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Getting your money back after a visa refusal

Last updated: October 3, 2026 · By Benzi Peleg, licensed insurance agent (Israel)

A refused visa doesn't have to mean losing the insurance premium too, but only if you bought from a provider that offers a refusal refund, and only if you follow their process.

Is AXA Schengen insurance refundable if my visa is refused?

Yes, with conditions. According to AXA's own refund page (checked October 3, 2026), the premium is refunded in full if you send the official refusal letter, showing your name, the date and the consulate's stamp, together with your policy number and purchase date. The request has to be made before your cover starts and before the trip begins, and the policy must have no claims. The refund covers the premium only, not the visa fee or card and currency-exchange charges, and it does not apply if you withdraw the application yourself. We have taken these terms from AXA's website, not from the policy wording, so confirm them in writing before relying on them. This is the specific answer to "is AXA refundable"; the section below covers how the other five providers compare and how to file the claim.

Who offers it

Of the providers on our comparison table, AXA Schengen refunds the full premium on a documented refusal. Europ Assistance also offers a full policy refund if you meet certain conditions (trip not started, no claim submitted, valid proof of refusal). EKTA's refusal-related benefit is different: it's an optional paid add-on called "Visa Cancellation" that reimburses the actual visa fee paid to the embassy, not the insurance premium; this is a distinct product from the insurance policy itself. AURAS (which shares EKTA's underwriter) advertises a similar add-on of about $49 that reimburses the embassy fee against an official refusal letter; we could not find a matching clause in its policy wording, so confirm the terms in writing before relying on it. Heymondo and SafetyWing should be checked directly since neither has a standard advertised refusal-refund term. This isn't a fixed industry rule. It's a specific term some insurers choose to offer, so it's worth confirming before you buy, not after you've already been refused.

What you'll need to claim it

• The official refusal letter or notice from the consulate or visa application center
• Your policy number and a copy of the insurance certificate you submitted
• Sometimes the passport page showing the refusal stamp, if the consulate stamps it

Keep the refusal letter: don't just photograph it and delete the physical copy. Some insurers ask for the original or a specific scanned format, and requirements differ enough between providers that it's worth reading their claims page as soon as you get the refusal, not weeks later.

Timing

Insurers set their own deadlines for a refund claim, and the number of days varies by provider, so check the exact window in the terms. Some, like AXA, require the request before your cover has even started. Don't wait: request the claim process from the insurer the same week you receive the refusal.

Refund policies by provider

Source: each provider's policy wording/General Conditions and EU Regulation 810/2009, Article 15 · Heymondo, EKTA and Europ Assistance terms verified against their policy documents 2026-09-13; SafetyWing verified against SWIII-DOC-NI4.0.1E.pdf; AXA terms read from AXA's own refund page on 2026-10-03

Terms change without notice, so treat this table as a starting point and confirm on the provider's own refund page the week you buy.

The claim, step by step

1. Scan the refusal letter the day you receive it: a flat, readable scan of every page, including the checkbox page showing the refusal grounds. Keep the paper original.
2. Find the insurer's refund or cancellation page and read their exact document list before emailing anything. Sending an incomplete first claim is the most common way a two-week process becomes a two-month one.
3. Submit the claim with your policy number in the subject line, the refusal letter attached, and one short paragraph: application date, refusal date, request for the premium refund per their refusal-refund terms.
4. Note the date you submitted. If their terms promise a response window, hold them to it with a polite follow-up the day after it lapses.
5. Keep everything in writing. If a phone call happens, follow it with an email summarizing what was said. You'll want the paper trail if the refund stalls.

Reapplying instead? You may not need the refund at all

If you plan to fix the problem and reapply immediately (which is often the right move, since there's no mandatory waiting period after a refusal), check whether the insurer will amend the existing policy's dates to match your new appointment instead of refunding it. Most providers reissue a certificate with shifted dates for free or for a small fee, which is faster than claiming a refund and buying again. The exception: if the refusal was for the insurance itself (for example, repatriation cover that is not clearly shown), don't amend. Switch to a provider whose certificate passes, and claim the refund on the old one.

Edge cases that trip people up

You're appealing the refusal. An appeal can take weeks, and refund windows don't pause for it. If there's any chance you'll appeal, tell the insurer in writing immediately and ask whether they'll hold the refund window open: some will, none will retroactively.

The refusal letter names a different reason than insurance. Irrelevant for the refund: refusal-refund terms are triggered by the refusal itself, not by its grounds. Any officially documented refusal qualifies.

You already got the visa on reapplication. If you bought a second policy for the new application and the first policy's dates have now passed unused, the first one is usually still refundable under the original refusal, so claim it rather than writing it off.

The policy started before the decision came. If your coverage start date passed while the consulate was still processing, most insurers prorate or deny the refund since cover technically ran. When your appointment is close to your travel date, set the policy start as late as your itinerary honestly allows.

If the insurer stalls or refuses to pay

First, one written escalation: restate the claim, attach the refusal letter again, quote their own refund terms back to them, and give a clear deadline. If that goes nowhere and you paid by card, a chargeback through your bank for a service not delivered as described is a legitimate route. Banks typically accept disputes within 60-120 days of the charge, which is another reason not to sit on a stalled claim. European insurers are also answerable to an insurance ombudsman or financial-conduct regulator in their home country, and a complaint reference number in an email has a way of speeding up internal reviews.

How common is a refusal?

In 2025, 14.6% of Schengen visa decisions worldwide ended with the visa not issued, according to the European Commission's statistics, and the rate was much higher in some markets. See the refusal rates by country for your market. Because the visa fee is not refunded either way, the premium is the one part of the cost you can protect with the right policy.

What this doesn't cover

A refusal refund returns your insurance premium. It has nothing to do with visa application fees, which are not refunded by the consulate after a refusal, or with any other travel costs like flights or hotels. If you need protection for those, that's a separate trip-cancellation product, not visa insurance.

Before you buy

If a refusal refund matters to you (for example, if your application has risk factors that make refusal more likely), filter for it before choosing a plan, not after. Check the current terms directly on the provider's site, since refund policies are exactly the kind of detail insurers update without much notice. Applicants paying from outside the euro area have their own wrinkle here too: South African applicants, for instance, should weigh a refusal refund against SARB discretionary-allowance considerations. See the South Africa guide for that angle.

Frequently asked questions