Imagine yourself flying to South Korea to finally watch a K-pop girl group for the first time, in person. The concert ticket is bought and you're ready to catch the fever and enjoy this unique and exquisite musical experience. Unfortunately, upon arriving in Seoul, you were informed that for a certain reason, the concert won't push through.
What if you are attending a Digital Start-up Conference in Berlin, but before you board the plane, you were informed that for a number of reasons, the organizers were prevented to set up and it cannot push through.
In cases of events cancellation, travel insurance can definitely help as it offers coverage for cancelled events.
For a claim to be valid, the following conditions should be met:
* The event cancellation should be beyond the control of the insured.
* The event cannot take place before your flight back to your home country.
* The organizer should provide a written confirmation that the event was cancelled.
There are two (2) circumstances that can occur when availing this insurance coverage.
These are:
1. Event was cancelled before departure - If you were informed before travelling to the venue, the maximum sum insured per person shall amount to £400 for Unused Event Tickets and specific limits as indicated in the insurance policy that covers unutilized travel arrangements such as flights, accommodations, and excursions, as well as other additional travel expenses associated with the trip.
2. Event was cancelled after arrival at the country/city of destination - For this case, up to 50% of the travel costs and seven (7) days of accommodation will be covered by the insurance policy.
Since this is an additional cover, do check if your standard or comprehensive policy has this feature. If it doesn't, you can always contact the insurer to include this feature.
It's noteworthy that your claim cannot be considered if the event is re-scheduled before your flight back home. Also, the insurance should only indemnify those that are not reimbursed by the organizers. The claim also doesn't include costs of food and drink, as these are regular, recurring, everyday expenses.
To experience an event cancellation, especially one you have financially and emotionally (significantly) invested in, it can be heart-breaking. That's why it's worthwhile to ensure that we are able to recover our pre-payments upon the occurrence of this cancellation and one can do that through the purchase of the right travel insurance policy with event cancellation cover.
Author: Anna Stafford
Have you had any personal experience travelling all the way to a concert venue and finding out the concert had been called off? How did your travel insurer handle it? Let us know in the comments.