Amid ongoing conflict in the Middle East, with knock-on effects felt in aviation hubs such as Doha and Dubai, travel agents and their clients need to pay special attention to the fine print of travel insurance policies, particularly war exclusion clauses.
“Generally, in the insurance world they have what they call a ‘war exclusion’ policy, where cover under an active war is excluded from parts of the policy, including trip disruptions and disinclination to travel,” explains Simmy Micheli, Sales and Marketing Manager of Travel Insurance Consultants (TIC).
War exclusion policies
Most travel insurance policies contain clauses that limit or completely exclude cover for claims arising from war or conflict.
TIC’s Standard Travel Insurance Policy states that no claims will be paid for losses indirectly or directly arising from or relating to a traveller’s wilful exposure to or active participation in war, invasion, acts of foreign enemies, hostilities or war-like operations (whether war be declared or not).
Discovery’s International Travel Insurance Benefits 2024 says Discovery will not cover any healthcare services related to any general scheme exclusion such as search and rescue operations, or for any travel to and in a country or territory at war.
Additionally, Bryte Travel Insurance’s war exclusion policy states that it will not cover claims caused by or resulting from war, invasion, act of foreign enemy, and that the exclusion supersedes anything in the contrary contained in its policies and certificates.
Repercussions
These war exclusion policies often override other parts of travel insurance policies, most notably, travel disruptions. This includes cancelled flights or ground transfers, as well as accommodation or booked events, due to war.
Even disinclination to travel, when a client decides not to go due to events that could be perceived as war, may not be covered, due to the war exclusion.
However, certain insurers will still cover emergency medical and accidental death cover in destinations at war.
Country exclusions
All travel insurance companies provide a list of countries that they do not provide any insurance cover for because of a declaration of war.
At the time of publishing, TIC did not provide any cover for travellers visiting Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria and Ukraine.
Discovery did not provide any insurance for travel to Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Gaza and the West Bank, Lebanon, Syria, Ukraine and Yemen.
Bryte did not cover travellers going to Russia, Belarus and Ukraine.
Travel supplier refunds
Despite conditional cover for disruptions to travel that do not relate to war, clients should take note of the insurer’s limit of liability policy, as this often refers to what extent travel suppliers are obligated to fulfil services paid for.
This is frequently a challenge with land arrangement providers, as in certain cases, they can avoid liability if the disruptions were due to reasons beyond their control. This is determined by the laws in the country of origin for the operator and certain regional laws.
In the case of the most recent Qatar Airways disruptions and cancellations, the Qatari General Authority of Civil Aviation required its airlines to notify passengers of any cancellations or delays due to exceptional circumstances beyond their control. It also required airlines to appropriate support services.
These support services can permit airlines to be exempt from financial compensation for cases of preponing or delaying flights related to the security and safety of air transport, however, they remain liable for providing alternative flights or rerouting options.
