FAQ – Frequently Asked Questions
Booking time & extension
Any insurance contract containing the cancellation protection insurance or the deductible payment insurance must be concluded at the latest by the 3rd working day (Monday - Saturday) after the travel booking (booking date + 3 working days). If the insurance is taken out at a later date, insurance cover is only provided for events occurring from the 10th day after the insurance was taken out ("waiting period").
Insurance cover only exists after payment of the premium. Events that occurred before the premium was paid are not insured. If premium collection from an account has been agreed, this will take place immediately after the payment mandate has been issued. The payment is deemed to be on time if the premium can be collected on the debit date and you do not object to the justified premium collection. If the premium could not be collected by us through no fault of your own, the payment is still deemed to be on time if it is made immediately after our request for payment in text form.
Please send us the new travel date with your policy number to: service@hansemerkur.at.
We will check whether a rebooking of the plan is necessary.
The insurance must be taken out before the start of the trip for the entire duration of the trip. The extension of an insurance policy beyond the originally planned duration is possible upon application within the maximum permitted insurance duration.
The follow-up contract must be applied for before the end of the originally agreed duration. The completion and review of a health questionnaire are necessary. Only then can HanseMerkur Travel Insurance decide whether to agree to an extension.
In the event of an extension, only cases or illnesses and their consequences that occur AFTER the conclusion of the follow-up contract are insured.
Please contact us with your contract number: service@hansemerkur.at
No. Our rates must be taken out before the start of the trip for the entire duration of the trip.
Benefits & Conditions
The insurance begins on the day of departure when you leave your home country, if you have applied for the insurance to begin accordingly. This applies to all outward and return journeys lasting no longer than 2 days. It is also a prerequisite that the premium has been paid.
Travel cancellation insurance is an exception. It already begins after conclusion with payment of the premium and ends with the start of the journey.
The start and end of the insurance cover depend on the type of travel insurance and the travel dates you specify (start and end of travel).
Cancellation protection: The travel cancellation insurance begins with the payment of the insurance premium and ends with the start of the trip. Any insurance contract that includes cancellation protection insurance and deductible cover insurance must be concluded within 3 days of the travel booking. If the insurance is taken out at a later date, insurance cover is only provided for events occurring from the 10th day after the insurance was taken out ("waiting period"), provided that the premium has been paid.
Travel curtailment protection: The cover begins with the start of the journey and ends at the end of the journey.
International health insurance/ travel protection: Insurance cover begins when you leave the territory of Austria or the territory in which you are resident. It ends as soon as you re-enter your home country.
Emergency insurance: The protection afforded by emergency insurance begins, depending on the benefit, when you start your journey or arrive abroad. It ends at the end of your journey or when you leave the country.
Travel luggage and travel accident insurance: The insurance cover begins at the earliest with the start of the insured trip, provided that the premium has been paid before the start of the trip, and ends with the end of the trip.
For all travel insurance policies, please also note the respective information on our website or in the general insurance terms and conditions.
You can find more information about starting your journey in our glossary.
There are no notice periods for travel insurance for a single trip. The insurance policies are terminated at the end of the trip.
Please refer to the general insurance terms and conditions for the notice periods for annual insurance policies. The annual insurance policies shall be extended by a further year in each case if they are not terminated in writing by the policyholder with three months' notice before expiry.
There is a deductible in all Carefree packages and in the Auto Train & Bus package for outpatient treatment.
The deductible (20%) is only payable if the claims are not submitted in advance to the social or private insurance, or the social/private insurance does not pay.
Risk persons are persons who, in addition to the insured person, may also trigger an insured event. Persons at risk are:
insured persons who have booked a trip and taken out a policy together
Your relatives or your spouse’s relatives; relatives consist of your spouse or partner, children, adoptive children, step-children, foster children, children-in-law, parents, adoptive parents, step-parents, foster parents, grandparents, siblings, grandchildren, aunts, uncles, nephews and nieces, cousin and cousin
those individuals who look after minor children or other dependent relatives, who are not travelling together with the insured person; and
a close person (who must be named when booking the trip)
If an insured event occurs for one of the risk persons, the trip can be cancelled or curtailed.
