TORONTO -- When the COVID-19 pandemic began travel plans for millions of Canadians were disrupted, including vacations for thousands of students over the March break.

Now a class-action lawsuit has been filed on behalf of families across Canada seeking refunds for the cancelled trips. 

The suit claims that students have not been reimbursed, even though travel cancellation insurance was purchased.

“They bought this insurance for this exact reason: In case they had to cancel the trip," said insurance lawyer Sivan Tumarkin, of the Toronto-based law firm filing the suit, Samfiru Tumarkin.

Carter Adnams is one of those students.

The 17-year-old from Guelph, Ont. was supposed to travel to Costa Rica to do charity work and have some fun and admits he was disappointed when the trip was cancelled two days before departure.

“It was really hard not going as we had been planning this trip since last November," said Adnams.

He said he had saved more than $3,000 for the vacation and was relieved that his family purchased cancellation insurance.

But despite paying extra for coverage, he said he’s been waiting more than six months for a refund. 

Adnam’s father Scott said that during that time refunds have been promised, but have never materialized. 

“We are caught in the middle between the tour company and the insurance company," he lamented. 

The trip was booked through Explorica, but the cancellation policy is with Arch Insurance. 

The lawsuit alleges that there are thousands of students across Canada waiting to be refunded and that they deserve to be reimbursed for legitimate insurance claims. 

The class-action lawsuit is calling for the insurance company to immediately refund students and honour their contractual obligations. 

“All they are doing is finger pointing between these two huge corporations and families are stuck in the middle,” Tumarkin said.

Students seeking refunds can contact the law firm at www.schooltripclassaction.ca for more information.

Explorica is not named in the lawsuit but said it is working with the Travel Industry Council of Ontario, the regulatory body that oversees Canada’s licensed travel industry, to try and find a resolution.

Arch Insurance told CTV News Toronto that it does not comment on legal matters.

For now, families will have to wait to see if they are eligible for refunds that could total millions of dollars.