Travelling against FCO advice
I've got a ferry booked to France in September and if the latest news is anything to go by, there may be a FCO advisory against travel in place by then.
This is already the case for Spain, but Brittany Ferries are taking people from the UK in cars and motorhomes presumably knowing that their motor insurance may be void in the event of an accident,
I'm wondering how people are managing to get there possibly without insurance when they disembark in Spain, or have I got it wrong and motor insurance is still valid if travelling against FCO advice?
This is from Aviva's website: Cover may be restricted when travelling to a country where the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) have advised against all or all but essential travel.
I note is says "restricted" so Third Party insurance only perhaps?
John
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I imagine you have three insurances in place - annual motor insurance, breakdown/recovery, and personal medical travel cover - and they may be with three separate companies. Only those insurance companies can tell you what cover they would provide if you decide to travel when FCO advises not to. Please don't rely on answers on a forum.
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Wing it !!!, but somewhere on this forum somebody has been in touch with club re Red Pennant insurance and validity in the event FCO says non essential travel not recommended and i think the club said no cover at all, but as advised would get it straight from the horses mouth before you travel
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As we are also due to travel at the beginning of September to France I've been checking out our holiday insurance with Nationwide.
As it stands if France goes on the naughty step and travel is only allowed for essential reasons then we will not be covered if we go. If it changes once you have left the UK then the cover that was in place at the time of your departure is valid until your return.
I've also checked out Staysure as some have mentioned them on here. Their cover does cover you for medical, again the normal rules of medical insurance you have to list any on going medical issues.
The problem we have with Nationwide insurance is that they say 'which ever is the latter' this refers to when you took out the insurance or when you booked your travel. We renewed our yearly cover in January and booked our tunnel crossing at the end of June, this was while the FOC still had a restriction in place for Europe so we won't get anything back from the insurance if we cancel our tunnel crossing. Our hope is that a) France doesn't go on the naughty step. b) that the C&MC will give us a voucher for the tunnel if they do go on the naughty step. I'd be happy with a voucher as if it happens it might not be for long and we would go once its cleared by the FOC.
I think most of us that travel overseas with their vans knows that during July/August all of Europe is on holiday so it was a fair guess that figures could rise, fingers crossed they drop again soon as they all return home.
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well just been informed that the Spanish press are reporting that Spain will go back into phase 1 lockdown on Sept 18th, yes Sept 18th, apparently they are giving the warning now so that tourists can get out and schools etc can plan, could be fake news, but daughter has it in her news and she lives in Spain, take it as you will, not sensationalising
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For anyone wanting to keep an eye on the developing trend of COVID cases in Europe I came across this web sites https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/cases-2019-ncov-eueea It expresses cases as numbers per 100000 of population which seems to be what the UK Government is looking at in terms of travel restrictions. It might give some warning of future FCO advice?
David
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Thanks for the link David.
If the UK Gov are using this type of thing to make decisions then they should also be keeping their eyes on the Netherlands and Sweden, both have higher figures than France but I've not heard any mention of that.
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That's on a lot of news sites, so could be possible as the sources look reliable to me? It looks as though Spain is similar to here and prepared to shut things down so that others can continue.
I would guess other EU countries are working on a similar prevention basis.
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No2 daughter who lives in Spain gave me the info, looks a bit crook to me, if things are so bad, why not shut down now, i guess they want to keep the tourist economy afloat for as long as possible, and why are carriers such as Easy Jet, Ryan air and BA still flying people out there, makes no sense, my No3 daughter just returned, but no real checks at Gatwick simply told to self isolate for 14 days, but who polices this
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I think the same is happening in the UK, there will be a policy of opening and closing certain things as September approaches and schools return.
If the majority can police themselves and self-isolate then that cuts down a percentage of covid contacts, it's all about reducing contacts overall.
None of us will know till September arrives how things will be going here or abroad but it looks like various Governments are preparing for further policy changes if needed.
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The nature of the disease means it typically operates on 14 day cycles - you take action, within 14 days you get to see if it’s worked. Why therefore would a Government give over 30+ days notice with all the dire consequences of making the wrong judgement - nuts!
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Some, not all, motor and indeed van insurance policies do not provide cover if you travel against FCO advice neither does Red Pennant. If you wish to travel against such advice it would be prudent (essential IMO) to check with your insurers. In reality it is easy to be gung ho but when you actually check the facts it all starts to look very problematic.
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as i have said before one of my daughters lives in Spain and they will go into phase 1 lockdown on the 18th Sept, local news reports are reporting that the infections rate is out of control, however the government want to milk as much money out of the tourist revenue as possible and to give all those who are not Spanish residents time to leave the country in a safe and orderly fashion.
Right now virtually the whole of Spain is on holiday and with people mingling in bars, restaurants, night clubs, beaches, getting the infection rate under control is going to be a very tough call.
