What to do if you can’t go on your trip because someone at home is suddenly sick or injured

1. Rearrange or cancel your bookings

As soon as you know that you won’t be able to use any pre-booked or pre-paid accommodation, transport or tours, you must try to rearrange them, or if necessary, cancel.

Just remember, if you decide to rearrange, we’ll only pay up to the benefit amount. If you don’t rearrange or cancel as soon as reasonably possible, we won’t cover any additional rearrangement or cancellation costs that arise as a result. But you should only cancel arrangements when it’s absolutely necessary. For example, if your doctor says you can’t fly for two days, but you cancel a three-week trip, rather than putting it back by two days, we’ll only cover cancellation of two days’ worth of accommodation, not the entire booking.

2. Get it in writing

To support your claim, you’ll need to get the following:

• Doctor or other medical practitioner’s report confirming what happened and the nature of the illness or injury.
• Hospital admission report (if the person was admitted to hospital).
• Ambulance report (if they were involved).
• An Garda Síochána report (if they were involved).
• Any other relevant documentation related to what happened.

How do I make a claim on my travel insurance?

3. Keep your itineraries and receipts

You’ll need to keep your receipts, itineraries and booking and cancellation confirmations including details of any refunds received for any affected transport and accommodation.

Our suggestions should help you avoid unnecessary costs, gather the right evidence and help keep your claim hassle free.

Ready?

Make a claim online

4. What if someone gets COVID-19 and I can’t travel?

Having a sick relative is stressful enough, let alone having to cancel a trip overseas too! For policies purchased after 17 June 2021, we now have cover on our Explorer Plan for some Coronavirus related travel events to assist our Irish travellers, including having to cancel or postpone your trip abroad because a close relative is diagnosed with Coronavirus.

We’ve also included cover for overseas medical expenses and medical evacuation and repatriation related to your Coronavirus diagnosis and this is available on both the Standard and Explorer plans.

Please note: COVID-19 cover depends on your Country of Residence and varies between plans.

To find out what cover applies to you, read our Coronavirus cover article, which has all of the details, including benefit limits, conditions and exclusions.

This information may help you avoid unnecessary costs, gather the right evidence and help keep your claim hassle free.

All travel insurance plans are different, and cover will vary, depending what's happened, your country of residence, the plan you choose and any options or upgrades you buy. Your policy will always have the full details.

1. Rearrange or cancel your bookings

As soon as you know that you won’t be able to use any pre-booked or pre-paid accommodation, transport or tours, you must try to rearrange them, or if necessary, cancel.

Just remember, if you decide to rearrange, we’ll only pay up to the benefit amount. If you don’t rearrange or cancel as soon as reasonably possible, we won’t cover any additional rearrangement or cancellation costs that arise as a result. But you should only cancel arrangements when it’s absolutely necessary. For example, if your doctor says you can’t fly for two days, but you cancel a three week trip, rather than putting it back by two days, we’ll only cover cancellation of two days’ worth of accommodation, not the entire booking.

2. Get it in writing

To support your claim, you’ll need to get the following:

• Doctor or other medical practitioner’s report, confirming what happened and the nature of the illness or injury;
• Hospital admission report (if the person was admitted to hospital);
• Ambulance report (if they were involved);
• Police report (if they were involved);
• Any other relevant documentation related to what happened;
• Proof of residence (e.g. utility bills in your name, tenancy agreements, other insurance certificates).

How do I make a claim on my travel insurance?

3. Keep your itineraries and receipts

You’ll need to keep your receipts, itineraries and booking and cancellation confirmations including details of any refunds received for any affected transport and accommodation.

Our suggestions should help you avoid unnecessary costs, gather the right evidence and help keep your claim hassle free.

Ready?

Make a claim online

4. What if someone gets COVID-19 and I can’t travel?

Having a sick relative is stressful enough, let alone having to cancel a trip overseas too. Our policies offer cover for some Coronavirus-related travel events, including having to cancel or postpone your trip abroad because you or or an immediate relative are certified as too ill to travel due to COVID-19 by a medical practitioner. 

We’ve also included cover for overseas medical expenses and medical evacuation and repatriation related to your COVID-19 diagnosis which is available on both the Standard and Explorer plans.

To find out what cover applies to you, read our Coronavirus cover article, which has all of the details, including benefit limits, conditions and exclusions.

Please note: COVID-19 cover depends on your Country of Residence.

This information may help you avoid unnecessary costs, gather the right evidence and help keep your claim hassle free.

