According the first estimates, British travel insurers expect to record around 400,000 travel insurance claims as a result of Covid-19 and pay out GBP 275 million to people whose travel plans have been disrupted, a sum that is twice the one paid the previous year and also the highest ever recorded since records began.

The high claims expenses on the travel insurance line will add up to the GBP 45 million usually paid out each day in motor and property claims, protecting people from everyday risks.

As every other economic sector, the British insurance industry had to adapt to the limitatio9ns imposed by the COVID crises, with changing the way thousands of workers operate while ensuring customers claims can be paid.

In an article published on the British Insurers' Association website, Director of General Insurance Policy, James DALTON, has highlighted here some of the action taken by the sector to offer enhanced help and support to their customers. Besides putting in place various solutions to remain closely in contact with their customers although avoiding physical contact, insurers have been also "significantly flexing their policies to help and support customers and the wider economy."

ABI members have signed up to customer commitments in travel, property, pet and motor insurance to provide enhanced support:

• Key workers and the hundreds of thousands of NHS volunteers who use their cars to help the community will not need to notify their insurer.
• Insurers will not penalize drivers whose cars are due a MOT (technical inspection) but cannot get tested.
• For the millions of people working from home, home insurance policies do not need to be updated.
• Pet insurance customers will not have their policies invalidated simply because they were not able to get their pets vaccinated because of the current lockdown.

"The private health sector is helping the NHS by providing much needed additional capacity. Freed-up private hospital beds will help the NHS treat more patients affected by the virus and save lives. We've also worked collaboratively with the legal sector to deliver a cross-industry protocol to protect access to justice for injured claimants in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. These changes by insurers to help and support their customers provide some relief during this unprecedented time, but ABI members are going further."