Beats me why carriers such as BA, Easy jet, Ryan air are still being allowed to fly people out there for a holiday.
watch out UK we could be next, France next on the naughty step
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I think that’s far from certain. That claim has been made by a Spanish newspaper but the Government has failed to confirm and the WHO state that Spain will most likely NOT see another lockdown as the circumstances that would call for one do not exist. Spain’s increased infection rate is, in part, due to a huge recent increase in testing.
There isn’t an official source for the article but what the article did do was reveal the plans made by the Spanish government in the event that COVID-19 continues to spread across Spain by September 18th. Social media has, as always, fanned the fire.
That’s all a long way from any certainty that Spain will go into a 2nd lockdown. In fact, all it confirms is that the Spanish Government have a plan and I think we’d all be surprised if they didn’t.
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well my daughter who is a teacher has been called to a meeting next week to make plans as they have been told that schools are to remain open whatever the cost and plans need to be made, but who knows, and the WHO is not exactly a fountain of knowledge and good practice in these matters. France on the naughty step tomorrow
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August so away but just come across this and as someone who lives in Spain have read all the local Spanish papers and nothing but have found this from a English paper
https://www.costa-news.com/latest-news/scaremongering-reports-anger-residents/
Looks like a spate between the two big English papers here.
phil
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Is anybody really surprised?
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Yup, who do you believe, my daughter is not one for reading newspapers, she received a memo from the school to say this might happen and that they need to be prepared, good for the school i say a bit of forward planning even if it is not needed in the end never did any harm.
But all the news reports even from the local press say Spain is having great difficulty in controlling new outbreaks, but no different than a lot of other countries just now.
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Does anyone have any thoughts on this - if France is added to the list of countries that the FCO advise against travelling to, with the addition of quarantine for anyone arriving in the UK from France, then it seems likely that France will in turn require that travellers from the UK to France will need to quarantine.
How would this work in practice? If you are in a touring caravan / motorhome and therefore of 'no fixed abode' where would you need to quarantine? And how on earth could they enforce it?
Also, if you booked Eurotunnel with CAMC, I understand they will not refund the fare but will let you change to another booking. How does this work? Assuming that you don't know when you might be going again, do they give you a voucher / credit note of some sort?
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There will always be occasions when people are almost compelled to travel against FCO advice. A sick relative is perhaps one. Some people who have dual nationality have to pay an annual visit to their country of origin in order to maintain status. That may be able to be done by visiting the Embassy in the UK but sometimes you have to opt for one or the other.
Given the current situation I just don't see what enjoyment there would be in travelling abroad at the moment given that you might have to leave the country in question depending on what rules are put in place by the host country.
As far as Eurotunnel is concerned I am not sure I would book via the Club simply because amendments can only be done by them. I have used the Tunnel many times and there was rarely a year went by without me changing my booking which was alway free direct to Eurotunnel assuming you didn't change to a more expensive crossing.
David
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As far as I know if the country you are planning to travel to is on the naughty step then only your medical insurance would likely not cover you, your vehicle insurance would still be valid.
How that works say if France was on the list but you decided to go to Germany which was not then are you covered as you drive through France without stopping? Similarly if you travel though without stopping do you have to quarantine on return, I have sen on other sites no but worth checking at the time?
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according to a posting by someone else, they have full RP e.g. breakdown and medical but if you travel against FCO advice then the club said nothing was valid. Personally i would check for myself with the relevant insurer, in cases like this insurance companies will use any trick in the book as a reason for not paying.
My ferry tickets are booked direct with Brittany ferries and both are flexible so can change on line at no extra cost a time and route that is best for you, you pay slightly more when you book and in some cases booking direct rather than via the club is more expensive, but in these times of not knowing from day to day what is going to happen, i would rather hold my destiny in my hands. Apparently it has been quite difficult to make changes via the club.
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RP is not valid if you travel against FCO advice the CAMC website quite clearly says this and I have checked with them on the phone. Also you cannot assume that your car and van insurance will be valid either, you need to check, we have 2 cars and one policy is silent and one clearly says that you only have the legal minimum if you travel against FCO advice i.e bare third party liability only.
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Also, if you booked Eurotunnel with CAMC, I understand they will not refund the fare but will let you change to another booking. How does this work? Assuming that you don't know when you might be going again, do they give you a voucher / credit note of some sort?
I'm hoping the club will give a voucher against out tunnel crossing IF the government put France on the naughty step. We have a booking for the beginning of Sept. I'm not bothered about the quarantine on return (if we have to) put I wouldn't want to go if we have to do it on the way out as well or if our insurance was invalid. I would check with our car/caravan insurance, as it happens they are with the same company. Breakdown is with the bank as is the holiday cover. It might be a good idea to take out another policy is the bank don't cover us.
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The UK government has this evening put France on the list of countries where travel is not advised except where a journey is essential. This means that anyone returning will need to quarantine for 14 days unless they get back by 4 a.m. on Sunday, and anyone who does go despite government advice will need to check their insurances very carefully.
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