All travel insurance plans are different and cover will vary, depending what's happened, your country of residence, the plan you choose and any options or upgrades you buy. Your policy will always have the full details.

1. Safety first

Make sure everyone is safe. If you need immediate help, contact the local emergency services.

2. Seek medical attention

Get medical help from a doctor or hospital as soon as possible.

If it's an emergency situation, contact the local emergency services first, then contact our 24/7 Emergency Assistance Team as soon as you can.

Once you’re able to contact our 24/7 Emergency Assistance team, please be ready with the following:

• Your policy number
• A contact number for where you are now
• The nature of your problem
• Your location

Depending on where you’re travelling, there may be Reciprocal Health Care Agreements in place (the Emergency Assistance team will let you know). The terms of your policy require that you use the public health system where possible, particularly when travelling in a country with reciprocal health agreements. 

3. Get it in writing

Most claims need supporting documentation and medical claims are no different. So, while it may be the last thing on your mind, get copies of documents that will support your claim before you leave the medical facility such as:

• Doctor or other medical practitioner’s report, confirming what happened and the nature of your injury.
• Hospital admission report (if you’re admitted to hospital).
• Ambulance and medical evacuation reports (if relevant).
• Provide written evidence to verify your claim, such as a An Garda Síochána report (if they were involved).
• Any other relevant documentation related to the accident.

4. Keep your receipts

You’ll need to keep all your receipts, along with your itineraries and booking and cancellation confirmations for any affected travel arrangements for when you claim. If you don’t do this, we may reduce or reject your claim.

5. Need to know more?

This information may help you when things go wrong, and you want to make a claim. All travel insurance plans are different, and cover will vary, depending what's happened, country of residency, the plan you choose and any options or upgrades you buy. Your policy will always have the full details.

If you have questions about what's covered and not covered, just ask us.

How does my travel insurance policy help me in an emergency?

Having your passport stolen really sucks. Thankfully some World Nomads policies may help cover your extra costs while you arrange an emergency replacement passport. Here’s how.

1. Report the incident ASAP

Report the incident to the relevant authorities and get a report from them. This will include:

• The An Garda Síochána.
• Your nearest embassy, diplomatic or consular mission for your country of citizenship.
• For visas and passports from other countries – contact the relevant embassy.
• Any other relevant authorities, such as the airline, hotel or tour operator.

Travel Insurance tip: for certain countries, it is an offence not to report the loss or theft or your passport as soon as you learn of the loss. It may also affect your travel insurance cover if you don't report it as soon as reasonably possible. Contact our 24/7 Emergency Assistance team if you need help with this.

2. Arrange a replacement or emergency passport

Carefully check the process to apply for an emergency or replacement passport with the Irish embassy. You may need to attend an appointment at your nearest Irish embassy, High Commission or consulate after you’ve applied online on the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) website. You must provide us with copies of all documentation provided by the foreign government agency and the Ireland government. You will also need a written police report when your passport has been stolen.

If you need to travel to a different location to apply in person or collect your emergency passport, you should arrange to do this.

Travel Insurance tip: emergency passports do not permanently replace your passport. They can be issued quickly with limited validity so you can return to Ireland or continue with your trip.

3. Rearrange or cancel any affected travel arrangements

Once you’ve confirmed that any travel arrangements are going to be affected, contact any accommodation, tour, transport and other providers to rearrange or cancel any arrangements you may have. Make sure you get confirmation from them in writing of the changes or cancellation, and details of any refunds or extra fees paid.

4. Keep your receipts

If you think you'll need to claim, make sure you keep the official reports you were given and all original receipts as evidence to support your claim including your itineraries, booking and cancellation confirmations for any affected transport, accommodation and additional expenses.

5.Need to know more?

This information may help you when things go wrong and you want to make a claim. All travel insurance plans are different and cover will vary, depending what's happened, your country of residence, the plan you choose and any options or upgrades you buy. Your policy will always have the terms, conditions and exclusions that apply.

If you have questions about what's covered and not covered, just ask us.

1. Seek medical attention

Get medical help from a medical practitioner, such as a doctor, or by going to a hospital as soon as possible.

If it's an emergency situation, contact the local emergency services first, then contact our 24/7 Emergency Assistance Team as soon as you can.

Once you’re able to contact our 24/7 Emergency Assistance team, please be ready with the following:

• Your policy number
• A contact number for where you are now
• The nature of your problem
• Your location

Please be aware that depending on where you’re travelling to, there may be Reciprocal Health Care Agreements in place (the Emergency Assistance team will let you know). The terms of your policy require that you use the public health system where possible, particularly when travelling in a country with reciprocal health agreements.

