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As the coronavirus outbreak continues, there's no hard and fast rule on whether or not you'll be covered by your travel insurance policy.

But two of the main factors that'll decide if you do or don't get a payout are where you're travelling and when you booked your travel insurance.

In late January, the COVID-19 outbreak became what's referred to in the travel insurance industry as a 'known event'. This essentially means from that point on, insurers could exclude any costs linked to the 'known event' from its policies.

The 'known event' rule is easier to understand when it relates to a more time-specific event like a volcanic eruption. If you booked your travel insurance before the eruption, any costs incurred because of it can usually be claimed. If you purchased your policy after the eruption, then your policy will likely say that any volcano-related expenses can not be claimed back.

For Southern Cross, coronavirus became a known event at 2pm on January 31, for example, while for Tower Insurance it was 5pm on January 24.

If you're yet to make your travel plans or buy insurance for an upcoming trip, you can still get cover for some coronavirus-related costs, within reason. It depends where you're going and what policy you choose from which company.

Be sure to contact the insurance provider and ask what options they offer, specifically related to coronavirus, before you buy a policy.

If you have existing travel plans that are cancelled by the airline or travel operator, then you are likely to be covered by your travel insurance policy. However, if you cancel your plans out of your own concern over coronavirus, insurance providers are unlikely to reimburse you for the cost of the trip.

Allianz Partners says restrictions are tighter for countries where the virus is more widespread, such as China.

"For customers booking trips to China and other impacted areas, the coronavirus became a known event on January 22, travel protection plans generally exclude losses caused by events that were known or foreseeable at the time the plan is purchased," the company's website says.

"Customers who purchased their plan prior to January 22 may still have coverage for a covered loss for a trip booked to China or other impacted areas."

The coronavirus outbreak is another reminder to book travel insurance at the same time you book your travel, so you won't be caught out when the next 'known event' takes place.

At the time of publishing, COVID-19 has killed more than 3200 people with more than 95,000 cases reported worldwide.

For COVID-19 health advice and information, contact the Healthline team (for free) on 0800 358 5453 or +64 9 358 5453 for international SIMS.

RELATED: Photos: Coronavirus/COVID-19 outbreak

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1/88 SLIDES © Andy Wong/AP Photo

China has been battling an outbreak of a new SARS-like coronavirus, named 2019-nCoV, with the city of Wuhan as the epicenter. So far, 425 people have died because of the disease and more than 20,000 people have been confirmed infected. China has allocated $144 million to combat the virus. The country and several of its cities are under a travel lockdown as other nations try to contain the spread of the virus. Philippines reported the first death outside of China on Feb. 2, 2020, and Hong Kong on Feb. 3. Other countries such as Spain, India, Canada, France, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Australia, South Korea, Japan, Germany and the U.S. have reported confirmed cases of the infection. The U.S. declared a public health emergency on Jan. 31 and said foreign nationals who have visited China in the past two weeks would be denied entry. On Jan. 30, the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus outbreak a global emergency. As part of its efforts to fight the virus, China has built a specialized hospital in just a few days.

(Pictured) Stewardesses take temperatures of passengers as a preventive measure on an Air China flight from Melbourne, Australia, to Beijing, China, at the Beijing Capital International Airport on Feb. 4. 

2/88 SLIDES © STR/AFP/Getty Images

Beds are set up at an exhibition center, which was converted into a hospital, in Wuhan on Feb. 4. 

3/88 SLIDES © Muzzafar Kasim/Malaysia's Ministry of Health/AP Photo

This handout photo released by Malaysia's Ministry of Health shows citizens being directed onto a bus by health officials as they arrive at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Malaysia in Feb. 4. 

4/88 SLIDES © Roslan Rahman/AFP/Getty Images

People wear face masks as they go about their daily lives in Singapore on Feb. 4. 

 
5/88 SLIDES © Tyrone Siu/Reuters

Medical workers hold a strike outside the office of Hospital Authority in Hong Kong, as they demand the closure of borders with China, on Feb. 4.

6/88 SLIDES © Tyrone Siu/Reuters

A passenger wears a protective mask on a train in Hong Kong on Feb. 4. 

