What swine flu means for your travel insurance

Got a trip planned this year? It's never been more important to have travel insurance in place, thanks to swine flu - here's why.

The hysteria surrounding swine flu has blown me away.

The very day after the first big reports on swine flu a couple of months ago, I saw a woman on the tube wearing a scarf around her head as a sort of makeshift mask. She looked like some kind of trendy highwayman.

And then recently when I was poorly, I attempted to phone NHS Direct. However, the fact that I knew I didn't have swine flu meant they weren't really interested.

In fairness, the number of cases is rocketing upwards, and will likely do so for some time.

And if you have a holiday coming up, you might be a little worried about how swine flu will impact your travel insurance position.

Indeed, AA Travel Insurance has revealed that a quarter of all the calls it is currently receiving are coming from concerned travellers who want to know where they stand with swine flu cover before setting off on holiday.

Well, fear no more! Here's what you need to know!

Swine flu cover

The good news is that the Association of British Insurers (ABI) has made clear that swine flu is NOT treated any differently to any other illness by travel insurers. Even though some insurers actually write policies with a 'pandemic exclusion', they have promised to still pay out in cases of swine flu.

As a result, if you fall ill while away on vacation, your travel insurance will almost certainly cover the cost of any treatment you require while abroad.

And should you be quarantined abroad as a precautionary measure, your policy should also cover the associated costs, though the insurers have said this will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis.

Falling ill before you leave

If you have your travel policy in place, but fall ill with swine flu before departing, then your insurance will cover the cost of cancelling your trip.

However, you will also need to show real symptoms before the insurers will hand over the cash - the ABI has said that demonstrating a 'general disinclination' to travel because you might be ill will not be enough.

What you'll need to claim

The ABI has also confirmed that it will not require written documentation from a GP or other medical professional as certification of a swine flu diagnosis.

It will instead accept an individual's unique ID number generated by the National Pandemic Flu Service, as well as the label from their anti-flu drugs stating their name and date of issue as proof.

It therefore goes without saying that should you use the National Pandemic Flu Service in order to get hold of anti-flu medication. And it is vitally important to keep hold of all the original documentation you receive, or else you might not get the money you are owed!

When you won't be covered

There are some instances in which you run the risk of invalidating a claim on your travel insurance. The first is if you take out a travel insurance policy after you fall ill - the policy needs to be in place before you are exhibiting any swine flu symptoms in order for you to qualify for a payout. So if you can, buy your policy at least a couple of weeks before you start your trip, to ensure the insurer cannot later argue you knew you had the disease when you bought the policy. You can still set the cover to start on the day of your travel.

Your claim may also be thrown out if you visit a country the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has advised against travelling to. When swine flu first hit, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office warned travellers against going to Mexico unless it was urgent, though this has since been revised.

However, it is well worth checking regularly before any trips to ensure that you are not putting your insurance in jeopardy.

One thing to remember is that should the Foreign and Commonwealth Office advise against travel to a country or region after you have booked your trip, your insurance should then cover the costs of cancelling the trip.

What to do now

The first thing you need to do, if you haven't already, is book some travel insurance!

If you have a trip planned this year, you simply cannot afford to wait - get covered now, and should the worst happen, at least you can rest easy that you will be covered.

And if you need guidance on what to look for when booking travel insurance, then you definitely need to have a read of 12 top travel insurance tips.

If you need information on how to tell if you have swine flu, then check out the NHS website, while if you think you have swine flu and have a trip coming up, make sure you speak to your insurer as soon as possible.

More: 12 top travel insurance tips | Don't get ripped off by your travel insurer!