Changes to travel packs

Cover

What’s changed

How the cover’s changed

Pre-existing medical conditions upgrade

We’ve changed the way we provide cover for pre-existing medical conditions. We won’t cover any claim arising from any pre-existing medical condition, or any undiagnosed symptom you (or another insured person) already knew about, unless you have a valid pre-existing conditions upgrade in place. 

If anyone insured by your pack has a pre-existing medical condition, you need to tell us when purchasing your new pack or before booking your next trip (whichever is later). We'll assess the information you give us, and if we can offer you cover, we’ll let you know whether there'll be an additional cost to upgrade.

For full information about how the upgrade works, please refer to section 4 ‘Your health’ in the new terms and conditions.

Introduction of a chargeable pre-existing conditions upgrade

Pre-existing medical conditions – What & When you need to tell us

We’ve updated what and when you need to tell us about pre-existing medical conditions in section 4 ‘Your health’ in the terms and conditions.

What you need to tell us

By ‘pre-existing medical condition’ we mean any diagnosed illness, injury or disease where in the 12 months before purchasing your pack or booking a trip (whichever is later) any of the following applies.

An insured person has

• Been prescribed medication, including newly prescribed or repeat medication
• Received or is awaiting medical treatment, investigations or tests carried out by a medical professional
• Been referred to, or had follow up with a specialist or consultant
• Been admitted to hospital or had surgery

When you need to tell us

• When you purchase your pack
• If someone’s diagnosed with a new condition (and doesn’t have a valid upgrade in place), let us know before booking a trip
• At expiry of a valid pre-existing conditions upgrade, we’ll remind you to do this when your upgrade is about to end

Changes to when you need to tell us about pre-existing medical conditions

Health exclusions

To reflect the new pre-existing conditions upgrade, we’ve changed the exclusions in section 4 ‘Your health’ in the terms and conditions. We’ve also changed the last exclusion in this list to make it clear we won’t cover claims arising from an insured person booking a trip of traveling when they’ve received a terminal prognosis.

Unless you have a valid upgrade in place, we won’t cover any claim for any insured person arising directly or indirectly from

• Any pre-existing medical condition
• Any symptoms for which a diagnosis has been sought but not yet received, that the insured person was aware of before booking a trip (or purchasing a pack, whichever is later)

Whether you have a valid upgrade in place or not, there’s no cover for any claim for any insured person arising directly or indirectly from any of the following.

• Prescribed medication not being taken as directed
• Travelling against the advice of a doctor or purposely travelling without medical advice when it was reasonable to have consulted a doctor
• Travelling with the intention of seeking medical advice or treatment, undergoing medical investigations, or any complications or new conditions found as a result of that advice, treatment or investigation
• An insured person booking a trip or travelling when they have received a terminal prognosis

Decrease in cover

Contacting us

We’ve made it easier for you to view your cover and make changes online. Just go to ‘Manage packs’ in your Barclays app or Online Banking and follow the links to travel insurance.

• Get an upgrade for pre-existing medical conditions, or upgrade for a trip longer than 31 days (up to 120 days)
• Get a letter confirming proof of insurance
• View and download your documents
• Make a claim (you should always call us if it’s an emergency)

You can find more information in section 1 of the terms and conditions ‘How to get help’.

Service improvements

Cover upgrades

Cancellation limit upgrade

We’ve increased the standard cancellation limit from £5,000 to £10,000 per person. Because of this, we don’t offer the upgrade anymore.

Increase in cover

Extended trip duration upgrade

We now call this a ‘Longer trip upgrade’, and you can purchase it to cover trips longer than 31 days. It’ll provide cover for the entire duration of the trip up to 120 days (increased from 90).

Increase in cover available for trips over 31 days

Your belongings upgrade

We don’t offer this upgrade anymore. You still get cover up to £1,500 per person provided by your standard policy terms. If this isn’t enough, you might be able to find alternative cover elsewhere for your belongings (you could, for example, ask your home insurer).

