Your travel insurance cover expedited return travel and cancellation in relation to Coronavirus

Find information about the coverage of your travel insurance in relation to the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak.

The information was updated on April 20 at 16:16.

Important information

We are doing our best trying to help you and our other customers.Thank you for your patience and for reading the information we present to you on this webpage. We are currently receiving a lot of calls, but have to prioritise those currently abroad and with in need of immediate medical advice.

The travel insurance cover expedited returns and cancellation for those customers holding it in their policy as a part of their insurance.

Please make sure to initially contact your travel agency or airline in order to get a refund. Expenses not covered by those, you may register as an insurance claim afterwards.

What should you do?

  • If your trip were to start on March 12 until June 15 (both days included), you can file a claim online as soon as you have received information from your travel agency or airline in terms of what expenses they will refund.
  • If you trip is to start on a date later than June 15 we kindly ask you to wait until after this date to contact us or file the claim.

We are handlings claims on an ongoing basis. If you have already filed your claim, we kindly ask you not to call us. Every claim will be handled, but it might take longer than usual.

Help and information from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for Norwegian citizens currently abroad

If you are abroad and in need of help and can’t reach your travel agency or airline, you should contact the Ministry of Foreign Affairs by phone on (+47) 23 95 00 00 or send them an email at UDops@mfa.no.

You’ll find find er information about planned flights on the Ministry’s Facebook page

We encourage all Norwegian citizens travelling abroad to registrer ther whereabouts at reiseregistrering.no and remember to delete your registration once you have returned to Norway.

Cancellation

Cancellation of a planned trip is only covered by Gouda for customers holding a cancellation insurance or a travel insurance including cancellation coverage as noted in their policy

Cancel your trip and file your claim

  1. Contact your airline or travel agency to cancel your trip. 

    – If the trip is cancelled by your airline or travel agency, you are entitled to a refund from them. 
    – If the trip is not cancelled by your airline or travel agency, you will have to cancel it yourself and get the refund you are entitled to from them. 

  2. Make sure to get documentation from the airline or travel agency that shows which expenses that have not been refunded.

  3. File your claim online.

      • If your private leisure travel abroad were to start between March 12 and June 15 (both dates included).
      • If your business travel abroad were to start between March 14 and June 15 (both dates included).

    We only cover expenses related to cancellation for those of our customers whose insurance policy includes said coverage.  

  • The Norwegian government advice against domestic travels in order to limit the outbreak of the Coronavirus within Norway. Coverage for this is however not included in the insurance. If your domestic flight is cancelled by the airline, you should contact the airline to get a refund.

  • The Norwegian Directorate of Health (Helsedirektoratet) now prohibit all travel abroad for employees working with public health care in Noway. The conditions above concerning cancellation also applies to you.

Expedited return to Norway

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs encourage all Norwegian citizens who are travelling abroad to consider returning home as soon as possible, in safe and calm manner, in consultation with their travel agency or airline.

You must make your own travel arrangements by contacting your travel agency or airline. Unfortunately we cannot arrange this for you. If you are unable to reach your travel agency or flight operator, contact the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs by phone +47 23 95 00 00 or email at UDops@mfa.no Expenses not refunded by your travel agency or flight operator should be filed as a claim on your travel insurance. There will be given no compensation for lost vacation days.

  • Necessary extra expenses related to expedited return travel are covered if

    • you had bought a return ticket to Norway before March 13 and returned to Norway before April 4.

    Extra expenses related to expedited returns are not covered if   

    • you are travelling from Norway after March 14th
    • you have an open return ticket – then you must use this ticket to return to Norway
    • you prior to this have not booked and paid your return tickets. In this case you will have to pay for them yourself
    • you are a temporary resident abroad, as you should follow the instructions provided by the local authorities

File your claim online

We encourage all our customers who wish to file a claim to do so online. We are doing everything in our power to help our customers, but many people are calling us right now and we therefore must prioritize those currently abroad and with an immediate medical need.

Please make sure to initially contact your travel agency or airline in order to get a refund. Expenses not covered by those, you may register as an insurance claim afterwards. Remember, that you must document your economic loss.

If you trip is to start on a date later than June 15 we kindly ask you to wait until after this date to contact us or file the claim

Students abroad

  • Exchange students should follow the Ministry of Foreign Affairs guidelines and rely on the information from their Norwegian school or university and the Norwegian government. As the situation varies from country to country the individual must consider local conditions, their own situation as well as possibilities of returning to Norway. The insurance covers as usual, but pay in mind that the coverage of expedited return will not be offered again later on.
  • Students doing their entire study programme abroad should rely on the information from local authorities. The insurance covers as usual. Please note that the insurance coverage cannot be changed at this point. If you already have an insurance and need to extend its duration because your stay is prolonged we will help you do so.

  • We cover extra expenses for expedited return to Norway for students

    • With the insurance Student Utland whether or not you already had a planned return trip as long as the new return trip happened no later than April 4. Expensed related to returning to your school or university at a later point will not be covered.  

    Extra expenses related to expedited returns are not covered if

    • you are travelling from Norway after March 14th
    • you have an open return ticket – then you must use this ticket to return to Norway

Are you still abroad?

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs encourage all Norwegian citizens who are travelling abroad to consider returning home as soon as possible, in safe and calm manner, in consultation with their travel agency or airline.

  • If you – despite the advice of the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs – dedice to stay abroad you must be aware of a number of things.

    Our possibilities of helping you – should you need our assistance – can be limited if you are already in an area with Coronavirus or planning to travel to one. You may also experience, that the insurance won’t cover expenses or loss related to the Corona pandemic as the risk of the pandemic affecting your travel is now known, and you as stated in the conditions, must take precautions in order to minimise the risk of contamination or loss.  

    In non-Coronavirus related casesthe insurance covers as usual.

  • Yes, we will help you extend the duration of your insurance. However, as the risk of the Coronavirus pandemic affecting your travel is now known, the insurance will not cover future losses or claims related to the COVID-19 Coronavirus pandemic.

More information

Please look for more information on the website of the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Contact Gouda

Please contact Gouda customer service and claims department for non-acute inquiries related to your travel insurance 

Opening hours

  • Customer service: Monday - Friday 09:00-15:00
  • Claims: Monday - Friday 10:00-15:00

Both departments can be reached by calling +47 24 14 45 70