Can you cancel your holiday to Italy and get a refund due to coronavirus?

ITALY has been placed in lockdown in an attempt to stop the spread of coronavirus putting Brits' holidays in jeopardy.

Here, we explain your rights to cancellations and refunds now that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has put a ban on all but essential travel to the European country.

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The Italian government has extended its quarantines that had previously just affected the Lombardy region, including Milan, as well as 14 provinces, to the whole country.

The extraordinary measure sees all public events banned, cinemas, gyms, discos and pubs closed, funerals and weddings cancelled and sporting matches including Serie A games suspended.

Italy has seen the largest number of cases of COVID-19 in Europe with more than 12,400 people infected and 827 deaths at the time of writing.

So what happens if you have a trip booked, and can you get a refund if you cancel because of coronavirus?

Can I cancel my Italy holiday and get a refund?

Now that the UK government advice is not to travel to Italy except in essential circumstances then you should be entitled to a refund.

Your first point of call should be to contact your airline or, if you booked through a third-party agent, the company you booked your flight with.

If your flight is cancelled then you will be offered your money back or alternative flights with to a new destination or for different dates.

But be warned, if you choose to accept alternative arrangements you won't be able to get a refund too.

EasyJet has cancelled a handful of journeys and is reducing the number of flights in an out of Milan Malpensa, Milan Linate and Verona airports in the period up to April 3 and has only cancelled a handful of scheduled flights.

British Airways has cancelled all flights to Italy that were due to leave the UK today and will be issuing refunds.

The airline has also removed the change fee from all bookings made between March 3 and 16 2020 if passengers would prefer to change the dates of their holiday to any day within the next 12 months.

Ryanair has also cancelled hundreds of flights as part of a three-week reduction plan from March 17 until April 8.

Travel trade association ABTA  says that you're unlikely to get a refund if your trip is still a few months away, so those worried about summer holidays will need to wait until nearer the time to see if the situation changes.

If you cancel early, or outside of government advice, you may face paying a fee so speak to your airline or package holiday provider for more information.

Hotels are slightly more complicated as they usually set their own cancellation policies.

Travellers are being recommended to get in contact with their accommodation, or the company they booked it through, to discuss their booking.

If your hotel provider or airline is refusing to budge and you have travel insurance, you should get in contact with your policy provider to discuss your options.

You'll also need to go through your insurance provider to try and claim money back for extras including car hire and parking at the airport.

Refunds will only cover places that have been deemed unsafe, or all but essential travel, at the time of travel or for an upcoming holiday.

Free cancellations aren't guarantee just you've booked through an ATOL-protected tour operator either.

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How to make sure you've got a travel insurance policy that covers you

To make sure you're covered, you need to check the small print of your policy before buying.

As the FCO has issued travel warnings, you're not likely to be able to find a policy that will cover you for travelling to Italy until it is lifted.

Essential travel may be covered as long as you have agreed with the insurers that it is urgent.

Since the outbreak, some insurers have started inserting "no coronavirus claims" clauses into new contracts, according to Martyn James from complaints tool Resolver.

You should also avoid policies that won't cover you in the case of a pandemic, should COVID-19 continue to spread and escalate to this level.

If your policy contains a "disinclination to travel" clause then you won't be covered if you decide not to go on holiday.

Only policies that have a "cancel for any reason" clause will cover you for these kinds of cancellations.

However, you would need to cancel your trip at least 48 hours before the departure date and you may only get 50 to 75 per cent of your money back.

Read our full guide on how to check your insurance policy to see if it will cover you for coronavirus cancellations.

Patrick Ikhena, head of travel at , said: "We have seen a huge spike in purchases for travel insurance in recent days, which could well be down to the British public’s growing concern about the coronavirus.

"If the FCO is advising against all but essential travel to a particular region you will likely be covered by any disruption caused to your holiday plans – providing your trip and insurance policy was purchased before the outbreak.

"However, if the UK government has not issued advice warning against travel to a particular country you cannot expect compensation for your trip unless the state-of-play changes."

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