Any risk person can be selected per policy. This must be disclosed when taking out the insurance.
If more than 6 persons (or more than 2 families) have booked and insured a trip together, only the respective relatives are considered risk persons, not all insured persons among themselves.
We want you to understand your insurance well. Consequently, we are explaining the special term “unexpected severe illness” and providing examples for you. Please note that the examples are not exhaustive. You are insured against unexpected serious illness by this policy. The illness must be "unexpected" and "severe". We will first define the criterion “unexpected” and will then give examples of “serious” illnesses.
Case 1: Each first occurrence of an illness after the insurance is taken out and after the trip is booked is considered to be unexpected.
Case 2: A repeat incidence of an illness is also insured if no treatment for this illness was given in the two weeks before insurance was taken out.
Case 3: An unexpected deterioration of a pre-existing illness is also insured if no treatment for this illness was given during the six months before insurance was taken out.
Regularly conducted medical examinations to establish the state of health are not counted as treatment. The examinations are not being carried out because of a specific occurrence and do not serve to treat the illness.
Examples of serious illnesses (not exhaustive):
- the doctor providing treatment has certified the inability to travel
- the medical impairment certified by the doctor is so severe that the insured person is unable to achieve the planned main travel service due to symptoms and complaints arising from the illness; or
- due to this medically certified illness of a person covered under this insurance, the presence of the insured person is needed.
Examples of "unexpected serious illness" in the travel cancellation insurance (not exhaustive):
- The insured person takes out insurance for a trip that has been booked. Shortly before departure, they have a heart attack for the first time.
- The mother of the insured person is diagnosed with pneumonia after the insurance has been taken out and the trip booked. Due to the illness, the mother is dependent on the care of the insured person.
- When insurance is taken out, the insured person has an allergy. No treatment for the allergy was given during the six months before the insurance was taken out. Before departure, they have a strong allergic reaction. The attending physician determines that the patient is unfit to travel due to the severity of the allergic reaction.
Examples of an “unexpected serious illness” for travel curtailment or emergency insurance (not exclusive):
- The insured person takes out insurance for a trip that has been booked. During the trip, he or she has a heart attack for the first time.
- The mother of the insured person is diagnosed with inflammation of the lung during the insured persons’ trip and after the insurance has been taken out and the trip booked. Due to the illness, the mother is dependent on the care of the insured person.
- When insurance is taken out, the insured person has an allergy. No treatment for the allergy was given during the six months before the insurance was taken out. During the trip, they have a strong allergic reaction. The doctor providing treatment recommends early return from the journey due to the intensity of the allergic reaction.
Not all conceivable cases are insured. Example where there is no "unexpected serious illness" (not exhaustive):
- The insured person suffers from an illness that progresses in phases (e.g. multiple sclerosis, Crohn’s Disease). In the last 6 months before taking out insurance or booking travel.
Within the framework of international health insurance, the costs of medical treatment for a newborn child that is necessary abroad are also covered in the event of birth during the journey.
Please send your request for proof of validity for Russia or for a Spanish translation with the following information to service@hansemerkur.at.
Insurance policy number
Travel period
Payment options
You can choose between bank debit or SEPA direct debit, credit card payment (Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Diners Club International) and Paypal.
In the case of a one-off payment, the amounts are collected immediately when the insurance is booked; in the case of annual insurance, they are also collected immediately when the first direct debit is made, and in the case of any subsequent premiums, they are collected in each case on the next due date resulting from the respective start of the insurance.
SEPA – stands for "Single Euro Payment Area". The SEPA core direct debit mandate replaces the previous direct debit mandate. Like the direct debit mandate, it is explicitly issued. The premium due will be debited from your account once. In the case of annual insurance and instalment payments, the collection is recurring.
