Financial Failure Protection

The BMA Travel Insurance policy has been extended to include cover for independent travellers against the financial risk of airlines, accommodation providers, car hire companies and other travel and holiday service providers going into liquidation.

With the growth of flight ticket sales direct with airlines and online access to a whole range of travel services an increasing number of trips and holidays are now booked 'independently'. It is estimated that in 2009 at least 50% of trips from the UK fall outside of the Government's tour organisers protection arrangements (ATOL).

We have now included cover as part of our travel insurance policy, which is sold exclusively to BMA members and their families. The policy provides financial protection for travellers who are not protected by the Government's ATOL consumer protection scheme.

Examples of trips which fall outside of the ATOL protection scheme are direct bookings with airlines, trips which have been put together and paid for separately by the traveller e.g. flights, hotels, hire cars and activities booked separately.

In the scheduled airline sector alone, more than 50 carriers have gone bankrupt during the last 12 months as the industry continues to cut costs and tackle the drop in demand.

If you pay for your bookings by a major credit card you can normally get a refund if the provider fails to provide the booked service, however, there are some limitations on this and if you use a debit card or pay by cheque or bank transfer you are unlikely to be able to get your money back if the company goes bust.

Our Financial Failure Protection Insurance provides cover if you are not protected under a government or other bonding arrangement or if you are unable to recover your payment elsewhere.

Please note, cover does not extend to the insolvency of a Travel Agent, Tour Operator, booking agent or consolidator. These companies may be required to provide you with some financial protection as part of their membership of a trade association or similar but this is not always the case and we recommend that you check before booking.

The BMA Travel Insurance policy is provided by Millstream Underwriting Limited which has entered into a partnership with International Passenger Protection Limited to provide the Financial Failure Protection.

This new cover applies to Annual Multi-trip policies with a start date on or after 14 December 2009 and Single trip and Backpacker policies purchased on or after this date. Full details of the cover are set out in the policy wording.

BMA Services is a trading name and trademark of the British Medical Association. The British Medical Association is an introducer appointed representative of AWD Chase de Vere Ltd (AWDCDVL) and Heath Lambert Limited (HLL). AWDCDVL is an independent financial adviser. HLL arranges and provides services in respect of general insurance products. AWDCDVL and HLL are authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority. AWDCDVL and HLL are licensed by the BMA to trade as BMA Services.