2. Get it in writing

Most claims need supporting documentation and medical claims are no different. So while it may be the last thing on your mind, do try and get copies of documents that will support your claim before you leave the medical facility such as:

• Doctor or other medical practitioner’s report confirming your illness.
• Hospital Admission report, if you’re admitted to hospital.
• Ambulance and Medical evacuation reports if relevant.

In some cases, we may need to obtain your past medical history from your usual doctor at home but we’ll let you know if this is the case.

3. Keep your receipts

You’ll need to keep all your receipts, along with your itineraries and booking and cancellation confirmations for any affected travel arrangements for when you claim. If you don’t do this, we may reduce or reject your claim.

Cover for Irish nomads if COVID-19 derails your overseas trip

If you, a relative or someone in your travelling party falls ill due to Coronavirus, you may be covered for a number of insured events under our Medical and Coronavirus Travel Costs benefit sections.

Cover varies between our Standard and Explorer plans. If you are diagnosed with Coronavirus while overseas your benefits include:

• 24/7 access to our Emergency Assistance team, who can help you access local medical care.
• Medical costs including hospitalisation.
• Evacuation or repatriation back to Ireland if deemed necessary by us and in consultation with your attending physician.

Benefit limits apply and vary between the plans.

Our COVID-19 cover benefits have been created to give Irish travellers the opportunity to travel more securely knowing that they have the option to access a set of travel and medical benefits on our Standard and Explorer plans.

If you have purchased the Explorer Plan, cover is available for some Insured events, including but not limited to:

• Quarantine costs: If you or a member of your travelling party go into compulsory quarantine as a result of your or their diagnosis of, or confirmed close contact with a case of Coronavirus, we’ll pay for your reasonable additional travel, meals and accommodation, including in-room entertainment. (On trip)
• Childcare while in quarantine: If you are unable to take care of your children due to your Coronavirus diagnosis, we’ll pay your reasonable additional childcare costs for a registered or qualified childcare worker to take care of your dependent children who would otherwise have been in your full-time care. (On trip)
• Pet care: If you are diagnosed with Coronavirus, we will pay your reasonable additional pet care services, including kennel and cattery boarding fees or professional pet sitting services, in Ireland. (On trip)

Please note: COVID-19 cover depends on your Country of Residence and varies between plans.

To find out what cover applies to you, read our Coronavirus cover article, which has all of the details, including benefit limits, conditions and exclusions.

4. Check your local government and international health guidelines on vaccinations

It's a requirement to stay up to date with all required vaccinations for the destination(s) you're heading to and that may include the Coronavirus vaccine among others.

Observe the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and government health guidelines and World Health Organization (WHO) precautionary measures, including any relevant vaccinations, hygiene or social distancing guidelines. For more about COVID-19 and vaccination tips please click here.

5. Need to know more?

This information may help you when things go wrong and you want to make a claim. All travel insurance plans are different and cover will vary, depending what's happened, your country of residence, the plan you choose and any options or upgrades you buy. Your policy will always have the full details.

If you have questions about what's covered and not covered, just ask us.

How does my travel insurance policy help me in an emergency?

Emergency Assistance for travellers from Ireland

For policies purchased on or after 27 June 2024:

Emergency Assistance: 24 hours, 7 days a week

Phone: +353 4 69 017022

Email: worldnomads.assist@collinsoninsurance.com

For policies purchased before 27 June 2024:

Emergency Assistance: 24 hours, 7 days a week

Phone: +353 (0) 90 640 6460

Email: worldnomadsassist@axa-assistance.com

Not Irish? Find the right Emergency Medical Assistance team by changing your Country of Residence

• US residents
• Canadian residents
• UK residents
• European residents
• Brazilian residents
• Australian residents
• New Zealand residents
• Chinese residents
• Residents of all other countries

1. Report it to your carrier straight away

Once you realise your bags are delayed, report it to the carrier (e.g. airline, tour operator) as soon as possible. For lengthy delays, you should ask them to compensate you to replace essential items you may need while you wait for your bags to be returned.

2. Get a written report

Get a written report of what’s happened from the carrier, for example a Property Irregularity Report, confirming the delay was greater than 24 hours from your arrival and any compensation they offer you.

3. Keep your receipts

Keep receipts for any essential items you buy such as toothbrushes, prescription medication or a change of clothes. Your expenses must be supported by receipts dated prior to the delivery of your delayed baggage and after 24 hours from your arrival.

