Press release -
Post Office statement on travel insurance products for new and existing customers
As of today (Monday 16 March 2020), the Post Office has suspended selling travel insurance. This applies to customers seeking travel insurance either online or in a branch.
The Post Office has taken this difficult decision as it is unfair to sell travel insurance products to new customers who may not be able to claim due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Post Office Travel insurance products will therefore be unavailable to new customers for the foreseeable future.
Existing Post Office customers who have purchased travel insurance
Customers who have already purchased travel insurance with the Post Office will continue to have cover and are unaffected by the withdrawal of Post Office travel insurance.
A Post Office spokesperson said:
“We recognise that this is an anxious time for travellers. The decision to suspend issuing travel insurance for new customers was not taken lightly. However, we believe it would be irresponsible to sell a product to a customer who would not be able to claim against Covid-19 given the number of countries that the FCO is advising against all but essential travel to. We urge all of our existing customers to monitor our travel alerts page on our website for all the latest information relating to their policy.”
The Post Office continues to advise existing customers that:
- Customers should contact their airline, travel agent, hotel provider, tour organiser to try and rearrange their trip to a later date or organise a refund.
- Anyone who has already purchased a Post Office Travel Insurance policy can amend their trip dates to within 6 months of the original trip. If there is a change in destination or duration from the original booking, any fees would be payable.
Post Office customers should visit its Travel Alerts page for the latest information relating to travel insurance and travel currency.
Any holidaymakers who are booked to travel can claim a full refund on foreign currency purchased with the Post Office if their holiday is cancelled. Customers need to submit both their currency purchase and sell receipts and evidence their holiday was cancelled to qualify. Loading currency onto our Travel Money Card is another way to safeguard cash as this can be held over for future travel.
Ends
About Post Office:
- With 11,500 branches, the Post Office is among the larger retail networks in the UK.
- 98% of Post Office branches are run with retail partners on an agency or franchise basis.
- The Post Office provides services central to peoples’ everyday lives; 99.7% of the population lives within 3 miles of a Post Office.
- We offer the UK’s largest fee free cash withdrawal network through our 11,500 branches, over 2,000 cash machines and 99 per cent of UK bank customers can access their accounts at the Post Office.
- We sell 170 different products and services spanning financial services including savings, insurance, loans, mortgages and credit cards; Government services; telephony; foreign currency; travel insurance and mail services.
- Post Offices branches remain highly valued and trusted, and are the focal point of many communities. For more information; visit www.postoffice.co.uk and to find out about a Post Office business opportunities; visit www.runapostoffice.co.uk
