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      Home / Important Information Regarding: Air Vanuatu Insolvency – May 2024

      Issued: 10 May 2024 

      Background

      As of yesterday, hundreds of people across Australia; New Zealand; and the Pacific have been left stranded after Vanuatu Air suddenly cancelled flights to and from Sydney; Brisbane and Aukland. This follows Air Vanuatu filing for insolvency on Monday 6 May 2024

      It’s reported that impacted passengers have not been offered alternative flights however Air Vanuatu has said it is working with partner airlines to minimise disruption and will contact affected customers.

      If you have been directly affected by this event, it has been recommended to contact the airline. If you are experiencing an emergency, please call our 24 hour emergency assistance team immediately on +61 2 8907 5619. We recommend you pay close attention to information that is released about the matter. 

      Policy coverage:

      For policies/trips with a Relevant Time before 6 May 2024

      Cover for the Insolvency of a Travel Services Provider varies from policy to policy.

      If you have been impacted by this event and have a policy with us, first check if your policy contains a benefit for Insolvency to see what cover may be available. If not, check the benefits you may need to claim under to see if the event qualifies for cover and/or if the event is excluded from cover. Insolvency of a Travel Services Provider may be generally excluded from cover under the policy.

      If you have cover for Insolvency, costs that are not covered by your policy

      • Costs that are incurred where your travel is not directly affected 
      • Where alternate travel is at a higher fare class than originally booked 
      • Travel arrangements that have already been used 
      • Costs excluded or above the limits outlined in your PDS .

      For policies/trips with a Relevant Time from 6 May 2024

      Whether or not your policy contains cover for Insolvency, there is no cover for claims arising from this event under your policy as this is no longer deemed an unforeseeable event.

      If you decide to change your travel plans, we encourage you to speak with your travel agent or transport provider as soon as possible to minimise your out of pocket expenses.

      Important points regarding cover

      • Your insurance policy does not cover you for events that had already occurred at the relevant time of your policy/trip. 
      • Your insurance policy does not cover you for events that you knew were going to impact your travel at the relevant time of your policy/trip. 
         

      Free Extension of Insurance

      If the relevant time of your current trip pre-dates this travel advice and your travel is disrupted due to this event, impacting your ability to return home on your policy end date, your policy will freely extend until you are physically able to return home as soon as it becomes possible.

      Important general advice

      This information must be read in conjunction with the Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) as certain terms, conditions, limits, sub-limits and exclusions apply. These are detailed in the PDS and in particular we draw your attention to ‘The Benefits’, ‘Policy Conditions’ and ‘General Exclusions’ sections of the PDS.

      Contact us

      If you are travelling and require travel or medical assistance, please contact our 24 hour emergency assistance team on +61 2 8907 5619.

      For any general enquiries regarding the event please contact our Customer Service team on 1300 72 88 22 between 8am and 7pm Monday to Friday, 9am to 4pm Saturday and 10am to 3pm Sunday.