With incidents like political unrest becoming a common occurrence in the last few years, it’s time we all make sure how safe we are when travelling to a foreign land. In January this year, due to the “Yellow Vests Movement” in Paris, numerous portions of the city were shut down which adversely affected the foreigners who got stuck in the city for several days. Similarly, numerous cruise lines were affected in the San Juan region due to the protests against Puerto Rico’s government. And then, most recently Hong Kong’s international airport was shut down by protesters that widely impacted the island and the city. During the Hong Kong protests, aviation was adversely affected as the airport was completely shut down for a few days and almost all flights arriving at and departing from the airport were cancelled. The protests not only affected people travelling to and from the Hong Kong airport but even those changing a connecting through the city.
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During civil unrest like these, tourists are adversely affected and in such a situation travel insurance tends to become a life-saving investment. At least, it helps you to recoup the expenses for a vacation interrupted or cancelled. Though terrorism, riots and acts of war are generally not covered under a travel insurance, some insurers will reimburse costs of trip cancellation/delay/interruption. Travellers are also covered by travel insurance if the flight or trip is cancelled or delayed due to extreme weather &/or death or sickness in immediate family.
Where All You Can Claim?
Trip cancellation protects you from losing the pre-paid, non-refundable expenses of your trip in case you need to cancel before you leave. Typical reasons for which you are covered includes death/ sickness &/or hospitalization of travellers or/of immediate family.
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However, one must learn that travel insurance does not cover you for a ‘known event’ like an event that was already in the public domain as it was publicised in the media when the policy was bought. No travel insurance policy covers claim for losses caused by an event that you were already aware of. During any such event, the insurer issues a cut-off date under which claims made for policies bought after the cut-off date are directly rejected. Those claims made for policies bought before the cut-off date are entertained.
If you have already bought travel insurance before the cut-off date during any such event, there are a plethora of things that you are covered for under the insurance policy.
In case you are in the middle of the trip, you may claim for additional transport and accommodation expenses in case of any type of unrest. However, if you haven't departed for the trip yet, you may make a claim for cancellation of the trip or amendment costs. One must learn that the insurer always reimburses for the incurred losses due to trip/flight cancellation.
Buy Right Travel Insurance
As a responsible traveller, you must know that having an international travel insurance policy that covers you outside of your home country is very important as in case you get sick or injured during your trip, travel insurance is there to protect you. Besides health scares, travel insurance also covers you for travel inconveniences like baggage or passport loss, flight delays & cancellations etc. As travel advisories can be issued for many different reasons, it is important for you to understand if your insurer covers you under that particular situation. Usually, travel advisories are issued by a government agency or organization advising caution and providing safety information for those travelling to or visiting a specific country, region, or destination.