7/88 SLIDES © Sam Yeh/AFP/Getty Images

A devotee wears a mask as he sorts out offerings at a temple in Taipei, Taiwan, on Feb. 4. 

8/88 SLIDES © Lim Huey Teng/Reuters

A nurse checks the temperature of a visitor as part of the coronavirus screening procedure at a hospital in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Feb. 3.

9/88 SLIDES © Heo Ran/Reuters
Young men wear masks for protection against the new coronavirus as they take part in a conscription examination for the national service in Seoul, South Korea, on Feb. 3.
 
10/88 SLIDES © Anthony Kwan/Getty Images
Medical workers hold a strike near Queen Mary Hospital in Hong Kong to demand the government to shut the territory's border with mainland China in order to reduce the spread of the coronavirus, on Feb. 3.
11/88 SLIDES © Wakil Kohsar/AFP via Getty Images
Health services staff members wearing protective gear interact with passengers at the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Feb. 2.
12/88 SLIDES © STR/AFP via Getty Images
Investors look at a screen showing stock market movements at a securities company in Hangzhou, China, on Feb. 3. Chinese stocks crashed on Feb. 3, with some major shares quickly falling by the maximum daily limit as the country's investors got their first chance in more than a week to react to the spiraling coronavirus outbreak.
13/88 SLIDES © AFP via Getty Images

Police walk past signage before the arrival of Myanmar students, who were evacuated on a chartered flight from Wuhan, at the international airport in Mandalay, Myanmar, on Feb. 2.

14/88 SLIDES © Maria Tan/AFP via Getty Images
People wearing face masks walk past the main gate of the San Lazaro Hospital in Manila, Philippines, on Feb. 2.
 
15/88 SLIDES © Dinuka Liyanawatte/Reuters

Members of the Association for Sri Lanka and China Social and Cultural Cooperation (ASLCSCC) hold candles during a vigil to pray for people who are suffering from the coronavirus in the world, in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on Feb. 1.

16/88 SLIDES © Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters
A staff member sanitizes the road at an entrance of a residential complex in Beijing, China, on Feb. 1.
17/88 SLIDES © Caroline Seidel/picture alliance via Getty Images

German Minister for Defense Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer (R) and German Minister for Health Jens Spahn give a joint statement in Bonn, Germany, on Feb. 1, on the evacuation of more than 100 German citizens from Wuhan following the coronavirus outbreak.

18/88 SLIDES © Aytug Can Sencar/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca speaks to the press after a Turkish cargo plane carrying 42 passengers from Wuhan landed at Etimesgut Military Airport in Ankara, Turkey, on Feb. 1.
19/88 SLIDES © Evan Vucci/AP Photo

Alex Azar, U.S. secretary of health and human services, speaks during a press briefing on the coronavirus at the White House in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 31.

20/88 SLIDES © Damian Dovarganes/AP Photo
Customers wear protective masks as they shop at a store in Alhambra, California, U.S., on Jan. 31.
21/88 SLIDES © Peter Byrne/Pool/Reuters
Buses carrying British nationals, who returned from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan in China, arrive at Arrowe Park Hospital in Wirral, England, on Jan. 31.
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Arnaud Fontanet, director of global health department at Institut Pasteur, speaks during a news conference over the latest findings on coronavirus in Paris, France, on Jan. 31.

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People wear face masks while shopping at a supermarket in Beijing, China, on Jan. 31.
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Masks are seen at a pharmacy in Seoul, South Korea, on Jan. 31.
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Students pray for the victims of coronavirus at a school in Chandigarh, India, on Jan. 31.
26/88 SLIDES © Kevin Frayer/Getty Images
Police wear protective masks as they stand guard in Beijing, on Jan. 31.
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Medical staff of the Ethiopian Ministry of Health prepares to screen passengers at Addis Ababa Bole International Airport of Ethiopia, on Jan. 31.
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Employees of the airport's epidemiological surveillance at a medical aid station at Terminal F of Sheremetyevo International Airport in Khimki, Russia, on Jan. 31.
29/88 SLIDES © Ali Murat Alhas/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
Officials make preparations in Turkish Air Forces' A400M cargo plane at Etimesgut Military Airbase in Ankara, which is to depart to China to fly Turkish citizens out of Wuhan, on Jan. 31.
30/88 SLIDES © Christopher Black/WHO/Handout/Reuters

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of the World Health Organization, and Didier Houssin, chair of the emergency committee, at the opening of the second meeting of the International Health Regulations (IHR) Emergency Committee for Pneumonia due to the Novel Coronavirus 2019-nCoV in Geneva, Switzerland, on Jan. 30.

