Japanese Earthquake and Pacific Tsunami Warning: Travel Insurance Advice

On 14 March 2011, the FCO advised against all non-essential travel to Tokyo and north-eastern Japan until further notice in the wake of the earthquake and tsunami. Essential Travel unfortunately cannot offer cover for those travelling against Foreign Office advice.

If you are in Japan or the Pacific basin or you were intending to travel there and you want to make a claim from Essential Travel, please use the information below on what is and what is not covered by our underwriters, White Horse Insurance Ireland Ltd.

Travel Insurance: Am I covered?

Delayed Departure and Abandonment

No cover for customers who wish to abandon their trip after suffering a delay or cancelled flight as Earthquake is not a listed peril under this section of cover.

Missed Departure

Normal cover does apply.

Medical Expenses

Normal cover does apply.

Curtailment

No cover is available for customers who want to curtail their trips because of this incident, as this cover only applies for specified circumstances.

The exception to the above stance is:

Under the Catastrophe section of the policy, cover can be considered for claims as a result of the Earthquake, provided no other party is liable for these expenses. This section provides cover for reasonable additional accommodation and transport costs should the customer need to move to new accommodation as a result of a listed peril.

Personal Possessions / Baggage / Personal Money / Documents

Normal does apply. However, for customers who suffer a loss under these sections as a direct result of being caught up in this incident we will consider claims which have not been reported to the relevant authority on a case by case basis.

Cancellation / Future Travel

No cover applies for customers who are booked to travel to Japan since the FCO update issued on the 14th March 2011 and want to cancel. All such customers need to contact their travel company, airline or tour operator for their advice, the making of alternative travel arrangements or potentially to claim a refund.

Amending/Transferring Polices

For Single Trip policies, White Horse Insurance Ireland Limited will permit the transfer of a policy to an alternative booking of the same duration and within the same geographical area, provided that travel commences within 30 days of the original departure date.

Please note that there is no cover under any other section of this policy for travel that commenced on or after the 14th March 2011.

Contact Us

For further advice on making a claim for this catastrophe, we suggest calling the White Horse claims department on 0871 895 0074.

Emergency Contacts

The Foreign and Commonwealth office has urged travellers to contact the British Embassy in Tokyo, the Consulate General in Osaka or the FCO in London at the following details:

The British Embassy in Tokyo Embassy Switchboard: +81 3 5211 1100
The British Consulate-General in Osaka: + 81 6 6120 5600
FCO in London: +44 20 7008 0000 (from Japan) or 020 7008 0000 (in the UK).