Does Your Travel Insurance Cover Terrorist Attacks?

If you haven’t yet made plans for the long Bank Holiday weekend it may not be too late to find some last-minute deals online. Bookings in many Mediterranean resorts have been down so far this year, so you could still snap up a bargain.  It’s not something we want to think about when planning our holidays, yet many travellers are concerned about problems which might arise due to terrorist activities.  Although the chances of anything happening are unlikely that’s what insurance is all about, so it’s nice to know that the insurance industry is responding to these concerns. 

The British Insurance Brokers Association (BIBA) is encouraging all insurers to cover travellers who may be caught up in terrorist activities. While many travel insurance companies still refuse to cover these risks, Travel Insurance Direct now provides insurance in a number of areas related to terrorism at no extra charge.

You still need to be sensible about the whole thing. If the Foreign and Commonwealth Office advises against travel to a particular area or country there wouldn’t be any cover, but who would want to go under those circumstances anyway?  There are a number of other conditions to check up on too. (That’s why it’s important to read your policy!)

The following advice always stands: Before planning a holiday in any country that might be considered unsafe for any reason, we recommend that you check the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) website first.  If you go ahead and travel despite listed warnings you may find your travel insurance will not compensate you if you encounter a problem because you will have put yourself at ‘unnecessary risk’.  It’s wise to call your travel insurance company before setting off to ask whether you will be covered for your destination.  Most travel insurance policies have exclusions for events like terrorist acts, revolution, war and civil unrest.  If you sustained injuries and lost your belongings in such a situation you may not be covered, although that is not always the case. If your injury or loss was sustained in an unrelated event you could still be covered.

If the FCO warning is serious enough that you decide not to travel you should receive compensation for cancellation from either your insurer or bonded tour operator or be offered an alternative trip.  When purchasing travel insurance it is important to make sure the policy includes good medical coverage with repatriation coverage. For more information about posted warnings visit the Foreign and Commonwealth Office website at www.fco.gov.uk or call their help line on 020 7008 0232.

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