Current (2024) guidance for how to document Covid diagnosis for travel insurance?

Check your policy? Ask your insurer? Do all companies cover Covid interruptions or have Covid specific protocols these days?

I don't mean to be "snide". Things have changed so much in recent years and different countries have different attitudes re Covid.

I agree, I think you need to get specifics from your travel insurance company and take notes and names! Each travel insurer may require something different so others' experiences may not help you if you wind up having to file a claim with your chosen provider.

It seems to me that covid is no longer a big threat if you have your vaccinations. That having covid is more or less like the flu. In other words, you may get sick, but will probably recover on your own.
I am not negating the possibility of something serious as a consequence of contracting covid, but in response to insurance when you travel, it seems that if you get covid and self test then you minimize contact. Unless you end up in the hospital what concern is it for the insurance? If you do end up in a hospital then you will have a diagnoses to present to your insurance company just as you would for whatever other malady you might present for.
I am not sure I understand the statement you make, “I know travel insurance requires proof of a covid diagnosis.”
What exactly do you wish for from the insurance company if you happen to get covid while in Italy and you are not sick enough to require a hospital?

As mentioned, most of questions need to be directed to your travel insurance company. It’s still pretty early and not many have traveled this year yet, to give you their experiences. Good luck on finding your answers. One thing I can tell you for sure is, if you do need to use your insurance, make sure you have everything they want and submit it all at one time.

Sorry, I should have clarified. For a portion of the trip we’ll be on a tour. If we got sick and needed to leave the tour, we’d need to pay for a place to stay and possibly meals and transportation. My travel insurance seems to say pretty clearly that I would need a verification of a positive Covid diagnosis. A self test isn’t sufficient to get reimbursement. So I’m just trying to figure out how I could do that. Back when people first started traveling after Covid you could get verification of diagnosis from a pharmacy. Other people used some kind of proctored test with an online medical appointment. I don’t know if either of those still exist. Thanks.

I will contact my travel insurance company and hopefully they know of a proctored site or have country specific details for Italy. Thanks everyone.

Just wondering what tour company is still booting people who have Covid? All companies that I have checked are no longer requiring testing or vaccination and are not removing ill members from the tour.

I’m not talking about getting booted from a tour. As I said initially I am going in hoping for the best but want to be prepared if something comes up. It is possible to become so sick I’d need to leave a tour, even if the tour company didn’t require me to leave. I don’t expect that to happen, but I’ve read enough stories to know sometimes it does. I just want to do a small amount of preparation in advance to be prepared for that scenario. Just like I’ll have the contact information for my credit card company in case my card is stolen. It’s most likely never going to happen but I want to do a small amount of work up front so I’m prepared if it does.
(Btw, I’d like to think if I got really sick I’d leave the tour for the sake of the health of others. I know someone who got sick before she left for a cruise but didn’t test because she didn’t want to know. Flew without a mask. Got on the cruise ship and mingled with others without a mask. The person who told me about this was one of her travel companions who nonchalantly reported that half the cruise passengers probably had Covid by the end of the trip. I don’t want to be like this woman.)

While you wait to hear from your insurance company, I’ll say that Travel Insured accepted a printout of the eMed lab report from my remote-proctored BinaxNow test when I had a claim in late 2022.

Last year when we were in Portugal and I came down with Covid, we were told that pharmacies were no longer doing the testing and if I wanted an official document, I would have to go to a hospital to be tested. I zoomed with my primary doctor in the US and she provided the necessary documentation for the insurance company which was thru our Chase Sapphire card. I might also add that even though multi vaxxed I was still sick enough where there was no way I could have continued on the tour even if I hadn’t been booted.

And as someone also mentioned check to see if your insurance will accept the remote testing kit results. I hope this helps. The stuff is still out there and not everyone reacts to it like a common cold.

When I had Covid in Paris last May, while I didn’t need to be in the hospital, I felt unwell enough to not travel to another town so travel insurance would have kicked in. I also had my booster 4 weeks earlier and have no pre-existing conditions so one never knows how this will play out.

In terms of tour rules, Abercrombie and Kent is one example that doesn’t allow Covid positive participants to participate with any group activities for a minimum of 5 days and must mask for the next 5 days.

Hi Ruth,
I have a similar question. I had a policy last year from Seven Corners that required proof of and doctor's written note requiring quarantine. Then you'd be covered for the days you had to pay for staying behind while the tour goes on. Now, of course no one quarantines , so I am looking for a policy that will cover if I get covid and NEED to stay behind because I am too sick to travel. Do you know of specific insurance policy that covers you if trip is interrupted for some days, by illness?