Coronavirus – what you need to know with the DFAT update

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) has now raised the level of travel advice for mainland China to ‘level 4 – do not travel’.

With this increase it means that many travelers are able to claim under their travel insurance policies* if they are/were going to travel to China and elect to cancel their trip or other options that may be able to them.

*All travel policies are different and I encourage you to read your PDS or contact your insurer to confirm if this applies to you.

The increase also means that should travelers elect to STILL travel even with the ‘do not travel’ warning in place, some policies contains Exclusions for acting against Travel Warnings.

One such example is:

any loss or expenses which arises in connection with or is contributed by You undertaking any Trip or part of Trip against travel advice where the Commonwealth Department of Foreign Affairs (DFAT) has issued a ‘do not travel’ warning.

There are a number of updates coming through all the time regarding the virus and readers should stay up to date through the Australian Government Department of Health Website and Smart Traveller.

Important update 7 February 2020 From an insurance perspective, please see this fresh post