31/88 SLIDES © Edgard Garrido/Reuters
A technician shows the sample analysis work in preparation for the study of possible cases of coronavirus at the Public Health Institute of Chile (ISP) in Santiago, Chile, on Jan. 30.
32/88 SLIDES © Maria Khrenova/TASS/Getty Images
China's U.N. Ambassador Zhang Jun stated in his press briefing that over 130 patients have been cured of pneumonia caused by the coronavirus in New York City, New York, U.S., on Jan. 31.
33/88 SLIDES © Guglielmo Mangiapane/Reuters
Passengers are seen onboard the Costa Smeralda cruise ship as it sits docked at the Italian port of Civitavecchia on Jan. 30. The ship was quarantined over fears of coronavirus but the passengers were allowed to disembark later. 
34/88 SLIDES © P. Ravikumar/Reuters

Medical staff with protective clothing are seen inside a ward specialized in treating people who may have been infected with the virus, at the Rajiv Gandhi Government General hospital in Chennai, India, on Jan. 29.

35/88 SLIDES © Suhaimi Abdullah/Getty Images
Travelers are seen wearing a protective mask during check-in at the Changi Airport in Singapore on Jan. 30.
36/88 SLIDES © Aamir Qureshi/AFP/Getty Images
An official of Pakistan-based Chinese company (R) uses a thermo gun to check the temperature of the company's drivers in Islamabad, Pakistan, on Jan. 30, after instructions from authorities to take preventive measures against the virus.
37/88 SLIDES © Kin Cheung/AP Photo
Elderly men are seen wearing masks as a precaution at a park in Hong Kong on Jan. 30.
38/88 SLIDES © Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters
A worker uses a thermometer to check the temperature of a customer as she enters a Starbucks shop in Beijing, on Jan. 30.
39/88 SLIDES © Fabian Hamacher/Reuters
Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen speaks during a news conference on the coronavirus outbreak in Taipei, Taiwan, on Jan. 30.
40/88 SLIDES © Thai Government Spokesman's office via AP
Thailand Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha (C) speaks to journalists during a visit to Suvarnabhumi Airport to inspect measures in place to monitor passengers as they arrive in Bangkok, Thailand, on Jan. 29.
41/88 SLIDES © Tyrone Siu/Reuters
Passengers are seen wearing a mask to protect themselves as they wait for a Mass Transit Railway (MTR) subway train in Hong Kong on Jan. 29.
42/88 SLIDES © Sputnik/Alexei Druzhinin/Kremlin/Reuters
Russian President Vladimir Putin listens to Health Minister Mikhail Murashko during a meeting on preventing the spread of the virus in Moscow, Russia, on Jan. 29.
43/88 SLIDES © Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters
Children are seen wearing facial masks as a precaution after Nepal confirmed the first case of coronavirus in the country, at Matribhumi School in Madhyapur Thimi, Nepal, on Jan. 29.
44/88 SLIDES © Denis Balibouse/Reuters

Tedros Adhanom, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), speaks during a news conference at the United Nations, in Geneva, on Jan. 29.

45/88 SLIDES © Ahmed Yosri/Reuters
Passengers from China are checked by Saudi Health Ministry employees upon their arrival at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Jan. 29. 
46/88 SLIDES © Dave Rowland/Getty Images

Passengers arriving on flights wear protective masks at the international airport in Auckland, New Zealand, on Jan. 29. 

