Travelers Turn to Courts for Coverage of Virus-Scrapped Vacations

Travelers whose plans were upended by the Covid-19 pandemic are waging legal battles against large trip insurers, testing the insurance industry’s boundaries on exclusions and coverage limits.

In roughly two dozen lawsuits, cruise goers, Shakespeare festival fans, and others have accused insurers of wrongfully denying payouts for travel costs and policy premiums.

The cases are largely in the beginning stages. But a federal judicial panel’s Dec. 3 hearing on possibly consolidating some cases could shed light on when initial rulings could arrive and the legal arguments that will be in focus.

Insurers have had to fend off more than a ...