IBAN – the identifier of the account at a credit institution with which international transfers are carried out. The IBAN is made up of 4 parts. The 2-digit country code, a 2-digit check digit, the national bank code and the national account number (padded with zeros on the left if necessary). Each country has a defined length for the IBAN. In Germany, the IBAN has 22 digits, in Austria 20.
BIC – international bank code of a credit institution with which it is possible to participate in cross-border payment transactions. It has 11 digits. The digits 1-4 are the bank name, the digits 5-6 are the country code, the digits 7-8 are the location/regional information and the digits 9-11 are the branch name (may remain empty or be filled with "XXX").
Creditor ID – is a unique identifier of the debiting creditor. The number is requested from and issued by the Bundesbank.
Mandate reference – unique identification of a SEPA mandate issued in payment transactions. The mandate reference appears on every direct debit.
Payment service provider – this refers to the credit institution with which the account exists. Your bank, savings bank, etc.
Definitions & types of travel
A family plan can be taken out for 2 persons or more.
Family definition for cancellation protection, travel protection and the cancellation & travel protection packages:
A maximum of 2 adults and accompanying children up to the age of 21 (20.99 years) are deemed to be a family, irrespective of the relationship – up to 7 persons in total.
Two adults without children can also take out the family plan.
Family definition for the annual travel protection, the annual cancellation & travel protection and the annual international health insurance:
If a family insurance policy is taken out, a maximum of 2 adults and children up to the age of 25 (24.99 years) count as a family – a total of up to 7 persons apply regardless of the degree of relationship.
Two adults without children can also take out the family plan.
For insured family members travelling alone, the sum insured under the cancellation and luggage insurance policies is halved.
A group consists of at least 10 people with the same destination and travel date. For groups of young people under 30 years of age (incl. accompanying persons over 30 years of age), we also offer the cheaper Club & Class plan.
Can more than 6 people be insured together? With the additional conclusion of a small group insurance protection (premium plus 1% of the total travel price), up to 15 persons can cancel among themselves. Please contact our Service Team at service@hansemerkur.at.
The geographical concept of Europe applies.
The African and Asian countries bordering the Mediterranean, the Canary Islands, the Azores, Madeira, Armenia, Jordan and Russia up to the Urals are counted as exceptions to Europe.
The following countries and territories fall under the scope of Europe:
Albania Algeria Andorra Belgium Bosnia-Herzegovina Bulgaria Denmark Germany Estonia Finland France Georgia Greece Great Britain/Gibraltar Ireland Iceland Israel Italy Kazakhstan (up to the Urals) Kosovo Croatia Latvia Lebanon Libya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Malta Macedonia Moldova Monaco Montenegro Morocco Netherlands Norway/Spitsbergen Austria Poland Portugal/Madeira/Azores Romania Russia (up to the Urals) San Marino Sweden Switzerland Serbia Slovakia Slovenia Spain/Canary Islands Spitsbergen Syria Czech Republic Tunisia Turkey Ukraine Hungary Vatican City Belarus Cyprus
All countries not mentioned fall under the term worldwide.
The term "Bus Tour" covers trips where you arrive and depart by bus for a hotel stay or travel by bus/coach in the destination region.
Boat trips are all journeys on water. When booking your travel insurance, please select the travel type "cruise" if the share of the travel duration for the cruise is more than one third of the total travel duration (e.g. 1 week river cruise and 1 week hotel).
Examples:
- Cruises
- River cruises
- Sailing trips
- Yacht charter
Exceptions:
"Blue Voyage" in Turkey and Nile cruises from tour operator catalogues, ferry passages and houseboats. In this case, please select the travel type "Air travel".
Separate premiums apply to voyages by ship.
If you are travelling by car train, please select "Exclusively a rental property" under Travel Cancellation Insurance – this will ensure that your trip is suitably covered.
Please select "cruise" when booking your travel insurance.
Each participant on the yacht trip must insure his/her own share. To calculate the individual premium, calculate the total travel price and divide it by the number of people travelling with you. The skipper has to insure the whole charter additionally, if the whole charter can be cancelled due to his absence.
