COVID-19 and insurance
Information
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs travel advice was removed on 1 October 2021. You can now travel as normal to most countries in the world, and your travel insurance will be valid. However, there are still a few exceptions to the cover, and below is some useful information for before, during and after your trip.
Are you planning to travel to countries in the EEA/Schengen area, or the UK?
You can now freely travel to countries in this area, and your travel insurance will apply as normal both before and during your trip.
However, there are some important exceptions within the EEA/Schengen area and the UK. You will find more information about this further down the page.
In July 2021, the Norwegian Institute of Public Health began using colour codes for entry quarantines in Norway, but these have no impact on the cover of your travel insurance.
- It’s even easier, both for us and for you, if you report your case to us after the date on which you would have travelled.
- The processing time is shorter if you send us confirmation from the airline or travel agency of any refund you may receive from them.
- The travel insurance offers the same cover whether or not you are vaccinated.
- Are you going to a country that is subject to travel advice? The travel insurance is valid in countries subject to travel advice if your trip is so-called necessary travel. You can read more about what we consider to be necessary travel under ‘Necessary travel: Is your travel insurance valid if you travel to countries subject to travel advice?’
We understand that customers need to travel sometimes. The travel insurance therefore covers trips to so-called “red” countries, or countries subject to travel advice issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, if the travel is necessary.
This is the kind of travel we consider necessary:
- Damage to houses, buildings or apartments that you have abroad. You can also travel for necessary maintenance, i.e. maintenance that must be carried out to avoid damage to the home.
- Death, funeral, or acute, serious illness in the immediate family. For a definition of immediate family, see the terms and conditions of your insurance policy.
- Medical and life-saving treatment. This does not apply to so-called maintenance treatment, follow-up appointments, routine check-ups, importing medicine to Norway or similar.
- Collection journeys when adopting.
- Legal proceedings where you need to attend in person.
- Renewal of passport/visa where you need to attend in person.
- Students in a foreign country. Applies at college and university level.
- Visitation for parents and children. Applies for established visitation rights.
- Business travel. Applies to companies who have business travel insurance for employees and when the employee considers the travel extremely necessary.
Important! If your travel is necessary, you must be able to document the reason for going away. You do not need to do this before you travel, but we need the documentation if you report a case to us at a later date.
For example, the documentation may be an appraisal report if the property is damaged, confirmation from the adoption office, a certificate if there is serious illness or death or similar.
Nonetheless, we recommend everyone to read the authorities’ travel advice carefully, and to avoid holiday travel to countries or areas subject to travel advice or travel restrictions. However, the authorities in other countries may have their own rules on what necessary travel is, and it is therefore very important that, as the traveller, you are familiar with the rules of the country you are travelling to.
Within the EEA/Schengen area and the UK
The travel insurance applies as normal if you go to these areas, and you can cancel the trip if, for example, you suddenly become ill before travelling.
You should still pay special attention to these points:
- Norwegian Institute of Public Health’s infection control advice: The Norwegian Institute of Public Health gives so-called “infection control advice” for travel to and from, among others, countries in the EEA/Schengen area and the UK. However, we do not cover cancellations to countries that are subject to this advice.
- Quarantine in Norway: The authorities can issue travel advice regarding countries within the EEA/Schengen area or the UK if the countries have “very high infection rates”. This may mean that you need to quarantine when you come back to Norway. However, we do not cover any of the expenses you may incur as a result of such a quarantine.
- What do the new Norwegian Institute of Public Health colour codes mean? The new colour codes that the Norwegian Institute of Public Health started to use on 5 July 2021 do not have any impact on your cover. The authorities now use the colour codes to manage the quarantine rules for those who arrive from abroad, and the codes therefore no longer dictate whether or not a country is safe to travel to. You can stay up-to-date on the colour codes on the Norwegian Institute of Public Health’s pages
- Quarantine in the country you are travelling to: We do not cover your additional expenses if you have to quarantine in the country you’re travelling to.
- If the travel advice changes while you are in the country: We do not cover your additional expenses if the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has issued travel advice for the country you are in, and you therefore want to return home earlier than expected. Your travel insurance is still valid if the travel advice changes while you are in the country.
Outside of EEA/Schengen area and the UK
The main rule is that up to and including 1 October 2021, we cover cancellations to countries or areas for which the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has issued travel advice. However, your trip must have been bought before 12 March 2020 in order for you to be able to claim compensation from us.
Did you buy the trip while the country was subject to travel advice or was “red” according to the Norwegian Institute of Public Health’s old colour codes (the codes prior to July 2021), but the travel advice has been removed by the date of travel?
- From 1 September 2021, we also cover travel cancellations when the cancellation is due to something that is normally covered by travel insurance (acute illness, broken bone, death in the immediate family and so on).
- If the travel advice is removed, but the cancellation is due to COVID-19 related factors such as fear of quarantine, entry restrictions in the country you are visiting or similar, we do not cover cancellation.
Holiday travel in Norway
We cover cancellations of domestic travel if you were put in so-called “authority-imposed quarantine” due to COVID-19. We cover this between 1 May and provisionally up until 30 October 2021.
