra module for this,” says Fehr from Ergo Reiseversicherung.
A comprehensive additional Covid-19 protection costs 13 euros per year. “Our customers can put together an insurance policy using a modular system,” explains Fehr. In the group of solo travelers over the age of 35, the offers from LTA Reiseschutz, ADAC Versicherung and Barmenia Versicherung scored “very good”.
The corona pandemic has shaken up the travel market. When Corona was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization on March 11, 2020, there was no longer insurance cover for travel cancellation insurance. Because pandemics or other natural disasters have not been insurable events so far, says Dorka from LTA Versicherungsschutz.
But the insurance companies have reacted to this and have developed special Covid-19 travel protection modules. The demand has risen sharply. “The topic of pandemics will continue to concern people in the future and will therefore also be an issue for insurance products,” says Biersack from ADAC.
Great desire for insurance coverage
In 2020, Germans took around 50 million vacation trips. A year earlier, there were 20 million trips more. That still means a market with a total volume of 12.5 billion euros. At the present time, with many developments that are difficult to predict, the interest of those willing to travel in insurance that also includes current crises is increasing.
It is quite possible that the insurance companies will react to this in the future, believes Michael Dorka: “Perhaps travel and mobility services and assistance will enrich the current structure of travel cancellation products, for example to be able to react to events such as the Ukraine war.”
More: Property insurance: With these policies you are well protected