News

• The recent CrowdStrike IT issue had travellers scrambling around the world to rebook and restart their travel plans
• SCTI front footed the problem and committed to support NZ travellers in their hour of need
• NZD 153,000 worth of claims made to date
• It pays to purchase comprehensive travel insurance

“It’s at times like these when travellers truly realise the benefit of having a comprehensive insurance policy,” says Jo McCauley, CEO for Southern Cross Travel Insurance (SCTI).

To date, SCTI has received NZD 153,000 worth of claims relating to the impacts of the CrowdStrike issue.

“Understandably, most claims are for changes to journey, however we also covered a number of claims for lost or damaged bags, and extra days in kennels or catteries for travellers caught up in the disruption.

“As the news broke about the impact of the CrowdStrike issue, we stood up a team to deal with how the situation would affect our business and to be ready to support our customers from wherever they were.

McCauley says that while SCTI’s systems were unaffected, it had 23,000 travellers from New Zealand moving round the world in the ten-day period looking forward and the team needed to be ready to help them. This included increasing the on call service and claims teams, and confirming and communicating how we would support travellers with policy coverage.

“The majority of claims were made for costs incurred in Australia and the USA. Most claims have averaged around the NZD $1,790 which is not unusual. What is unusual is the scale and widespread nature of the problem. From time to time there will be a disruption in one airport or city, however this disruption was felt right around the world, and all at once.

“Initially we had limited visibility of the extent of the potential impact on our claims team aside from being aware that we had thousands of customers travelling. Like everyone else, we followed the news of airlines grounding entire fleets and airports shutting off all activity, and we were relieved when they started getting back on their feet quickly once the problem was identified and resolved.”

Unexpected scenarios

Jo McCauley highlights unusual ways travellers were caught out.

“One of the issues which cropped up for a number of customers was the inability to pay for healthcare in the UK and USA as medical clinics and hospitals were unable to process payments. In some instances travellers were asked to leave their passports with healthcare providers as surety, which can be unnerving at the best of times.

“If you need to seek medical care overseas, first, if you are able, make sure you or a support person, contact the SCTI Emergency Assistance team (information on how to do this is included in a customer’s policy documents). They can then reassure the healthcare provider that the bill will be settled, potentially removing the need to leave a precious passport with someone you just don’t know.”

“Likewise, some travellers’ payments for emergency accommodation were unable to be processed by credit card or even online banking. In this instance, we also recommend contacting us at SCTI. We can offer advice on next steps and assure the accommodation provider that their costs will be covered up to the traveller’s benefit limits. This can take some of the stress out of the equation, at what is an anxious time.”