London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Sep 18, 2025

Nearly half of travel insurance policies don't protect against strikes, according to Which?

Nearly half of travel insurance policies don't protect against strikes, according to Which?

The consumer group gives its top tips for covering yourself against travel chaos this summer.

Almost half of insurance policies don't protect holidaymakers from cancellations caused by industrial action, the consumer group Which? has found.

Its analysis of 199 packages offered by 71 providers found that 40% did not offer cover for strike action.

Travellers are being warned to brace for chaos this summer as unions vote to strike in a fight for better pay and working conditions.

More than 700 BA check-in staff and ground-handling agents at Heathrow could walk out at the height of the summer season after they recently voted to strike.

Meanwhile, easyJet workers in Spain have said they will strike sporadically throughout July, as unions in France, Italy, and Portugal continue to clash with airlines and airports, raising the prospect of further industrial action.

Taken together, the situation paints a bleak picture for travellers this summer.

Many are understandably looking for protection: insurance that will cover them if their flights are cancelled.

But just six in 10 of the policies Which? examined actually offered reimbursement for travellers who were forced to cancel a trip due to strikes, leaving many policyholders unprotected.

Ryanair and easyJet airline workers rally at the gates of the Costa del Sol airport in Malaga.


"We advise travellers to always check policies carefully to ensure they offer the cover that will be most appropriate to their trip, and to ensure they have cover in place from the time of booking," said Jenny Ross, money editor at Which?.

She added that travellers "should ensure they’ve taken out adequate insurance to cover any losses or unexpected costs they might face".

Which? also analysed the policies for their amount of protection against coronavirus-related disruptions.

The group said it found huge disparities in the level of cover offered - with cases on the rise in many European countries.

Of the 199 policies that Which? assessed, fewer than 10% offered what it considered to be full protection in the event of a holiday being disrupted by COVID-19.

Know your rights


The group defines complete cover as giving travellers the ability to claim for emergency medical care if they catch COVID-19 while abroad, and also giving them the option to claim cancellation costs if they test positive for the virus before their trip.

Full policies should include reimbursement if the legal requirement to self-isolate is reintroduced for those identified as close contacts, or if the government restricts travel to and from the country you are on holiday in.

Other tips from Which? include always booking your holiday on credit card if possible, as your bank is legally bound to reimburse you for any purchase over £100 if services provided are not as advertised, and the company responsible won’t refund you.

The group also said that "anyone who has their holiday cancelled by a package tour operator is entitled to a refund by law. Airlines are also obligated to refund passengers when they cancel flights - including when the cancellation is caused by their own staff going on strike".

"Likewise, package holidays from an ATOL protected firm will ensure that you'll be reimbursed should the company go out of business and repatriated if it happens while you're abroad."

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Massive Strikes in France Pressure Macron and New PM on Austerity Proposals
Trump Seeks Supreme Court Permission to Remove Fed Governor Lisa Cook
Hillary Clinton’s Reckless Rhetoric Fuels Division After Charlie Kirk’s Assassination
NASDAQ Rises to Record as Intel Soars More Than 20%, Nvidia Gains 3%
Nvidia’s $5 Billion Bet on Intel Reshapes AI Hardware Landscape
Trump and Starmer Clash Over UK Recognition of Palestinian State Amid State Visit
Trump’s Quip on Biden and Google Lawsuit Revives Debate Over Antitrust Legacy
Macron and his wife to provide 'scientific photographic evidence' that she is a real woman
US Tech Giants Pledge Billions to UK AI Infrastructure Following Starmer's Call
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
DeepMind and OpenAI Achieve Gold at ‘Coding Olympics’ in AI Milestone
SEC Allows Public Companies to Block Investors from Class-Action Lawsuits
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Federal Reserve Cuts Rates by Quarter Point and Signals More to Come
Effective and Impressive Generation Z Protest: Images from the Riots in Nepal
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Trump: Cancel quarterly company reports and settle for reporting once every six months
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
US Launches New Pilot Program to Accelerate eVTOL Air Taxi Deployment
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Hong Kong Industry Group Calls for HK$20 Billion Support Fund to Ease Property Market Stress
Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency Speaking Fees Face Weak Demand amid Corporate Reluctance
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
Kash Patel erupts at ‘buffoon’ Sen. Adam Schiff over Russiagate: ‘You are the biggest fraud’
Homeland Security says Emmy speech ‘fanning the flames of hatred’ after Einbinder’s ‘F— ICE’ remark
Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Faces Death Penalty as Charges Formally Announced
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
JD Vance Says There Is “No Unity” with Those Who Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Killing, and he is right!
Trump sues the 'New York Times' for an astronomical sum of 15 billion dollars
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
U.S. and Britain Poised to Finalize Over $10 Billion in High-Tech, Nuclear and Defense Deals During Trump State Visit
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
×