Different premiums apply for ferry passages than for ship voyages. Whether it is a ferry passage is stated on the booking confirmation for your journey. Only if this does not explicitly mention "ferry passage", please select the travel type "cruise". If it is a ferry passage, indicate "for hire only" under Trip Type when booking your travel cancellation insurance. For 4-star convenient cover or 5-star premium cover, please select "air travel" for the type of travel.
If you are travelling by different means of transport, please select the main mode of transport (e.g. "Air travel" or "Car, bus, train travel"). In this case, please enter the total travel price including additional means of transport (e.g. the feeder by bus or train in the case of a flight). If you have also hired a rental car at the holiday destination, these costs must also be included in the total tour price.
For a combined ship/round trip, the following calculation applies: If the share of the travel duration for the boat trip is greater than one third of the total travel duration (e.g. one week river cruise and one week hotel), please select the travel type "boat trip".
If you have rented a holiday home, please select "only rental property" for the travel type when booking your cancellation insurance. If it is a combined trip and you would also like to insure the journey, select your means of transport under Mode of travel: "Air travel", "Car, bus or train travel" or "Ship voyage". In this case, please add up all the individual prices and enter the amount under "Total travel price".
Security of digital data
We guarantee the highest level of security in the handling of your data when you take out HanseMerkur travel insurance within our booking section. The booking section is integrated within our website as a separate page (also called iFrame). Therefore, the address in your browser starts with "http". However, the actual booking process takes place on an SSL-encrypted page ("https").
How can you recognise this?
Firefox: Drag the mouse over the actual booking form, click on the right mouse button and select "current frame", there you now click on "show frame information". The address of the encrypted page is displayed here (https://secure.hmrv.de/rvw-ba/baEingabe.jsf).
Internet Explorer: Drag the mouse over the actual booking form, click on the right mouse button and then on "Properties" (see screenshot). The address of the encrypted page is now displayed there (https://secure.hmrv.de/rvw-ba/baEingabe.jsf).
Chrome: Drag the mouse over the actual booking form, click on the right mouse button and then on "Show frame information". In the window that now appears, click on the "Connection" tab. The SSL certificate information is displayed there.
SSL (abbreviation for "Secure Socket Layer") is a generally recognised encryption protocol for data transmission on the Internet. SSL ensures that your data is sent over the internet in encrypted form and is protected from unwanted access and manipulation.
HanseMerkur Travel Insurance complies with the PCI (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) security standard of a worldwide neutral body for credit card payments. This PCI compliance makes your credit card payment even more secure and prevents fraud.
This binding security standard ensures that HanseMerkur Travel Insurance does not come into contact with or process your credit card data at any time.
Insurance premiums and travel price
The maximum travel price that can be insured online is € 15,000 per person/family. For higher travel prices, please contact our Service Team at service@hansemerkur.at.
The travel cancellation insurance reimburses the costs incurred due to the cancellation of a trip, provided there is an insured reason for this. The premium is calculated on the basis of the travel price. For building block trips, all amounts are added together:
Example: Flight including taxes & fees: 561.34 €
Car rental price: 218.00 €
Hotel price: 360.00 €
Agency fee: 25.00 €
Travel price: 1,164.34 €
The insurance premium is calculated in stages (e.g. up to a travel price of € 1,000 or up to a travel price of € 1,500). In this example, a travel price of up to € 1,500 is chosen as the basis for calculating the premium. Therefore: Even if the travel price is only slightly higher than one booking level (up to € 500), for example € 530, the next higher level (up to € 750) must be insured.
Note on underinsurance: If you take out a lower sum insured, the amount of compensation is reduced in proportion to the sum insured in relation to the price of the trip.
Conduct in the event of a claim
For emergencies during the trip, there is the so-called "emergency insurance". The Worldwide Travel Emergency Service has been set up for this purpose.
You can reach our staff here around the clock on +43 1 31524 44.
You can find out more about the HanseMerkur Travel Insurance Emergency Call Service here.
Important for us in the event of a claim:
Name of caller and holiday address, telephone number
What insurance cover have you taken out?
