Going to a conflict zone? Get special risk insurance coverage
Unfortunately, we live in a world that has many regions and countries where war and terrorism are commonplace. Nearly all mainstream travel medical insurance and expat health policies have restrictions on claims that are the result of war, terrorism, riots and civil strife. Some others will exclude coverage in well known high-risk countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan. Most people will not travel to such countries for pleasure, though that has been the case in Afghanistan recently where the Taliban attacked some “adventure tourists.” In general, people are travelling to high-risk countries for the following reasons:
- To conduct aid work with NGOs
- As reporters for news organizations and outlets
- To conduct business, especially in the mining and oil industries. This can also include companies selling services and products to businesses or government entities in these countries
- As part of a government delegation or embassy assignment
- Or to see family members
Whatever your reason for travelling to a high-risk country, it makes sense to obtain adequate insurance coverage that will not exclude war or terrorism if you get caught up in an unfortunate event. It may or may not be available depending on your country of residence as obtaining individual war risk coverage is much more difficult than sourcing a group plan for employees. The kind of coverage we would want for visiting high-risk countries are plans that cover passive war and terrorism coverage, which means you are an innocent bystander and not an active participant in terrorism and war.
If you are travelling to a high-risk country for under one year, then most people will want an emergency only travel medical insurance plan that can cover passive war risk. If you are an individual who is going to become an expat in a conflict zone or country where terror is commonplace, then it will be wise to see if the individual expat health plan can cover war/terrorism – unfortunately, most if not all individual expat health plans will have a war and terrorism exclusion. Expat Financial through our parent company TFG Global can source excellent group expat benefit plans that can cover expat employees in high risk and even war zones which can cover passive war and terrorism. We can also source group business travel plans that can cover claims that are the result of a war or terrorist act. Please contact us to see if we can find a plan for your company.