The Post Office suspended all sales of travel insurance in mid-March in light of the coronavirus pandemic but it has now announced the products are back on sale.

Cover for contracting coronavirus overseas is now included as standard, including for single trips, annual multi-trips and backpacker options.

Available online and through its contact centre, the Post Office said the cover will protect customers for emergency medical and repatriation costs should they fall ill overseas.

However, it won’t cover any coronavirus-related claims under any other section of the policy, such as if you need to cancel a trip, or it is disrupted or cut short by a coronavirus-related issue.

Further, any policies sold from 17 June 2020 onwards won’t provide cover if the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) already advised against all or all but essential travel to your destination before you bought your policy or booked your trip (whichever was the latest).

Currently, the FCO advises British nationals against all but essential international travel.

The Post Office said it expects customers will want to buy travel insurance for travel later in the year and into 2021 and as such, will still benefit from pre-departure elements of the policy for non-covid related claims.

“Once the FCO remove the travel restrictions, full coverage for non-Covid related claims would be reinstated along with full medical coverage. We are monitoring the situation carefully and will continue to keep our customers informed about the cover available to them,” a spokesperson said.

It added there’s no difference in price when it comes to buying travel insurance – whether that be pre-Covid or from today.

Paul Paddock, head of travel insurance at the Post Office, said: “We look forward to welcoming back our customers and protecting them and their upcoming travel plans, when it’s safe to travel. It’s likely that coronavirus will be with us for some time. By including medical cover now, we are able to support our customers for the foreseeable future.”

It comes after numerous travel insurance providers pulled out of selling cover to new customers as coronavirus gripped the globe.

Last week Saga introduced Covid-19 cover that pays medical expenses and gets travellers home if they fall ill with the virus during a trip abroad.

According to business information site Defaqto, there are 192 insurers currently offering 848 annual travel policies while there are 166 insurers offering 845 single trip policies.