Flight Cancellations and Airport Disruptions: Does Travel Insurance Cover This?

The protest movement triggered by the Extradition Bill continues to escalate, with many citizens staging large-scale demonstrations at Hong Kong International Airport. The Airport Authority has cancelled flights on several occasions, disrupting travellers' itineraries. So, does travel insurance cover "trip delays" or "trip amendments" caused by protests? 
 

In general, the "trip delay" clause in travel insurance policies states that if public transportation is delayed for approximately 6 hours or more, the insurance company will provide cash compensation, usually a few hundred dollars, to cover the insured's expenses during the delay or waiting period, such as meals at the airport.

When the duration of a trip delay extends, and travellers even need to "amend their itinerary" to reach their original destination, incurring additional transportation and accommodation expenses, some travel insurance policies offer coverage for such costs. However, it is important to note the definition of "trip amendment" in travel insurance policies:
 

• "Trip amendment" typically involves longer delays, generally ranging from 8 to 24 hours of transportation delays or cancellations.

• Additional transportation and accommodation expenses must be reasonable and non-refundable. Some policies specify that additional accommodation costs must be incurred outside Hong Kong (or overseas).

Additionally, consumers should pay attention to whether the cause of the "trip delay" is covered. Natural disasters and adverse weather conditions are usually covered; however, coverage for riots, civil unrest, strikes, or terrorist activities varies across different travel insurance policies, as detailed in the table below.
 

What constitutes a "riot" or "civil unrest"? For the general public, these terms may not be easy to understand. For instance, Zurich travel insurance covers riots (Riot) but does not cover insurrections (Insurrection). The definitions of such critical terms may be based on the government's characterisation of the event or dictionary explanations, leaving room for dispute. Moreover, some insurance companies require that "trip cancellations" must result from riots or civil unrest at the destination, rather than the point of departure, which could also impact claim outcomes.

The above information is based on the interpretation of relevant policy terms, but the success of a claim ultimately depends on the final decision of the insurance company. Affected policyholders or travellers may first submit a claim to the insurance company. If the claim is unreasonably rejected, they can further lodge a complaint with the Insurance Complaints Bureau (ICB).

Lastly, we wish to remind readers that travel insurance does not cover "any event or circumstance that already existed, was announced, or was publicly known at or before the time of applying for the insurance." In other words, if the relevant risk situation had already occurred at the time of applying for insurance, the insurance company may reject the claim based on this clause.

This English version of this article has been generated by machine translation powered by AI. It is provided solely for reference purposes. In the event of any discrepancy or inconsistency between this translation and the original Chinese version, the Chinese version shall prevail.