Travel insurance can be void if you put the wrong departure date

The devil is in the details as a young holidaymaker in Singapore discovered when a simple error on an insurance form left him high and dry when his flights were cancelled.

- Tan Ooi Boon

The excited traveller, preparing for his first trip to Europe, slipped up when filling in his insurance form.

Instead of entering the departure date, he entered the date of arrival at his destination, which was the following day after an overnight flight.

So when he later encountered mishaps - some connecting flights were cancelled and delayed due to bad weather, leading to extra travel and hotel charges - he thought he was insured as his coverage would have begun from his first day in Europe.

But to his dismay, the insurer rejected his claim for these expenses, stating that his policy was invalid because he failed to state the correct departure date from Singapore.

When the traveller's appeal to the insurer was thrown out, he turned to the Financial Industry Disputes Resolution Centre.

The insurer explained during mediation that for the travel plan to be valid, customers here must provide the correct dates that cover an entire trip, with Singapore as the start and end points.