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VERIFY: Can I cancel a flight because I'm scared of coronavirus, and get my money back?

Flight insurance can be valuable if there's a death in the family or an illness. But what about for fear of the coronavirus?

WASHINGTON — Question: 

Will flight insurance refund your money if you cancel out of fear of the coronavirus? 

Answer:

No. The Verify team reached out to multiple insurance companies, all of which said fear is not a good enough reason. 

Sources:

Travel Insured International

TravelInsurance.Com

Arch RoamRight

Jason Schreier, CEO at April Travel Protection

Process:

The Verify team worked the phones to find the answer to this question. Jason Schreier, the CEO for April Travel Protection, said the answer was pretty clear. 

"If you haven’t left yet," he said. "And you’re just afraid of traveling, unfortunately, that’s not going to be something that, unless you bought the 'cancel for any reason' coverage, a typical travel insurance policy is going to cover." 

This was confirmed by three other insurance companies that spoke with the Verify team. 

"Unfortunately a standard trip cancellation policy will not provide reimbursement," a rep from Travel-Insurance.com said. 

Arch RoamRight, another insurance company, agreed. 

"Under a standard travel insurance plan, there is no coverage if a traveler wants to cancel their flight due to fear of Coronavirus," a spokesperson wrote in a statement. 

However, most flight insurance companies will offer a "cancel for any reason" policy, which would cover cancellations due to fear. Schreier said that these plans can be pricey though, and customers will not get back all of their money. 

"Typically the coverage only reimburses you somewhere between 60 and 75 percent of your money if you cancel for any reason," he said. 

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