Removal of Your belongings upgrade

Quarantine abroad

If quarantined on a trip (for example having to self-isolate abroad due to testing positive for covid upon entry to a foreign country), we’ll provide cover for associated expenses under ‘B. Emergency medical and associated expenses’ in section 5 ‘Policy cover’ of your terms and conditions.

If you’re quarantined and it means you can’t get home before the policy trip duration limit ends, we’ll provide cover for as long as is necessary for you to return to the UK.

Increase in cover

Travel for business purposes

We’ve made it clear this exclusion applies to all insured persons travelling on the trip and not just the person employed to carry out a job of this description:

We won’t cover any part of any trip arranged in connection with an insured person’s job where the trip involves manual or physical work of any kind, working with children, providing healthcare, policing, security or military service or an insured person’s role as a politician, religious leader, professional entertainer, or sportsperson.

Decrease in cover

Cancelling or coming home early

The overall limit under this section has increased from £5,000 to £10,000 per person.

Increase in cover

We’ve added an exclusion for any claim for severe/adverse weather where the insured person hasn't allowed sufficient time to reach the departure point, taking into account the weather forecast for the journey.

Decrease in cover

Unexpected costs – travel disruption

The overall limit has increased from £5,000 to £10,000 per person.

Increase in cover

Transport delays

We provide cover if the insured person’s pre-booked travel arrangements are cancelled or delayed for more than 12 hours from the time shown on their ticket or diverted after departure.

We’ve added a condition to this that the travel provider must be unable to provide suitable alternative arrangements within 24 hours of the original departure.

Decrease in cover

Unexpected costs – missed transport

The overall limit has increased from £5,000 to £10,000 per person.

Increase in cover

Emergency medical and associated expenses

We won’t cover any form of treatment that our medical assistance provider thinks can reasonably wait until you return home. Previously this was restricted to non-emergency treatment.

Decrease in cover

We’ve added an exclusion for costs for treatment or services provided by a health spa, convalescent or nursing home, or any rehabilitation centre.

Decrease in cover

Your belongings

We’ve removed the daily limit of £35 for hire of replacement golf equipment – the most we’ll pay is still £300 per person.

Increase in cover

We’ve updated an exclusion for theft from motor vehicles and caravans. Previously, we wouldn’t cover theft of any belongings unless in an enclosed storage compartment, boot, or luggage compartment. This is now only money and valuables we won’t cover due to this exclusion.

Increase in cover

We’ve updated an exclusion to make it clear that we won’t cover any loss, theft or damage to hired sports equipment – previously, the exclusion was limited to accidental damage only.

Decrease in cover

Winter sports

The daily limits of £30 for piste closure, £20 for loss or theft of lift pass, and £20 for winter sports holiday disruption no longer apply.

The overall limits remain the same of £300 for piste closure, £250 for loss or theft of lift pass, £200 for winter sports holiday disruption, and £500 for a ski pack.

Increase in cover

We’ve updated an exclusion to make it clear that we won’t cover any loss, theft or damage to hired sports equipment, previously the exclusion was limited to accidental damage only.

Decrease in cover

General exclusions

We’ve added these exclusions into section 7 ‘General exclusions’. These apply to all sections of cover.

• Any claim that happens as a result of an insured person
• Travelling against the advice of the FCDO
• Not complying with advice or measures that have been put in place by a government in the UK or overseas, for example quarantine rules or curfews
• Not having the correct travel documents or not meeting the entry requirements to a country they’re travelling to or through (for example, visas or vaccination records)
• Any consequence whatsoever that’s the direct or indirect result of, or anything connected with, an attempt by hackers to damage or destroy a computer network or system (i.e. cyberattack), whether or not contributed to by any other cause or event

Decrease in cover

General conditions

You and all insured persons must take all reasonable precautions to protect yourselves, your property, and the property of others.

We’ve amended this general condition to include the property of others.

Decrease in cover