Trawick Holdings is launching the first cancel for any reason (CFAR) travel protection product into the UK and planning for a Europe entry, Health & Protection can reveal.
The product enables travellers to reclaim up to 75% of the prepaid costs of their holiday valued up to £15,000 if they decide to cancel their plans without travelling for any reason.
Unlike typical travel insurance, it does not require a reason or risk to be insured which a claim would then be made against.
The product is designed to complement traditional travel insurance and be purchased alongside travel cover at the time of booking or can be offered on a standalone basis.
Trawick told Health & Protection that pricing is dynamic based on trip cost. Cover is only applicable pre-travel and can only be claimed on if the trip is cancelled before departure.
It also confirmed that if it is sold as an optional add-on alongside a travel insurance policy, the CFAR service would pick up any costs or reasons not covered under the main travel policy.
If the reason for cancellation is a covered peril under the main travel policy, a customer would make a claim through that route in the first instance.
Online travel agents, travel operators and intermediaries
The Safe Travels CFAR product is structured as an add-on at the point of booking with online travel agents and travel operators the initial distribution route.
It is launching through Axa Partners insurance offerings through travel booking processes and will be administered by SureGo Assist Ltd, the UK-based service administrator within the broader Trawick Holdings group, with distribution through Trawick International.
However, it is expected to be made available to the intermediary market in due course.
CFAR protection has been commercially available for more than a decade in the United States, Trawick told Health & Protection.
“Cancel for any reason cover does exactly what it says,” the firm said.
“A customer who cancels a trip for any reason at all, including simple disinclination to travel, can seek reimbursement for a defined percentage of their prepaid, non-recoverable costs.
“No qualifying event is required. Reimbursement amounts are assessed against cost, not cause.”
Preparing for European markets
Trawick added that CFAR was difficult to underwrite using conventional actuarial methods and “arguably goes beyond definitions of insurance where it provides reimbursement for matters that are not peril-related”.
“Standard trip cancellation cover, for example, is priced against probability models built entirely upon named perils. The very definition of insurance,” Trawick continued.
“The UK launch marks only the beginning. Trawick is already preparing to expand Safe Travels CFAR into additional European markets, making this the first phase of a much broader international rollout strategy focused on bringing greater cancellation flexibility to travellers worldwide.”
£2.2bn travel insurance market
The firm noted that the UK travel insurance market is worth approximately £2.2bn and is on course to double in size by 2030, with gross written premiums reaching £980m in 2024.
Trawick Holdings president and CEO Daryl Trawick (pictured) said: “For too long, travellers in the UK have had limited options when plans change for reasons traditional travel insurance simply was never designed to cover.
“We recognised that gap and built a solution that fundamentally changes what flexibility looks like for travellers moving forward.”
He added: “British travellers invest thousands into their holidays every year, yet until now they have had fewer options when plans change outside the limits of traditional travel insurance.
“We believe UK travellers deserve the same level of flexibility that has already become standard in the more mature US travel insurance market.”