Holidaymakers are once again likely to face a summer of travel disruption. Whilst the recently announced strike by 2,000 security officers at Heathrow has now been called off, it follows BA’s IT meltdown and the electric passport gates failure during half term, as well as ongoing disruption caused by French air traffic control strikes, which caused hundreds of UK flights to be cancelled on 6 June, including 400 by Ryanair.

Dubbed the ‘Summer of Chaos’, thousands of passengers missed flights last summer due to significant queues at UK airports caused by security and check-in staff shortages.

Jason Whelan of Multitrip.com, said: “We’ve seen an increase in sales* of Multitrip.com Travel Insurance policies in combination with our Travel Disruption Cover, which is an add-on to our standard policy, which suggests that holidaymakers are more aware than ever of the risks posed by events like airline strikes and are taking precautions to protect their pre-paid costs or potential expenses.

“European airlines are obliged to refund or rearrange flights if they are cancelled, but this doesn’t extend to cover customers for lost accommodation costs. Multitrip.com’s Travel Disruption add-on cover gives additional coverage up to £1,000 for accommodation and travel expenses (including switching airlines) that you might incur or lose out on. While current strike action would only be covered if ‘Travel Disruption cover’ was booked seven days in advance of the announcement, holidaymakers, can cover themselves for future unannounced strikes or disruptions,” Jason Whelan added.

Annual Multitrip travel insurance policies start from £19.99. Travel Disruption Cover starts from £17 per person.

Travel Disruption is an optional extra that can be added to Multitrip Travel Insurance for an additional premium. It tops up the cover over and above the regular policy in the event of cancellation, delay and missed departure, holiday abandonment and accommodation due to strikes, severe weather, natural disasters, disease outbreaks and other circumstances for costs and expenses that are not recoverable from any other source.

Although regular travel insurance covers cancellation and curtailment, it does not provide cover in the event of emergency situations listed above. The cover is extended to include these when you add extra Travel Disruption.
Unforeseen emergency situations covered by Travel Disruption Cover include Strikes, Volcanic Ash, Hurricane/Earthquake, Airspace Closure, Flood/Storm, Explosion, Tsunami, Landslide, Avalanche, Tornado, Public Transport Failure and Fire.
There is a seven day moratorium period. This means that if a strike is announced within seven days of a policy being purchased, a customer would not be able to pursue a claim under the insurance even though they purchased the policy prior to the public announcement, because the announcement was made within the moratorium period and this has not been served.