The travel insurance naturally also covers normal cancellations, i.e. cancellations due, for example, to acute illness or death in the immediate family.
In Norway, the travel insurance also covers events such as theft, acute illness, accidents, serious events such as death in the immediate family, and fire/damage to the home. You will find the full range of cover in your insurance certificate.
EU’s third country list
Countries and areas on this list may be exempt from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ travel advice. This means that you can also go to these countries and areas when the travel is not necessary.
In that case, the travel insurance applies in the same way as for travel in the EEA/Schengen area (see the heading ‘Within the EEA/Schengen area and the UK’ for more information).
Since the list of countries and areas is regularly updated, you need to check the authorities’ overview yourself and see if the country you want to travel to is on the list. These countries are labelled purple.
Choose the trip that applies to you:
Before you report a case
We can process your case more quickly if you follow these points:
- You must always cancel your trip first with your airline, tour operator, hotel or similar.
- This is because we are unfortunately unable to process your case before we know what you will be getting back from the airline, tour operator, hotel or similar.
Note! Your trip must have been booked before 12 March 2020, or while the area you were going to travel to was green or yellow, before you will be able to apply for compensation from us.
Get written confirmation from the company who sold you the trip, showing how much money you are getting back.
If you don’t get any money back, you must send us written confirmation from the airline, hotel or similar of this as well. You will receive the confirmation from the company that sold you the trip.
- Written documentation (see item 2 above).
- Tickets/receipts for the air travel, hotel and similar.
- Did you pay for the trip with your credit card? Send us a statement of the payment, or invoice that shows what you have paid.
- If you the travel is necessary, you must be able to document the reason for going away. The documentation may, for example, be an appraisal report if the home is damaged, confirmation from the adoption office, a certificate of serious illness or death or similar.
Inform us if anyone else in your home has travel insurance anywhere else e.g. from their employer or through a union.
It is important that you do this after the date on which you would have travelled. This makes it easier to process your case.
How to report the case to Fremtind
You need the following:
- Tickets/receipts for the air travel, hotel and similar.
- Written confirmation that shows what you will be getting back from the airline, hotel and similar, including if you will not be receiving anything
- Did you pay for the trip with your credit card? Send us a statement of the payment, or invoice that shows what you have paid.
Inform us if anyone else in your home has travel insurance anywhere else e.g. from their employer or through a union
Report the damage by logging in to the online bank.
- If the damage involves damage to the company’s assets etc., log in to the corporate internet bank.
- If it involves damage that’s covered by travel insurance that the company has bought for its employees, travel insurance via a member organisation or damage that will be covered by travel insurance through a credit card, log in to the private online bank.
- If it involves damage covered by insurance that you have bought privately, log in to the private online bank.
We are experiencing high demand due to COVID-19, and it will therefore take some time before we can complete the processing of your case. We are working as quickly as we can, and we will deal with your request as soon as possible.
In this period, we request a little extra patience and would really appreciate it if you did not chase your case via phone or email. This frees up time for us to process your case and those of others.
We thank you in advance for your patience.
Travel to countries subject to travel advice
We cover cancellation if the country is subject to travel advice on the day on which you would have travelled. This only applies if the country was not subject to travel advice when your booked your trip, and if you booked after 1 October 2021.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has issued travel advice several times since 1 October. You can find an overview of these countries on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ website.
The infection situation in each individual country or area determines whether or not you can travel there. In other words, it is important that you still comply with the authorities’ travel restrictions and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ travel advice. This advice also determines whether your travel insurance is valid or not valid.
We only cover evacuation when the instructions come from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. If local authorities ask you to evacuate, you must cover the extra costs yourself.
Your travel insurance is not valid if your go to a country subject to travel advice, even if this was not the case when you booked the trip. This means that you will not receive compensation if something happens on your trip.
The exception is if you travel out of necessity, in which case the travel insurance will apply as normal. You can read more about what Fremtind defines as “necessary travel” higher up the page.
In this case, your travel insurance will not be valid. See also the point about ‘I have travelled to a country subject to travel advice but booked the ticked when the country was not subject to travel advice. What does the travel insurance cover in this case?’
Useful advice and tips before you travel
The pandemic has meant that there are still restrictions on entry to some countries. Remember also that the capacity at local hospitals can be limited due to COVID-19.
Why not download the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ new Reiseklar (Travel Ready) app? It will give you useful information both before and during the trip.
Remember also that the travel insurance naturally still covers normal cancellations due, for example, to acute illness or death in the immediate family.
In Norway, the travel insurance also covers events such as theft, acute illness, accidents, death in the immediate family, and fire/damage to the home. You will find the full range of cover in your insurance certificate.
Questions and answers
If you or someone you’re going to travel with gets COVID-19, we treat this as a normal illness. This means that you must send us documentation to prove that you are unwell if you cancel the trip and are seeking compensation from us.
In this case, unfortunately a positive home test is not valid documentation. You must take a PCR test at a local test centre or private medical centre, or you can get a doctor’s certificate to confirm that you are unwell.
