Should I cancel my holiday if I'm pinged by the NHS app? Your rights explained

While the build up to a holiday is no doubt exciting, it is never supposed to be nail biting. Unfortunately, more and more British travellers have found this to be the case during the pandemic as they have been forced to run not just one gauntlet, but several: from the fast-changing nature of the traffic light system to the bureaucracy of testing legislation.

Now, despite the easing of restrictions on the fully vaccinated, there is a fresh threat to your summer holiday: the “pingdemic”.

At its peak, more than 600,000 people in a week had been told to isolate by the NHS thanks to proximity with someone who had tested positive for coronavirus. While one million children were out of school thanks to the wonders of Bluetooth, there was a growing concern that the required 10 days of isolation (with no option to test your way out) would spell trouble for the peak summer season.

Stress over a possible positive test in the run up to a trip, or worse, simply an anonymous “ping”, can not be underestimated, but there is one way to mitigate such anxiety: know your rights.

First and foremost, it is important to distinguish between a “ping” from the NHS app and communications from the Test and Trace service. Should the latter ask you to isolate, it is a legal requirement that carries with it a £1,000 fine for any breaches; whereas a notification from the app is advisory. The Government says you should isolate for 10 days, but it is not written into law. This is to say, to go on holiday would not be breaking the law.

This somewhat complicates matters, but given the Government’s stance (even if it is somewhat muddy) that a “ping” should be obeyed, airlines, insurers and tour operators are likely to see it as if it were a Test and Trace contact and deal with it accordingly. Tui, for example, does not differentiate between the two and provides cover for when you are “advised” to self-isolate.

There are no grey areas should you test positive before travelling. You must isolate immediately and not travel. Inform your travel providers. Should you have an agreement with your tour operator that activates if you test positive, this is when you can consider rearranging your trip. Tui’s COVID Cover means you can amend your holiday for free if you contract Covid-19 before you are due to depart (for trips before October 31). Jet2 says the same, that you can amend your trip for free.

You should also contact your insurer. At the start of the pandemic insurance providers moved swiftly to exclude claims related to coronavirus; generally speaking, all policies sold after March 17, 2020 greatly reduced their cover. Only during last summer and autumn did less restrictive policies start to be offered, and many of these still had important exclusions, but there are options available providing suitable cover. For example, Staysure offers cancellation cover that includes an inability to travel due to contact from Test and Trace or being denied boarding due to a positive test.

Another Government curveball has been the unofficial introduction of the “amber-plus” list, on which only France resides, where even double-vaccinated travellers must quarantine on return to the UK. Should this happen to other countries, or if it has affected your French trip, contact your airline, operator or accommodation provider to discuss options.

I know P&O, Eurostar and DFDS are allowing postponements, while Tui allows rebookings for any holiday that requires quarantine on return (this would apply if your destination jumped onto the red list, too). But not all providers will be so generous and the “amber-plus” list is uncharted waters.

For anyone travelling later in the year, the picture should hopefully become clearer as Europe and the world comes to terms with the delta variant, but for August trips, the Government is due to update its Traffic Light System on Thursday, August 5. But, as we have seen this year, it tends to act as and when it wants.

The pandemic has forced travel companies to become generous with their flexible booking policies, but expect these to recede as the pandemic does; bear in mind that the golden rule to prevail may be the pre-pandemic classic: insurance does not cover disinclination to travel.

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