Extra! Extra! Read all about it! Political unrest is not usually covered under standard travel insurance.
For Egyptian travelers this news has come too late, and I’m sorry about that. Trust me, I understand how bad it sucks to be the example from which others learn. (I once broke my arm snow sledding testing out a jump.) I’ve recently discovered this lesser known insurance fact by doing a bit of research as Beth and I plan the next leg of our trip. So, in order to empower other travelers who use insurance, I decided to get the word out about travel insurance as it relates to civil and political upheavals.
While most policies do not include cancellation and/or interruption coverage for civil unrest, there are a few exceptions. It is important to read your policy carefully, because some insurances cover expenses if you are delayed as a result of an uprising. Though, very few let you cancel your trip because of a country’s instability (terrorist attacks are generally an exclusion to this rule).
In a recent story for the Seattle Times, travel columnist Carol Pucci points out that travelers who want additional coverage have a couple of options, including “Cancel for Any Reason” insurance policies, which provide coverage for civil disorder at a higher price. For example, Pucci says standard travel insurance adds “4 to 8 percent to cost of the trip.” However, “Cancel for Any Reason” policies can tack on up to 50 percent or more, and only reimburse your prepaid travel costs up to 50 to 75 percent. This fact alone makes it a less than ideal solution for the budget traveler. Due to the costs it looks like we’ll be skipping the “Cancel for Any Reason” policy. Instead, we will most likely purchase a more backpacker friendly yearly travel insurance plan for our trip.
Have your travels ever been cut short or canceled due to a political uprising? If so, or if you have any tips for travel insurance or navigating civil disorders, we’d love to hear your tales in the comments below.
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3 comments
We had our travel plans interrupted by the political uprising in Bangkok in late 2008 – fortunately for us (and perhaps surprisingly looking back), we encountered no problems at all with getting reimbursed with the extra expenses we incurred.
I guess we were just lucky, as at the time we certainly didn’t look through the fineprint for these types of clauses.
Wow – it sounds like you were pretty lucky – maybe it was included in your plan? @Kieron,
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