Some Travellers Have Insurance Cover
Further to the collapse of Sun Travel last week (New Zealand's largest adventure oriented travel wholesaler), Mike Henry
Ltd, the largest provider of travel insurance in New Zealand, is advising clients that those with Mike Henry Travel
insurance will be covered for any resulting losses. The losses for Mike Henry's insurers alone are estimated to be in
excess of $750,000.
Steve Nichols, managing director travel for Mike Henry, says the collapse of Sun Travel will affect a large number of
travellers who will be out of pocket if they do not have the correct insurance cover.
"Sun Travel were wholesalers of travel packages for offshore suppliers such as Trek America, Top Deck Tours and Intrepid
Tours amongst others. They had been in the business for over twenty years and had built up a large amount of support for
their services."
"The effect of the collapse of Sun Travel means that many travellers, some overseas and some about to depart New
Zealand, will be out of pocket. They have paid their money to a travel agent, who in turn have passed it on to Sun
Travel, which having gone into liquidation has not passed it on to the supplier of the service offshore."
"Our stance on the Sun Travel collapse is to provide coverage under the terms of our policies, enabling people to
continue with their tours, even though they may not have been paid for. In many cases we have negotiated to pay the
supplier directly. We are also paying monies where people have had to cancel their travel arrangements and there are no
refunds from any other source."
Steve Nichols said people should check their insurance policies, as not all policies were equal in these sorts of
situations.
"People may find that the cheaper insurance policies sold by some insurers do not cover this sort of scenario, and of
course those with no insurance are totally exposed."
Steve Nichols said the early indication from the liquidator was that total losses would be in excess of $2 million.
ENDS For further information, please contact: Catherine Beard, Principal, Comsar Communications, Tel (04) 389 0544, Mob
(021) 633 212 Steve Nichols, Managing Director Travel, Mike Henry Ltd, Tel (09) 377 5958, Mob, 021 974 510