We do not cover cancellations due to fear of quarantine, illness or similar, nor do we cover the expenses you may incur if you end up in quarantine. Nonetheless, you can get in touch with the airline, hotel or travel agent and see if you can re-book your tickets or booking. Due to the pandemic, many operators now have more flexible re-booking systems than before.
Unfortunately we cannot help you here. You need to contact the company running the event about getting your money back. Nor does the travel insurance cover what you have paid for flights, hotel and similar if the event (concert, theatre, football match etc) you were going to is cancelled.
The airlines normally cancel flights to countries that close their borders. If that happens, you’ll need to claim your money back from the airline yourself, since your insurance doesn’t cover cancellations. If you cancel the trip due to lockdown or similar, the insurance doesn’t cover this either.
We cover cancellations of flights, hotels and so on if you get caught in a so-called “authority-imposed quarantine” due to COVID-19, for example by the municipality/local health authorities. We cover this from 1 May 2021 and for an indefinite period into the future.
If you test positive when you are abroad, we also cover any extra costs you may incur due to quarantine, medicines etc.
If you or someone else in your household has to take a COVID-19 test abroad, we will cover you costs. COVID-19 counts as any other unexpected illness you may get when travelling. However, if the test is negative, you will have to pay for it.
If you are travelling abroad, from 9 December 2021 we cover your extra expenses if you have to quarantine (“authority-imposed quarantine”) due to possible COVID-19 infection. We do this regardless of whether the test turns out to be negative or positive.
We also cover the costs if you have to go into isolation abroad because you have been in close contact with someone infected with COVID-19.
If you have to stay abroad longer than planned due to quarantine/isolation, you will have accommodation costs covered, as well as a new flight ticket home. We also compensate for lost holiday days due to quarantine/isolation.
In order to process your case, we need documentation from local authorities regarding the quarantine. Please note that we do not cover entry quarantine or quarantine for the return journey.
If your business’s insurance needs have changed as a result of COVID-19, we recommend that you get in contact with one of our advisers.
This way, we can find the best solution together for your business and ensure that you are properly insured.
It is possible to get a payment deferral. We recommend you get in touch with one of our advisers in order to find the best solution for your business.
For your business interruption insurance to be able to replace lost turnover and income due to business disruption, a compensable loss must have occurred to the company’s assets or commercial property. A compensable loss means damage resulting from fire, water, theft etc.
Operational loss or business interruption due to a virus outbreak is what we call force majeure, i.e. the circumstances and situations are outside of both our and your control. The insurance therefore does not cover this.
Nonetheless, there are some cases in which we cover business interruption as a result of COVID-19.
Example:
If the company experiences a compensable loss to a machine that produces products, and production stops, this would trigger the interruption insurance. If it proves difficult to repair the machine because the machine supplier has all its employees in quarantine, the interruption will be extended. In this case, the interruption period and business interruption will be covered by the insurance.
If you go on at least 50 per cent sick leave and need to stay home for a longer period of time, policyholders of Sickness Interruption for independent business owners in DNB can report the case to us. The insurance gives you the right to disbursements of a pre-arranged unemployment benefit amount. If you are on 100 per cent sick leave, the full agreed unemployment benefit amount will be paid. If the degree is lower, the settlement payment will be reduced proportionally. A prerequisite for disbursements is that the sick leave certificate entitles you to sickness benefits from NAV (the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration). Normally, disbursements begin after 16 days of sick leave, unless agreed otherwise.
We have a dedicated page for questions related to travel and insurance.
Yes, get in touch with an adviser at the bank if this becomes relevant.
Furlough is a temporary scheme whereby employees are required to be exempt from work while the employer is exempt from their salary obligation. The employment status remains, and the work suspension must only be temporary. We do not recommend that the employee be removed from the travel insurance during the furlough period. Many companies have bought family cover for their employees, and removing them from the policy can have consequences for the individual employee. If the company still chooses to remove their employee from the scheme, the company must inform the employee separately that the travel insurance is no longer active.
Lost rental income is only covered if a compensable loss has occurred to the building, i.e. fire, water, theft etc. A loss of rental income related to COVID-19 is not compensable loss and will therefore not produce a settlement payment.
It is possible to adjust the turnover if the company’s sales fall significantly. It is the company’s responsibility to inform us if the level of turnover changes again.
For your business interruption insurance to be able to replace lost turnover and income due to business disruption, a compensable loss must have occurred to the company’s assets or commercial property. A compensable loss means damage resulting from fire, water, theft etc.
Operational loss or business interruption due to a virus outbreak is what we call force majeure, i.e. the circumstances and situations are outside of both our and your control. The insurance therefore does not cover this.
Nonetheless, there are some cases in which we cover business interruption as a result of COVID-19.
Example:
If the company experiences a compensable loss to a machine that produces products, and production stops, this would trigger the interruption insurance. If it proves difficult to repair the machine because the machine supplier has all its employees in quarantine, the interruption will be extended. In this case, the interruption period and business interruption will be covered by the insurance.
The insurance covers business interruption due to damage to the company’s assets or commercial property. If the company’s employee has to quarantine or work from home due to COVID-19, this is not covered by the insurance.