How to create an Amex Platinum Covid insurance certificate before you travel

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• Adam says:

  11 Dec11 December 10:20

  I spoke to AXA about the platinum insurance cover for an upcoming trip. They told me that the medical expenses section will not cover COVID-19, as one of the exclusions is ‘if it could be reasonably foreseen’. Given that there is an ongoing pandemic, they are using this to exclude COVID-19 medical expenses. So do not rely on this to cover you while abroad. Whilst the policy may be able to allow you entry to a country for immigration purposes, I wouldn’t rely on it if you do fall ill.

  Also, reading the exclusions, whilst travel against FCO advice is not covered, except for essential trips, this exclusion doesn’t apply if the FCO advice is solely due to COVID-19, then you would be covered (for everything except COVID-19 though).

  • memesweeper says:

    11 Dec11 December 15:19

    ‘if it could be reasonably foreseen’

    That’s absurd in the context of medical insurance. Will they not cover my medical bills in the US when i’m hit by a drunk driver? or treatment for animal bites in Kenya? Are they suggesting you are only covered for extremely unlikely and therefore unforeseeable events that results in a medical insurance claim? I’m fairly sure that would be laughed out of court if challenged. If not, the insurance is useless.

    • Callum says:

      11 Dec11 December 15:50

      I don’t think anyone would reasonably consider it likely that you’ll be hit by a drunk driver in the US or bitten by an animal in Kenya.

      No, they are suggesting that if you knowingly put yourself in a high risk situation they won’t cover it. You know Covid is highly contagious, you know that traveling in close proximity to others and engaging in normal holiday behaviour will significantly increase your risk of getting it so they won’t cover it.

      • Gavin says:

        11 Dec11 December 17:14

        However, skiing and many other activities deemed more risky than general day-to-day living are covered as standard. Could an injury while skiing be deemed as “reasonably foreseen”? Well, a lot of people do get injured while skiing, and many of the other activities that are supposed to be covered.

      • TGLoyalty says:

        12 Dec12 December 00:31

        Getting seriously ill from Covid is less likely than being in a serious car accident.

        • Bagoly says:

          12 Dec12 December 13:52

          That looks probably true for Barbados (11 road deaths in 2019, 9 Covid deaths so far in 2020). But less universal elswhere E.g.

          UK Deaths from Covid in 9 months = 63,000. Serious illness 1.8M * 10-15%, so 180,000-270,000.
          UK Deaths from RTC in 2019 * 9/12 = 1,403. Serious injuries 20,865
          Now, that’s the UK, the definition of “serious” varies, and the bad cases from the two have very different age distributions.
          The latter means that if you are under 40, then your assertion has probably been true even in the UK over the nine months (averaged over lockdowns and less restricted periods). But if one is older than that then Covid has been the higher risk.

          It’s true that most people underestimate the probabilities of quite rare things like serious car accidents (and overestimate the probabilities of really rare things like air crashes) but at least in the UK this year, Covid has, across the whole age-range, been significantly more of a risk than car accidents.

  • Andrew says:

    15 Dec15 December 09:09

    Where in the docs does it say that you are covered if FCO advice is solely due to COVID-19 (for everything but COVID-19)? I can’t seem to find that.

    • Rob says:

      15 Dec15 December 09:51

      There is a separate doc explaining covid cover for Amex Plat – https://hfp2022.headforpoints.blog/2020/04/04/american-express-issues-a-coronavirus-insurance-guide/

• Chris J says:

  11 Dec11 December 10:32

  Interesting article…good information to know……as an extension to this an article covering the insurance benefits of the different cards (Amex Avios, cash back etc) would also be very useful (hopefully we can travel again soon)

  • Rob says:

    11 Dec11 December 10:36

    We don’t do those sort of articles, because they are worthless. The most important thing about insurance is willingness to pay, not what is in the policy. Amex has paid MULTIPLE claims for me over the years where we clearly broke the policy rules. Other insurers will encourage you to take them to court even when it is an open and shut case.

    There is a reason why the moneysavingexpert recommended ‘Best Buy’ is £200 when others will sell you a policy for 25% of that.

    • NeilP1234 says:

      12 Dec12 December 06:15

      Rob – But how to access the certificate for HSBC and Barclays Premier customers with a travel plus pack would be helpful not useless.

• aceman says:

  11 Dec11 December 16:11

  Ive taken out a USA policy for tourists for medical because I just cant see any upside to relying on amex here. Unlike rob I dont run a huge travel news outlet so amex platinum has been a mixed bag for me with insurance pay outs. However my medical policy literally only covers for medical expenses, nothing else.
  I’m wondering if my amex plat cover is any use whatsoever in terms of delayed luggage, theft, car hire insurance etc if I’m travelling against fco advise?

• Denis says:

  11 Dec11 December 17:23

  I have generated the certificate, however it says:

  The main benefits per trip are:
  Travel Accident

  And nothing else in regards to Covid, etc

  Is that correct? Thank you.

  • Rob says:

    11 Dec11 December 17:40

    Mine says:

    Travel Delay
    Collison Damage Waiver (CDW)
    Cancellation
    Curtailment
    Medical Expenses
    Personal Accident

    You have Platinum?

    • paul says:

      11 Dec11 December 18:49

      Mine too. If the FCO says I can travel then it is reasonable to assume that it is relatively safe. If Amex wish to make a specific exclusion of Covid-19 then they need to say so up front otherwise the term “Medical Expenses” covers all medical expenses. There is nothing in the policy that precludes Covid or any other virulent endemic diseases such as bilharzia, malaria etc all of which could be reasonably foreseen if traveling to certain places all of which are deemed safe by the FCO with appropriate precautions.

    • Denis says:

      11 Dec11 December 19:44

      Platinum yes. When I check online, I’ve got all options covered. But the actual pdf says only “travel accident”. So odd…

    • GeorgeJ says:

      12 Dec12 December 10:01

      I think some respondents are getting confused between the cancellation and curtailment aspects of the policy and the medical cover. Trips booked after disruption from Covid19 became a known possibility is in general not covered.
      Medical expenses, including Covid are covered as long as you are not travelling against FCO advice (an essential journey is covered). This is all in the FAQ for the policies.

• Mike says:

  12 Dec12 December 14:19

  So has anyone tried making a travel curtailment claim on the basis of FCO advice changing whilst mid-trip? And was it rejected?

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