Who the contact person on site is (name of the doctor, police, address, telephone number)
Facts
Insurance policy number
I have to cancel my trip
Immediate cancellation is required via the booking office in order to keep cancellation costs as low as possible! Higher cancellation costs will not be refunded if you cancel the trip too late because you were waiting to see whether your health improved or recovered!
I am ill abroad
There is free choice of doctor. In the case of outpatient treatment, the costs must be borne by the insured person in advance and subsequently submitted to HanseMerkur Reiseversicherung AG.
In the event of inpatient treatment, the emergency call service must be notified immediately on telephone number 01 3152444 (for a fee) (stating the insurance number, if applicable the travel organiser).Submit a claim
You can find out how to submit a claim and which documents we need under: Submission of claims
If you have travel accident insurance from HanseMerkur Travel Insurance and have had an accident, proceed as follows:
- Seek medical attention immediately.
- Report the accident immediately in writing or by telephone to HanseMerkur Travel Insurance using these contact details: Submit a claim
Please report an accident resulting in death to us within 48 hours.
If you are receiving health care services in the USA, please do not make any advance payment for the costs incurred if you are requested to do so by the health care provider.
An examination of the services rendered and costs can be made considerably more difficult by the advance payment. We, as your insurer, can then no longer protect you from unjustified cost charges.
A hospital may not refuse to treat a patient in the USA either. If necessary and for further information, please also contact our emergency call service when travelling (from abroad: +43 13152444).
- Do not make any acknowledgement of culpability vis-a-vis the injured party under any circumstances and document the accident by means of photos, sketches, etc.
- Note down names and addresses of claimants and witnesses.
- Report the incident and damage to us.
We will reimburse you for the re-booking costs up to a maximum of € 30 per person/object. For this purpose, the booking must be changed at least 42 days before the start of the trip without giving reasons for the cancellation.
Should you re-book for a reason stated in the travel cancellation insurance, we will refund up to the amount of the cancellation fee incurred at the time of rebooking. The insurance cover applies to the travel cancellation insurance.
In the event of a claim, we generally require the following documents and information:
Copy of the booking confirmation of the organiser
Copy of the insurance certificate
For the transfer of the possible refund amount, the indication of the bank details of the recipient (in case of foreign transfers, the IBAN number and the BIC code)
Address data of the policyholder:
Depending on the type of insurance, special documents – further information can be found in the section on reporting claims.
When submitting claims by email, please send graphics and photos only legibly and only as an email attachment.
Please send the complete documents to:
HanseMerkur Reiseversicherung AG
c/o Travel Partner Vienna
Landstraßer Hauptstraße 99-101
Bürozentrum 1, Top 2
1030 Vienna
Email: reiseleistung@hansemerkur.at
Coronavirus and travel insurance
If the insured person falls ill with COVID-19 during the trip, HanseMerkur will cover all medical treatment costs including a COVID test carried out on the basis of clear symptoms.
Items not insured include:
- the costs of a quarantine
- Costs incurred on the basis of the mere presumption of COVID disease (test negative)
- Cost of a COVID test to meet entry requirements
- Costs if there was already a travel warning level 4 in place before departure
If an insured person or a close relative falls ill with COVID-19, we will provide cover for this reason for cancellation (in deviation from our insurance conditions). Otherwise, we do not pay for events related to pandemics unless specifically stated, as in this case. Please note: Fear of falling ill, a high risk of infection, a travel warning from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or a state-mandated quarantine due to a suspected COVID-19 do not constitute insured events.
If the insured person or a close relative falls ill with COVID-19 and the trip has to be interrupted as a result, HanseMerkur will reimburse the unused travel services and – depending on the plan selected – also the costs of an early return trip.
Please obtain a medical certificate as proof. A PCR test result alone is not sufficient.
If you have taken out Cancellation & Travel Protection Premium or Annual Cancellation & Travel Protection Premium after January 9th, 2024, your contract already includes the services of Corona travel protection. For older contracts, you can book Corona travel protection separately.