Basic travel insurance might not always cover individuals traveling to politically unstable or terrorist-linked countries. Unfortunately, because this kind of travel can be incredibly dangerous, there is never a more important time to ensure that you have resources for medical and personal crisis situations. This is especially true if your travels take you to notoriously high-risk countries like Palestine, Lebanon, Afghanistan, or Iraq.
Contrary to popular belief, it is actually not uncommon for business and pleasure travel to include high-risk destinations. For some travelers, high-risk destinations like Palestine or Israel hold special religious importance. For business travelers, face-to-face meetings with overseas partners might include passage through or to a dangerous country. Journalists, missionary groups, independent contractors, and aid workers also commonly find themselves in the middle of politically unstable environments.
Travel insurance providers know that avoiding this category of traveler is not an option. To ensure that all travelers have the same resources regarding safety and travel insurance cover, many providers have developed plans especially for them. Most of the time, these plans come at an additional cost and have certain stipulations in order to be effective.
One such stipulation to take note of is your government’s warnings before you sign up for travel to a high-risk country. Oftentimes, travel insurance companies align their policies with the recommendations of the government; for example, if warnings advise against travel to a particular region, your insurance company might refuse outright to cover you there.
The presence of terrorism can also have an impact on whether or not you are entitled to trip cancellation coverage. If you plan a trip to a known high-risk country, cancellation or delay reimbursement might not be in effect should airlines refuse to travel there. If, however, a country becomes high-risk after you buy travel insurance, you might still have options available to you.
Traditional travel medical coverage might not include any injuries sustained due to terrorist activity, political or social revolutions, or war. However, many travel insurance providers have medical policies designed for travel to high-risk destinations. Some of the more common features of these types of policies include: accident insurance, including coverage for injuries sustained through nuclear, biological, and chemical means; emergency evacuation and repatriation, including for bodily remains in the event of death or dismemberment; and medical evacuation to a low-risk location should a terrorist-related injury occur.
You terrorism coverage should always include medical coverage and repatriation options. Getting out of a dangerous situation is often the best reason for ensuring travel insurance in the first place.
Ideally, your travels will never take you to a place where your risk of bodily harm is high. However, in today’s world, there are few countries that haven’t felt the pressure of political strife at some time or another. Talk with your travel insurance provider to make sure that your policy is sufficient for your destination and its current political state.
Author: Matthew Steel