Travel insurance comparison site Squaremouth just revealed that it's seen a 53-percent increase in travel insurance sales since the news about the existence of the Omicron variant was released.
Squaremouth reports that demand for travel insurance had already been on the rise since international borders began opening this year and travelers regained a degree of confidence. Sales, the company said, peaked in the third quarter and eclipsed pre-pandemic numbers seen in 2019, the last "normal" year.
Since the World Health Organization announced last week that it had identified a new, highly transmissible COVID-19 "variant of concern" (which it dubbed "Omicron"), travel insurance sales have risen to an all-time high, Squaremouth shared. To put it in perspective, news of the arrival of the Delta variant spurred a 20-percent upswing in policy sales, compared to Omicron's 53.
Squaremouth's Chief Marketing Officer, Megan Moncrief, noted that travelers' concerns today are more layered and complex than ever before. "A new and highly transmittable variant can certainly be a cause of health concerns among travelers," she said. "But, the implications go beyond that, to include border closures and quarantine restrictions that can be difficult to accommodate."
The comparison company cautions consumers against running out and buying travel insurance because many of their COVID-related concerns may not even be covered. While most travel insurance policies seen on Squaremouth now cover the medical costs of contracting COVID-19 while abroad (including any of its variants), coverage doesn't often extend to the virus' more extended impacts relating to travel.
An example of such impacts would be unforeseen international border closures, which can immediately derail overseas travel plans. Squaremouth said a border closure is not outright covered by standard travel insurance policies. Only certain policies will cover your cancellation costs in the event that a government-issued travel warning for your destination country arises, assuming you purchased your policy prior to the warning's issuance.
Other potential disruptions, such as newly-issued quarantine restrictions that apply in your destination, or upon your return, could cause travelers to rethink booking their next trip, as these complications also aren't covered under standard travel insurance policies.
Travelers do have the option of adding a 'Cancel For Any Reason' upgrade to their policy for an additional cost, which would allow them to cancel their trip due to these types of reasons that would otherwise be excluded from coverage. The problem with going that route, Squaremouth advised, is that the option to add a 'Cancel For Any Reason' upgrade is only available for a brief period after booking your trip-meaning that it's unlikely to be available now on any trips that were booked, say, a month prior to the announcement of the Omicron variant's presence.
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