Trip cancellation and interruption insurance
Pays back your non-refundable trip costs if you can’t go, or if your trip is cut short.
- Prepaid costs back
- flights, hotels and tours you can’t recover
- Covered from the day you buy
- for reasons that come up after
- Extra costs to get home
- if your trip is cut short
Trip cancellation and interruption
Protect your trip from the day you pay.
Once you’ve paid for a trip, something unexpected could stop you going or cut it short. This coverage pays you back, but only for reasons that come up after you buy it.
You book and pay
Not covered yet. Anything that comes up before you buy isn’t covered, so buy as soon as you book.
You buy coverage
Trip cancellation
Before you leave: you can’t go
Pays back your prepaid, non-refundable costs, such as flights, hotels and tours.
You leave
Trip interruption
After you leave: you come home early or late
Pays your unused prepaid costs, plus extra costs such as a flight home or extra nights away.
You come home
Optional upgrade
Cancel for any reason
Lets you cancel for a reason that isn’t on the list, typically for up to half your costs back. It has to be bought within days of booking, so decide early.
Typical covered reasons
Illustration only. Covered reasons, limits and time limits vary by insurer and plan, and your policy wording governs.
Before you buy
Check what you already have
Some credit cards include trip cancellation coverage, usually with lower limits. It’s worth knowing what yours covers before you buy more.
Ways to buy it
On its own, or in a comprehensive plan
A comprehensive plan bundles it with emergency medical, baggage and travel accident coverage, but usually with a lower limit for your trip costs. On its own, you can insure a larger amount.
What’s not covered
Where claims go wrong.
Covered reasons have to be sudden and unexpected. These are the most common reasons a claim is refused.
Anything you knew about
A reason you knew about, or could have expected, when you bought coverage.
Pre-existing conditions that weren’t stable
Yours, or those of the person whose illness causes the claim, such as a travelling companion or family member.
Changing your mind
Unless you added cancel for any reason.
A travel company going out of business
Usually excluded, or only partly covered.
A travel advisory issued before you booked
Advisories count only if they’re issued after you book or buy coverage.
A general guide. Each policy lists its own covered reasons and exclusions, and your policy wording governs.
How it works
From booking to claim.
From the day you book to the day you claim.
Add up what you can’t get back
Find the non-refundable part of your flights, hotels and tours. That’s the amount to insure.
Buy as soon as you book
Reasons count only once coverage is in place, and some plans add a short waiting period if you buy later. Cancel for any reason has to be added within days of booking.
Tell everyone right away
If something comes up, tell your travel suppliers and the insurer right away, often by the next business day.
Claim, with proof
Send your receipts, unused tickets and proof of the reason, such as a doctor’s note.
Cost
What affects the price.
Trip cost
The amount you insure, usually the non-refundable part of your trip.
Age
Rates rise with age.
Cancel for any reason
Adding it raises the price.
On its own or in a comprehensive plan
A comprehensive plan includes more coverage, but usually a lower limit for your trip costs.
Frequently asked questions
All questionsWhat is a covered reason for trip cancellation?
It’s a reason your policy lists, and it has to be sudden and unexpected, and come up after you buy coverage. Typical covered reasons include illness, injury or death of you, a travel companion or family; a government travel advisory issued after you book; a travel visa that isn’t issued; and job loss. Not covered: anything you knew about or could have expected when you bought coverage, pre-existing conditions that weren’t stable, changing your mind (unless you added cancel for any reason), and, usually, a travel company going out of business. Each policy lists its own covered reasons.
What is the difference between trip cancellation and trip interruption insurance?
Trip cancellation pays back your prepaid, non-refundable costs if a covered reason stops you going before you leave. Trip interruption applies after you leave: if a covered reason cuts your trip short or brings you home late, it pays your unused prepaid costs, plus extra costs such as a flight home or extra nights away. Many plans include both. Either way, tell your travel suppliers and the insurer right away.
Can travel insurance reimburse hotel costs?
Yes, for a covered reason. If you cancel before you leave, it pays back prepaid hotel costs you can’t recover. If your trip is interrupted, it can pay for the unused prepaid nights, and for extra nights away if you’re delayed coming home. Keep your receipts, and tell the hotel and the insurer right away.
Related to trip cancellation and interruption insurance
- Student travel insurance Emergency medical coverage while you study away from home.
- Emergency travel medical insurance Pays for emergency medical care while you’re travelling.
- Visitors to Canada insurance Emergency medical coverage for visitors, including Super Visa.
- Global medical care Specialist care sooner, at a facility you choose, worldwide.
A question about your coverage? Ask us.
No obligation. We’ll tell you plainly what we think, including when you already have what you need.