Trip Cancellation & Disruption
Protect your investment when things go wrong before or during your trip
What's Covered
- ✓Pre-departure cancellation due to injury or illness
- ✓Trip disruption and curtailment
- ✓Flight cancellations and delays
- ✓Missed connections
- ✓Emergency return home
- ✓Accommodation and transport rearrangement costs
Why You Need It
A ski holiday involves significant non-refundable costs — flights, accommodation, lift passes, hire equipment. An injury before departure without cancellation cover means losing all of this.
Typical cover: Typically $15,000–$25,000 cancellation cover in comprehensive ski policies.
Trip Cancellation & Disruption Explained
A ski holiday involves more upfront financial commitment than almost any other type of travel. International flights to Japan, Canada, or Europe can cost $1,500–$3,000 per person. Resort accommodation during peak ski season commands premium prices. Lift passes, equipment hire, and ski school packages represent further significant expenses.
Many of these costs are non-refundable once confirmed. Trip cancellation and disruption cover protects this investment when circumstances outside your control force changes to your travel plans.
Pre-Departure Cancellation
The most common use of trip cancellation cover is straightforward: you or a travelling companion is injured or falls seriously ill before your departure date, making it impossible or inadvisable to travel.
A knee injury sustained while training for your ski trip three weeks before departure could leave you facing the cancellation of $8,000 of non-refundable flights, accommodation, and pre-paid lift passes. Trip cancellation cover reimburses these losses, allowing you to focus on recovery without financial catastrophe.
Covered Cancellation Reasons
Standard cancellation cover includes: - Medical: Illness or injury preventing travel - Death of insured or close family member - Jury duty or court summons - Unexpected redundancy - Natural disaster at destination making travel impossible or unsafe
Note what is typically NOT covered: - Change of mind ("disinclination to travel") - Pre-existing medical conditions (unless declared and accepted) - Financial insolvency of a travel provider (requires specific CIFI cover) - Work commitments that were foreseeable
Trip Disruption and Curtailment
If your trip is already underway and you need to cut it short due to a covered event — a serious illness or injury during the trip, a death in the family at home — trip curtailment cover pays for: - The cost of unused pre-paid accommodation and activities - Additional transport costs to return home - Accommodation costs incurred while arranging emergency return
The "Cancel For Any Reason" Option
Some international providers (and limited NZ options) offer "Cancel for Any Reason" (CFAR) coverage as a premium upgrade. CFAR typically reimburses 50–75% of non-refundable costs if you cancel for any reason, including simply changing your mind. This premium option has value for travellers with genuinely uncertain plans or situations where standard covered reasons seem insufficient.
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