47/88 SLIDES © Carl Court/Getty Images
An ambulance carrying a Japanese citizen repatriated from Wuhan, who showed flu-like symptoms during in-flight screening for coronavirus, leaves Haneda Airport in Tokyo, Japan, on Jan. 29. 
48/88 SLIDES © Heng Sinith/AP Photo
Students line up to sanitize their hands before their morning class at a high school in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on Jan. 28. 
49/88 SLIDES © Matthias Schrader/AP Photo
Bavarian state minister for health and nursing Melanie Huml attends a news conference in Munich, Germany, on Jan. 28, as the country declared its first confirmed case of coronavirus.
50/88 SLIDES © Thomas Peter/Reuters

A medical worker in a protective suit checks the body temperature of a driver at a checkpoint outside the city of Yueyang, China, on Jan. 28.

51/88 SLIDES © Tang Chhin Sothy/AFP/Getty Images

Students disinfect their hands before entering class at a school in Phnom Penh, on Jan. 28. Cambodia's health ministry reported the country's first case of coronavirus on Jan. 27.

52/88 SLIDES © Sam Yeh/AFP/Getty Images

A woman wearing a protective mask prays at the Lungshan Temple on the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, in Taipei, Taiwan, on Jan. 28.

53/88 SLIDES © Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters

Paramilitary officers wearing face masks stand guard at the Tiananmen Gate in Beijing, on Jan. 27.

54/88 SLIDES © Cole Burston/Getty Images

Dr. David Williams, the chief medical officer of Ontario (C), speaks as Dr. Eileen de Villa, medical officer of health for the city of Toronto (L) and Dr. Barbara Yaffe, Ontario's associate chief medical officer of health, during a press briefing on coronavirus at Queens Park in Toronto, Canada, on Jan. 27. The Ontario health officials announced the confirmation of the first case of coronavirus in Toronto, along with a presumptive second case of the virus in the city.

55/88 SLIDES © Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters

A woman wearing a face mask walks out of a supermarket in Beijing, on Jan. 26.

56/88 SLIDES © Jose Cabezas/Reuters

Images captured by a thermographic imaging device to check the temperatures of arriving passengers at a quarantine station are seen on a monitor at the Oscar Arnulfo Romero International Airport in San Luis Talpa, El Salvador, on Jan. 26.

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A security force member stands in front of the pandemic center where a suspected case of coronavirus is under observation at Félix Houphouët Boigny International Airport in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, on Jan. 26.

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A banner placed by Indian health workers is seen during a coronavirus information camp for travelers at an India-Nepal border crossing, near Siliguri, India, on Jan. 26.

59/88 SLIDES © Herbert Pfarrhofer/APA/Getty Images

(L-R) Sabine Hagenauer of the infection department at the 4th medical department of Kaiser Franz Josef Hospital, Michael Binder, medical director of the Vienna Hospital Association, and Judith Aberle of the department of virology, Medical University Vienna, address a press conference at Kaiser-Franz-Josef hospital in Vienna, Austria, on Jan. 26. A Chinese flight attendant was quarantined in the hospital with symptoms of flu, in what authorities suspected as the first coronavirus case in the country.

60/88 SLIDES © Kevin Frayer/Getty Images

A health worker checks the temperature of a woman entering a subway station in Beijing, on Jan. 25.

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Dozens of diggers work to build a new hospital in Wuhan, on Jan. 25. Due to the large number of infected people, the government decided to establish a temporary 1,000-bed hospital.

62/88 SLIDES © Vernon Yuen/NurPhoto/Getty Images

Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam addresses a press conference in Hong Kong on Jan. 25. Announcing a citywide virus emergency, Lam ordered the cancellation of all official trips to mainland China and school shutdown till Feb. 17.

63/88 SLIDES © Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters

A police officer stands guard in front of the closed gate of Lama Temple in Beijing on Jan. 25. A notice reads that the temple is closed due to safety concerns following the outbreak of a new coronavirus.

64/88 SLIDES © Wu Hong/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

Security personnel wearing hazardous material suits measure body temperatures of passenger at the entrance of a subway station in Beijing on Jan. 25.

65/88 SLIDES © Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images

A disinfection worker wearing protective gear sprays anti-septic solution in a train at SRT train station in Seoul, on Jan. 24.

