World Nomads Travel Insurance No Payouts for Covid-19 Losses Class Action

One of the issues arising out of Covid-19 has been whether insurance companies must make payouts for Covid-related losses. This class action bring suit against three travel insurance companies, World Nomads, Inc., Trip Mate, Inc., and Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company, for refusing to make payouts for trips cancelled, delayed, or interrupted due to the pandemic.

The class for this action is all persons who paid for or got a travel protection policy from the defendants in this case, and whose claims were denied after their trips were canceled or interrupted because of Covid-19 or Covid-related government stay-at-home orders, proclamations, or guidance.

At the heart of this case are three insured trips, scheduled for the four plaintiffs in this case:

For Rufus Davis: A trip to Alaska, intended to be April 4-11, 2020. Davis bought insurance for the trip from World Nomads on March 22, 2020. Before the start of the trip, the complaint alleges, “Covid-19 and governmental orders issued in connection therewith forced Davis to cancel his Trip.”

For Grant Hoag: A trek to Nepal, intended to be March 3-30, 2020. Hoag bought insurance for the trip from World Nomads on February 13, 2020. He was able to leave on the trip. However, the complaint claims that “mandatory quarantine and lockdown orders issued by the Nepal government forced the cancellation of Hoag’s trip activities and the cancellation of his scheduled travel within Nepal and Hoag’s return flight from Nepal to the United States. Hoag had to arrange to return to the United States by a government evacuation flight at his own expense.”

For Debra Murphy and Michael Murphy: Trips to Bali, Indonesia, and Sri Lanka, intended to be March 21-April 20, 2020. The Murphys bought insurance from World Nomads on or around March 12, 2020. Before their trip started, the complaint alleges, “the government of Indonesia and Sri Lanka imposed mandatory quarantine and lockdown orders that forced them to cancel their trip.”

All three parties’ travel insurance policies were Plan Number N 300 E from World Nomads.

All three parties made claims on their insurance policies. But the complaint alleges that the companies “failed and refused to reimburse their insureds under the policies … as a result of the cancellation, and/or delay of trips due to Covid-19 and/or associated governmental orders.”

The complaint claims that the policy allows the payment of a benefit if a trip is canceled because the insured is “quarantined,” if it is canceled because of a natural disaster at the destination site that makes the accommodations uninhabitable, or if a non-medical emergency evacuation is required. The terms “quarantined,” “natural disaster,” and “uninhabitable” are not defined.

The complaint takes note of various orders and declarations issued due to Covid-19 referencing activity limitations, quarantining, disasters, and so on.

The complaint alleges, “The disaster declarations and the global impact of Covid-19 amount to a ‘natural disaster’ under the Policy.” It claims that the three parties’ claims on their insurance policies were wrongfully denied.

Article Type: Lawsuit
Topic: Insurance

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