Hollard Travel Insurance now offers COVID-19 medical-related cover for high-risk travellers (such as those over the age of 66 or those with a BMI index above 35) only if the traveller is fully vaccinated.
Hollard offers these vaccinated passengers COVID-19 cover for the following events, on condition they have sent the company a copy of their vaccination certificate and the insurer has issued an endorsement before departure:
- Overseas medical in-patient treatment;
- Medical quarantine – when you test positive on the trip and Hollard books an approved quarantine facility;
- Cost of the test – when you test positive;
- Event cancellation resulting in a cancelled trip;
- Cancellation for any reason (when you cancel 48 hours or more before departure date).
The travel insurance provider is now excluding high-risk passengers from cover if they are not fully vaccinated. The insurer states on the front page of its website www.hollardti.com that it excludes COVID-19-related claims when travellers are:
- 66 years or older
- Have a BMI of 35 or above
- Have a combination or diabetes and high blood pressure (or using medication to control your blood pressure) or diabetes and high cholesterol (or using medication to control your cholesterol).
- The cost of any tests when the test result is negative or required for travelling clearance purposes.
Uriah Jansen, md of Oojah Travel Protection, which administers Hollard Travel Insurance, told Travel News that passengers in these categories were at high risk of being admitted to ICU or dying if they contracted COVID-19 and were not fully vaccinated. As such, Hollard requires these passengers to be fully vaccinated in order to get this cover.
“This policy was introduced a few months ago when South Africa opened up its vaccination programme, which allowed travellers to get vaccinated. It is in line with the international travel policies of many countries, which are, in many cases, waiving quarantine requirements for fully vaccinated travellers due to the reduction of risk that the vaccination offers. We highlight this policy on our home page and have been training travel agents to let their clients know that a copy of any high-risk traveller’s vaccination certificate must be sent through to us before they travel. This enables us to issue an endorsement, which enables full cover to be extended to these travellers,” said Uriah.
She added that agents could find the latest information about their cover on www.hollardti.com.
“Please note that you must purchase your policy within 24 hours of paying your first trip deposit to qualify for Pre-existing Medical Conditions, Complications due to Pregnancy and COVID-19 Cancellation and Curtailment,” states the website, adding that travellers must also call Hollard on the same day that they test positive for COVID when travelling, in order to qualify for quarantine cover or to obtain authorisation to be admitted to hospital.