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Dr. Allison Arwady, commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health, speaks to reporters about a patient who has been diagnosed with coronavirus, in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., on Jan. 24.
67/88 SLIDES © Willie Siau/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
People wear surgical masks as they purchase flowers for the Lunar New Year celebrations in Hong Kong on Jan. 24.
68/88 SLIDES © Andrei Samsonov/TASS via Getty Images
A Rospotrebnadzor (Russian Federal Service for Supervision of Consumer Rights Protection and Human Well-Being) official uses a thermal imaging device to conduct a temperature check of passengers arriving at Krasnoyarsk International Airport on a plane from Cam Rahn, Vietnam, in Russia on Jan. 23.
69/88 SLIDES © Rodrigo Garrido/Reuters
Francisco Alvarez, the regional public health officer, speaks to dockworkers about the new coronavirus, in the port of Valparaiso, Chile, on Jan. 23.
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Sanitation workers spray a disinfectant at Suseo Station in Seoul, on Jan. 24.

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A passenger holds up an Australian Government document pertaining to the coronavirus as passengers arrive at Sydney International Airport in Australia on Jan. 23. 

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Locals wear face masks while browsing in a store ahead of the Lunar New Year, in Taipei, on Jan. 23, 2020. A day earlier, Taiwan stopped sending tour groups to, or receiving tour groups from Wuhan, China, due to concerns over the cornonavirus outbreak.

73/88 SLIDES © Aaron Favila/AP Photo
Airport personnel look at thermal scanners as they check on arriving passengers at the Manila International Airport in Philippines on Jan. 23. 
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Passengers arriving from China are screened at Kolkata International Airport, India, on Jan. 22, 2020. Screening centers have been set up in the Indian cities of Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Cochin apart from three airports at Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata to screen for the coronavirus. 

75/88 SLIDES © Don Arnold/Getty Images
Passengers arrive at Sydney International Airport in Australia on Jan. 23. The flight from Wuhan departed the Chinese city prior to officials temporarily closing down transport from the city to help stop the outbreak of the virus.
76/88 SLIDES © Christopher Black/WHO/Handout via Reuters
Director-General of World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, takes part in a news conference after a meeting of the International Health Regulations (IHR) Emergency Committee to discuss about the outbreak of Pneumonia in China and other countries due to the 2019-nCoV, in Geneva, on Jan. 22.
77/88 SLIDES © Feature China/Barcroft Media/Getty Images
A worker disinfects a railway station in Wuhan on Jan. 22.
78/88 SLIDES © Nicolas Asfouri/AFP/Getty Images
Two women wearing protective masks walk outside Beijing railway station on Jan. 22.
79/88 SLIDES © Kin Cheung/AP Photo
Passengers wear masks at a subway station in Hong Kong on Jan. 22.
80/88 SLIDES © Mick Tsikas/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Deputy Australian Prime Minister Michael McCormack (L) and Prime Minister Scott Morrison (C) are updated by Chief Medical Officer Professor Brendan Murphy on the steps being taken to control the virus, at the National Incident Room of the Department of Health in Canberra, Australia, on Jan. 22.
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Li Bin (C), vice minister of China's National Health Commission, answers questions during a press conference on Jan. 22. 
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Kazakh sanitary-epidemiological service worker uses a thermal scanner to detect travelers from China who may have symptoms possibly connected with the coronavirus at Almaty International Airport in Kazakhstan Jan. 21.
83/88 SLIDES © Hector Retamal/AFP via Getty Images

People walk next to signage detailing hygienic practices to prevent the spread of the coronavirus at the Huashan Hospital in Shanghai, China, on Jan. 21.

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Health officials watch travelers on a thermographic monitor at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang, Malaysia, on Jan. 21.
85/88 SLIDES © Dake Kang/AP Photo
The Huanan Wholesale Seafood Market, where a number of people related to the market fell ill with the virus, sits closed in Wuhan on Jan. 21.
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Medical staff transfer patients to Jinyintan hospital where patients infected with the coronavirus are being treated, in Wuhan on Jan. 20.
87/88 SLIDES © Feature China/Barcroft Media via Getty Images
A stock investor checks prices at a brokerage house in Fuyang, China, on Jan. 21. China's market went down by 1.4 percent after the news of the coronavirus.
88/88 SLIDES © Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images
A passenger walks past a notice for passengers from Wuhan, displayed near a quarantine station at Narita International Airport in Japan on Jan. 17.
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