Kiplinger’s Personal Finance: Travel insurance for a pandemic | Business News

The limitations of standard travel insurance have expanded the appeal of a previously obscure upgrade to standard travel insurance known as “cancel for any reason” policies. This option, while significantly more expensive, is more likely to cover the sort of cancellations that COVID-19 has made commonplace.

Megan Moncrief, chief marketing officer for travel insurance aggregator Squaremouth, said CFAR has become the go-to plan for more travelers.

Traditional travel insurance, she explains, doesn’t cover the majority of pandemic-related claims. And a recent review by Squaremouth found that only 30% of pandemic-related claims were made by people who canceled their trips because they actually contracted COVID. That is the only type of pandemic claim that would be covered by most standard travel insurance policies.

The remaining 70% of claims were for related reasons, including border closures and quarantines, but those were excluded from non-CFAR policies.

A travel insurance plan from…