Are you using your own car for volunteering, helping to deliver goods or helping people get about?

If you’re using your car to support friends, family or neighbours affected by COVID-19, such as delivering groceries or medication, this has always been covered as standard under social, domestic and pleasure use (as long as you're not making a profit from it). Saga Car Insurance already covers use for voluntary work as standard if you’re working unpaid for a UK-registered voluntary or charity organisation. In addition, if you’ve become an NHS Volunteer Responder, your car will be covered for Community Response, Patient Transport and NHS Transport volunteering.

Has your work pattern changed?

If you only have cover for social, domestic and pleasure use or you are a named driver, you are usually not covered for commuting (going to a single place of work). However, if you now need to commute by car to work as a direct result of COVID-19, you are now covered, and you don’t have to let us know. If you are a key worker and you now have to travel to more than one place of work because of the COVID-19 outbreak, you are automatically covered for business use driving to multiple workplaces without the need to inform us. If, as a result of COVID-19, you exceed your yearly estimated mileage, that’s OK. Similarly, if you’ve been furloughed or are now temporarily not working, there’s no need to tell us of this change at the moment. If any of these changes continue once the COVID-19 emergency has ended, please let us know.

Have you missed your MOT?

If you’ve been unable to get your car tested because you are self-isolating or your garage has closed, then the MOT can be delayed until it is safe to go ahead. The Department of Transport has suspended the requirement to have a valid MOT vehicle test certificate from 30 March 2020 for 6 months so long as you keep your car in a roadworthy condition.

Do you have Saga Breakdown Assistance?

If your vehicle breaks down, assistance is still available 24/7. Our provider, the RAC, has special measures in place to ensure everyone is as safe from infection as possible, such as cleaning surfaces they touch. With many garages closed, they’ll do their best to get you going – they currently fix 9 out 10 vehicles at the roadside.

Working from home?

If you’re now doing your office-based job at home because of the latest advice, you don’t need to tell us, and your cover will still be valid. Your work at home needs to be of a clerical nature, with stock worth less than £5,000 and have no other staff or business visitors. If that’s not the case for you, please give us a call, and we’ll make sure you’re fully covered.

Does any aspect of your cover depend on a regular boiler or alarm service, such as Saga Home Emergency?

We understand that this is not possible at the moment, so as long as it’s done when it is safe to do so, your cover is still valid.

Will your home be unoccupied for more than 60 days?

If you’re away from home unable to return due to COVID-19 restrictions, your cover will still apply.

NEW! There’s a great article at the Not Going Out Club webpage all about you and your home insurance.

The Saga Travel Insurance team is available to help, so please call them on 0800 056 9200 for advice about your cover or any support you may need.

The Foreign & Commonwealth Office is the best place to go for the latest advice about travel.

New Saga Travel Insurance policies taken out after 6pm 13 March 2020 do not provide cover for claims relating to or caused by COVID-19.

Many private hospitals have cancelled non-urgent treatment to help support the NHS. In these exceptional circumstances, we have introduced extra services and benefits to customers while non-urgent treatment is suspended:

Increased NHS cash benefit

This benefit is usually paid for each night spent in an NHS hospital when eligible treatment was not performed privately. This benefit is now available to you if you are admitted to hospital due to COVID-19. We have increased the amount by £100, so Saga HealthPlan Super customers can claim £250, and all other policyholders will receive £200, for each night up to 20 nights.

Clinical Support Centre

You can now speak to a team of leading specialists and practitioners by phone or video from the safety of your home. The Clinical Support Centre team can provide advice without you having to go and get a referral from your GP first. Importantly, there is no excess or charge to pay for using the service. Simply call the Saga Claims Personal Advisory Team, and they will guide you through the process.

We will be contacting all Saga Health Insurance customers soon with full details of these policy additions and modifications.

Our promise to you

We will take action to ensure that we do not make an any exceptional profits that could ultimately arise from COVID-19. Once the actual impact is more certain, Saga will act to appropriately compensate customers who have seen their treatment delayed or had services affected by the crisis. We will keep you updated on an ongoing basis and the approach taken will be independently audited to ensure fairness.
If you are currently claiming and have any queries, please contact our Claims Personal Advisory Team on 0800 027 1331. If you need to make a new claim in the current circumstances, don’t hesitate to call our Claims Personal Advisory team on the number above, and we’ll do all we can to help.

Important information for current claimants

If you have a current claim in progress and are due to have treatment, please contact your hospital as soon as possible if they have not already been in touch.

As a Saga Health Insurance customer, you have many services you can use from home without having to make a claim:

• The Saga GP Service – this offers phone appointments with a GP 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for all policyholders. There’s no excess or extra fee to pay, and of course, you don’t have to step a foot outside. If the GP needs to prescribe medication, they can get it dispensed and sent to your home (private prescription costs apply). If the GP recommends further investigation, they can also arrange open referrals.
• The Working Body Service has a team of physiotherapists who can advise about muscle, joint and bone pain (not available with Saga HealthPlan Support).
• Stronger Minds has trained counsellors you can talk to who offer help and treatment for anxiety, stress or other mental health concerns (not available with Saga HealthPlan Support).

You’ll find the contact numbers for these services in your Policy Book. If you have any concerns about your policy or cover during this time, or in the future, please call the Saga Health Insurance customer service team on 0800 056 9273. They are available and happy to help.

Coronavirus (COVID-19) 

For up-to-date advice on maintaining the welfare of your pets during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic visit www.gov.uk