September 18, 2008 | posted by Pam Atherton in Insurance |

In the wake of the XL airline debacle last week, Post Office Travel Services is trumpeting the fact that it is one of the few travel insurance providers to include Scheduled Airline Failure (SAF) as a standard feature.

SAF cover enables customers to claim irrecoverable travel and accommodation costs paid in advance if a scheduled airline goes bust. 

The Post Office policy carries SAF cover as a standard feature, providing up to £1,500 in total for each insured person named on the policy and airline ticket. Swiftcover also offers this feature as an optional extra.

But if you paid for airlines tickets or a holiday accommodation with a credit card or a VISA debit card, the card issuer should refund your losses anyway.

It is only if you paid for your airline tickets or a package holiday via  a non VISA debit card that you will be left high and dry. 

Another risk which not all travel policies will cover is that of terorism. Defaqto has analysed the annual and single travel insurance market and discovered that while most providers would probably pay medical claims resulting from terrorism, travellers could lose out in the case of baggage and personal accident claims.
 
Mike Powell, Defaqto consultant on general insurance, says: “Our research shows that of the 976 annual and single trips analysed, only 63 per cent of policies available offer some form of protection following a terrorist incident, which leaves a significant proportion of people at risk of purchasing inadequate cover.”
 
Powell continues: “Terrorism is not always a consideration that you would even think about when purchasing your travel insurance cover, but you should check with your insurer to confirm the cover, particularly if you are travelling to countries at risk of terrorism.”

Some of the big names that include this protection  are British Airways, American Express, Cosmos, Easyjet and Endsleigh.

Visit Defaqto’s unique travel insurance comparison tool:
http://www.defaqto.com/consumer/insurance/travel/compare-single-trip.aspx

For more information on the policies mentioned above, visit:
www.postoffice.co.uk/travel
http://www.britishairways.com/travel/insurance/public/en_gb
www. americanexpress.com
https://www.easyjet4insurance.com/mawl/inside/ezy/gb?restart=