Fear of SARS not covered by travel insurance. (Briefing).

As concerns grow over the fast-spreading severe acute respiratory syndrome, travelers passing up trips in fear of getting sick are discovering that most insurance policies won't reimburse them for such cancellations.

"There's no fear-of-illness insurance," said Claudia Fullerton. a spokeswoman for CSA Travel Protection in San Diego. While insurance protects people unable to travel because they get sick, or who become ill while traveling, coverage doesn't include cancellations caused by fear of becoming ill. She said this is similar to the recent problems cruise lines faced when travelers canceled trips in fear of getting sick aboard ships.

"We're most likely going to see travelers rescheduling trips, and most suppliers are accommodating those kinds of requirements, so it likely wouldn't be an event in which insurance would be triggered regardless of the reason," Fullerton said.

In early April, the Geneva-based World Health Organization recommended individuals postpone all but essential travel to Hong Kong and Guangdong, the province in China where SARS is believed to have originated. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta recommends that travelers postpone nonessential trips to China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Hanoi, Vietnam.

These travel alerts have little impact on insurance coverage. "People are under the misconception that once a travel advisory has been issued they can cancel their trip, or that they have no medically related benefits," said Mike Gonser, a spokesman for Universal Travel Protection. Travel insurance benefits aren't severely affected by the WHO travel health advisory, he said, adding that the policy is still viable in all areas of coverage, including medical expenses, emergency evacuation and trip interruption caused by an illness or accident during a covered trip.

"If you travel to China with our travel policy and you come down with SARS, your medical expenses are covered up to the policy limits," he said. "However, you can't cancel your trip because you are afraid you might catch the Illness."

Debby Fireman, a spokeswoman for HTH Worldwide in Radnor, Pa., said, "If someone develops SARS while traveling, they are definitely covered, but if they have already booked a trip and then cancel it because of the potential of getting sick, it's nonrefundable and not affected by State Department alerts or other similar alerts."