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How to create an Amex Platinum Covid insurance certificate before you travel

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Some countries are now insisting that you provide evidence of travel insurance for coronavirus before you will be allowed to enter the country. If travelling to such a country, it may also be required by your airline at check-in as they will face the cost of repatriating you to the UK.

If you bought a dedicated travel insurance policy then you don’t need to worry because you will have a personalised policy document. It is trickier if your coverage comes via The Platinum Card from American Express because you do not have a policy document with your name on it.

American Express Amex Platinum card

It turns out that American Express has added the ability online to generate an insurance certificate.

I thought I would write this up because, having just done this myself, I was sent on a merry-go-round between Amex and AXA before finally being told that the only way to do it was online.

How do you get an American Express travel insurance certificate?

The first step is to visit the dedicated American Express travel insurance portal which is here.

Once logged in, you will see this screen:

Click on ‘Get an insurance certificate’.

This takes you an AXA website where you need to fill in details about yourself, your card and your trip. Once you have submitted those, you are emailed the certificate immediately.

If you want to generate a second certificate in the name of your partner or anyone else covered by your policy, there is a link you can click to be taken back to the form.

The certificate comes as a PDF. You should assume that you will need to present a paper copy at the airport and immigration, not a screenshot. Make sure that you leave enough time in your planning to get it printed.

And that’s it! Once you know about the link above, it is a very fast and efficient process for Platinum cardholders.

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Comments (49)

  • Adam says:
    11 Dec11 December 10:20

    I spoke to AXA about the platinum insurance cover for an upcoming trip. They told me that the medical expenses section will not cover COVID-19, as one of the exclusions is ‘if it could be reasonably foreseen’. Given that there is an ongoing pandemic, they are using this to exclude COVID-19 medical expenses. So do not rely on this to cover you while abroad. Whilst the policy may be able to allow you entry to a country for immigration purposes, I wouldn’t rely on it if you do fall ill.

    Also, reading the exclusions, whilst travel against FCO advice is not covered, except for essential trips, this exclusion doesn’t apply if the FCO advice is solely due to COVID-19, then you would be covered (for everything except COVID-19 though).

    • memesweeper says:
      11 Dec11 December 15:19

      ‘if it could be reasonably foreseen’

      That’s absurd in the context of medical insurance. Will they not cover my medical bills in the US when i’m hit by a drunk driver? or treatment for animal bites in Kenya? Are they suggesting you are only covered for extremely unlikely and therefore unforeseeable events that results in a medical insurance claim? I’m fairly sure that would be laughed out of court if challenged. If not, the insurance is useless.

      • Callum says:
        11 Dec11 December 15:50

        I don’t think anyone would reasonably consider it likely that you’ll be hit by a drunk driver in the US or bitten by an animal in Kenya.

        No, they are suggesting that if you knowingly put yourself in a high risk situation they won’t cover it. You know Covid is highly contagious, you know that traveling in close proximity to others and engaging in normal holiday behaviour will significantly increase your risk of getting it so they won’t cover it.

        • Gavin says:
          11 Dec11 December 17:14

          However, skiing and many other activities deemed more risky than general day-to-day living are covered as standard. Could an injury while skiing be deemed as “reasonably foreseen”? Well, a lot of people do get injured while skiing, and many of the other activities that are supposed to be covered.

        • TGLoyalty says:
          12 Dec12 December 00:31

          Getting seriously ill from Covid is less likely than being in a serious car accident.

          • Bagoly says:
            12 Dec12 December 13:52

            That looks probably true for Barbados (11 road deaths in 2019, 9 Covid deaths so far in 2020). But less universal elswhere E.g.

            UK Deaths from Covid in 9 months = 63,000. Serious illness 1.8M * 10-15%, so 180,000-270,000.
            UK Deaths from RTC in 2019 * 9/12 = 1,403. Serious injuries 20,865
            Now, that’s the UK, the definition of “serious” varies, and the bad cases from the two have very different age distributions.
            The latter means that if you are under 40, then your assertion has probably been true even in the UK over the nine months (averaged over lockdowns and less restricted periods). But if one is older than that then Covid has been the higher risk.

            It’s true that most people underestimate the probabilities of quite rare things like serious car accidents (and overestimate the probabilities of really rare things like air crashes) but at least in the UK this year, Covid has, across the whole age-range, been significantly more of a risk than car accidents.

    • Andrew says:
      15 Dec15 December 09:09

      Where in the docs does it say that you are covered if FCO advice is solely due to COVID-19 (for everything but COVID-19)? I can’t seem to find that.

  • Chris J says:
    11 Dec11 December 10:32

    Interesting article…good information to know……as an extension to this an article covering the insurance benefits of the different cards (Amex Avios, cash back etc) would also be very useful (hopefully we can travel again soon)

    • Rob says:
      11 Dec11 December 10:36

      We don’t do those sort of articles, because they are worthless. The most important thing about insurance is willingness to pay, not what is in the policy. Amex has paid MULTIPLE claims for me over the years where we clearly broke the policy rules. Other insurers will encourage you to take them to court even when it is an open and shut case.

      There is a reason why the moneysavingexpert recommended ‘Best Buy’ is £200 when others will sell you a policy for 25% of that.

      • NeilP1234 says:
        12 Dec12 December 06:15

        Rob – But how to access the certificate for HSBC and Barclays Premier customers with a travel plus pack would be helpful not useless.

  • aceman says:
    11 Dec11 December 16:11

    Ive taken out a USA policy for tourists for medical because I just cant see any upside to relying on amex here. Unlike rob I dont run a huge travel news outlet so amex platinum has been a mixed bag for me with insurance pay outs. However my medical policy literally only covers for medical expenses, nothing else.
    I’m wondering if my amex plat cover is any use whatsoever in terms of delayed luggage, theft, car hire insurance etc if I’m travelling against fco advise?

  • Denis says:
    11 Dec11 December 17:23

    I have generated the certificate, however it says:

    The main benefits per trip are:
    Travel Accident

    And nothing else in regards to Covid, etc

    Is that correct? Thank you.

    • Rob says:
      11 Dec11 December 17:40

      Mine says:

      Travel Delay
      Collison Damage Waiver (CDW)
      Cancellation
      Curtailment
      Medical Expenses
      Personal Accident

      You have Platinum?

      • paul says:
        11 Dec11 December 18:49

        Mine too. If the FCO says I can travel then it is reasonable to assume that it is relatively safe. If Amex wish to make a specific exclusion of Covid-19 then they need to say so up front otherwise the term “Medical Expenses” covers all medical expenses. There is nothing in the policy that precludes Covid or any other virulent endemic diseases such as bilharzia, malaria etc all of which could be reasonably foreseen if traveling to certain places all of which are deemed safe by the FCO with appropriate precautions.

      • Denis says:
        11 Dec11 December 19:44

        Platinum yes. When I check online, I’ve got all options covered. But the actual pdf says only “travel accident”. So odd…

      • GeorgeJ says:
        12 Dec12 December 10:01

        I think some respondents are getting confused between the cancellation and curtailment aspects of the policy and the medical cover. Trips booked after disruption from Covid19 became a known possibility is in general not covered.
        Medical expenses, including Covid are covered as long as you are not travelling against FCO advice (an essential journey is covered). This is all in the FAQ for the policies.

  • Mike says:
    12 Dec12 December 14:19

    So has anyone tried making a travel curtailment claim on the basis of FCO advice changing whilst mid-trip? And was it rejected?

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