Tourists stuck in coronavirus quarantines must cover costs themselves
Travelers from the Netherlands who end up quarantined in a hotel because of coronavirus will likely have to pay most of the costs involved themselves. Travel agencies will only cover the first three days of forced quarantine, and travel insurance in most cases will not cover the rest, a spokesperson for the Dutch association for travel agencies ANVR told NL Times.
The quarantine period for Covid-19 is typically 14 days. Tour operators are responsible for paying the first three days of forced quarantine when the trip was booked with an ANVR member.
According to the ANVR, government mandated quarantines due to coronavirus falls under force majeure when it comes to travel terms and conditions. The association has a calamity fund to assist travelers from the Netherlands who book with an ANVR-approved provider and face unforeseen incidents, like an airline's bankruptcy. However, the fund does not cover issues that are beyond anyone's control.
Personal travel insurance is unlikely to cover the remaining 11 days which are not paid by the travel agent, the spokesperson added. "Due to it being a case of something happening because of people around you, and no fault of anyone's, the insurance would not pay out on this," she said.
"The client can have a very expensive insurance policy, but it would in most cases still not pay out."
There are some exceptions though it may not be helpful for new travel insurance clients. Travel association ANWB does have extra cancellation insurance which may be purchased on top of an existing policy. Those clients who purchased the additional coverage before January 30 are able to get reimbursed for some cancellation costs when "there is a contagious disease with demonstrable health risks for you as a traveler," but it cautioned that for many basic policyholders even a negative travel advice from the Dutch government would not be considered a refundable reason for cancelling a trip.
All policy holders regardless of extra coverage may be able to recover extra costs when return travel is delayed because of transportation shutdowns. Here, the ANWB reimburses up to 75 euros per person per day for accommodation, and some extra transportation costs. Some telecom costs will also be paid back by the insurer, with a cap of 250 euros.
Dutch tourists have been quarantined in hotels in Tenerife, Innsbruck, and Abu Dhabi after other guests tested positive for the Covid-19 variant of coronavirus. Last week, ANVR told broadcaster BNR that as long as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' advice for a destination is not negative, travel agencies also do not have to refund cancellations.