Before you go shopping for an entire new wardrobe to replace your designer jeans or a new ball-gown for that special event, because you believe everything you own is "essential", there will be limits on what your policy can and cannot cover, so check your policy wording carefully or contact us. (Yes, we've seen claims like this!)

4. Need to know more?

This information could help you when things go wrong and you want to make a claim. All travel insurance plans are different and cover will vary, depending what's happened, your country of residence, the plan you choose and any options or upgrades you buy. Your policy wording will always have the full terms, conditions and exclusions that apply.

If you have questions about what's covered and not covered, just ask us.

Does my insurance cover my tech?

We know it can be easy to forget to buy travel insurance when planning a holiday. If you’ve left Ireland without travel insurance or your policy is due to expire and you’re still on the road, you can still purchase travel insurance with World Nomads.

We’ve designed simple and flexible travel insurance so you can buy what you need, when you need it, even while travelling. If you forgot to buy a policy before you started your trip, are outside your home country without insurance, or your cover has ended but your trip hasn’t, you can buy a World Nomads policy 24/7 online.

If you buy a policy while travelling, waiting periods, conditions and restrictions on cover do apply.

What is a time excess?

You may have to wait 72 hours (time excess) before any cover is activated, depending on when you purchase your policy as explained in ‘When cover starts & ends’ in your Policy Wording. This means certain benefits (such as our Coronavirus pre-trip cancellation cover) may not apply, as you’ve already left Ireland.

Our COVID-19 cover benefits have been created to give Irish travellers the opportunity to travel more securely knowing that they have the option to access to a set of travel and medical insurance benefits on our Standard and Explorer plans.

To find out what cover applies to you, read our Coronavirus cover article, which has all of the details, including benefit limits, conditions and exclusions.

Please note: COVID-19 cover depends on your Country of Residence and varies between plans.

Most policies can cover you straight away if you're injured in an accident after you buy a policy. Your Policy Wording will have full details to understand the cover, limits and exclusions.

Left home without travel insurance?

Learn how you can buy your travel insurance policy while travelling anytime from anywhere in the world by watching this video.

1. Rearrange or cancel your bookings

As soon as you know that you won’t be able to use any pre-booked or pre-paid accommodation, transport or tours, you must try to rearrange them, or if necessary, cancel.

Just remember, if you decide to rearrange, we’ll only pay up to the benefit amount. If you don’t rearrange or cancel as soon as reasonably possible, we won’t cover any additional rearrangement or cancellation costs that arise as a result. But you should only cancel arrangements when it’s absolutely necessary.

For example, if your doctor says you can’t fly for two days, but you cancel a three-week trip, rather than putting it back by two days, we’ll only cover cancellation of two days’ worth of accommodation, not the entire booking.

2. Get it in writing

To support your claim, you’ll need to get the following:

• Doctor or other medical practitioner’s report, confirming what happened and the nature of the illness or injury.
• Hospital admission report (if the person was admitted to hospital)
• Ambulance report (if they were involved)
• An Garda Síochána report (if they were involved)
• Any other relevant documentation related to what happened.

What does my travel insurance cover?

3. Keep your itineraries and receipts

You’ll need to keep your receipts, itineraries and booking and cancellation confirmations including details of any refunds received for any affected transport and accommodation.

This information may help you avoid unnecessary costs, gather the right evidence and help keep your claim hassle free.

Am I covered if I cancel my trip due to COVID-19?

The Coronavirus has made planning a trip harder than ever – which is why we’ve tried to add some certainty to the process with cover available on both the Standard and Explorer Plans. Cover is provided if you’ve had to cancel or rearrange your trip due to your or your travelling companion’s Coronavirus diagnosis. 

Please note, there will be no automatic cover to cancel if you have been just diagnosed with COVID-19. You will need to be certified from a medical practitioner that you are too ill to travel. Diagnosis must be made after you’ve bought your policy, and benefit limits apply.

If you have no option but to cancel your trip and the event is unforeseen and out of your control, you may be covered for the following:

• If you or your travelling companion are diagnosed with Coronavirus and you have to cancel your trip, we will pay the non-refundable portion of your pre-paid travel arrangements. You will need to be certified by a medical practitioner that you are too ill to travel.
• If your immediate relative in Ireland is hospitalised or dies due to Coronavirus and you have to cancel your trip, we will pay the non-refundable portion of your pre-paid travel arrangements.

To find out what cover applies to you, read our Coronavirus cover article, which has all of the details, including benefit limits, conditions and exclusions.

Please note: COVID-19 cover depends on your Country of Residence and may vary based on when your policy was purchased.