{"id":258637,"date":"2026-01-30T02:49:13","date_gmt":"2026-01-30T02:49:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/258637\/"},"modified":"2026-01-30T02:49:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-30T02:49:13","slug":"travellers-unlikely-to-be-covered-by-insurance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/258637\/","title":{"rendered":"Travellers unlikely to be covered by insurance"},"content":{"rendered":"

Travellers caught out by upcoming changes to requirements for visiting the UK are unlikely to be covered by insurance, says the Insurance and Financial Services Ombudsman.<\/p>\n

“Travel insurance usually won’t cover situations where a traveller doesn’t meet passports or visa requirements and can’t travel,” said Ombudsman Karen Stevens.<\/p>\n

“We commonly see travel insurance claims denied because of this. If someone can’t board a flight because they don’t have the correct passport or visa, that can turn out to be an expensive situation.”<\/p>\n

Earlier this month, it was reported British dual citizens travelling to the UK will need to use a UK passport<\/a>, rather than their New Zealand passport, from February 25. Children of dual nationals<\/a> would also need a UK passport.<\/p>\n

Prior to the change, dual nationals have been able to visit with their New Zealand passport, meaning some have now scrambled<\/a> to apply for a new British passport in time for their travel, which would require a payment of \u00a394.50\/$220.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, the British High Commissioner to New Zealand Iona Thomas acknowledged the change had been “met with questions”<\/a> from travellers.<\/p>\n

\"British<\/p>\n

British High Commissioner to New Zealand Iona Thomas. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n

She confirmed the requirements would be necessary from February 25 under the UK’s new Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) system.<\/p>\n

From January 8 last year, Kiwis without an immigration status or visa in the UK have been required to get an ETA before flying, which would cost $37.<\/p>\n

The Ombudsman said a similar change next year was also coming for the EU.<\/p>\n

“These are new, unfamiliar, requirements and it\u2019s understandable travellers may not be aware of them,” said Stevens.<\/p>\n

\u201cAirlines won\u2019t generally make their customers aware of entry and passport requirements, it really is the responsibility of the traveller to make sure they know what they need.\u201d<\/p>\n

The morning’s headlines in 90 seconds, including the possible future of the Mt Maunganui campsite, a notorious murder faces the parole board, and have scientists found a new planet we could live on? (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n

Stevens added it was now “really important” for travellers to take the time to confirm what they need before they go, to allow time to get the necessary documentation.<\/p>\n

“Travel insurance is generally pretty good at covering mishaps and unexpected disruptions, but this is a common exclusion that people need to be aware of,” she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Travellers caught out by upcoming changes to requirements for visiting the UK are unlikely to be covered by…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":258638,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[138,42,43,40,38,41,39,1745],"class_list":{"0":"post-258637","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-headlines","10":"tag-news","11":"tag-top-news","12":"tag-top-stories","13":"tag-topnews","14":"tag-topstories","15":"tag-uk-europe"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258637","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=258637"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258637\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/258638"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=258637"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=258637"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=258637"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}