Travel warnings: Does travel advisory affect my travel insurance cover?

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This was published 7 years ago

Travel warnings: Does travel advisory affect my travel insurance cover?

Am I still covered if the government changes its travel warning on Smartraveller?

By Michael Gebicki
Updated
Travellers have been advised to "reconsider your need to travel" if Istanbul is your itinerary.

Travellers have been advised to "reconsider your need to travel" if Istanbul is your itinerary.Credit: iStock

In Turkey right now for the ANZAC commemoration ceremony at Gallipoli, or for any other reason? If you've been reading the travel advisories that the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade posts on its Smartraveller website, since April 9 the Turkey page has come with a red light, warning travellers to "Exercise a high degree of caution" when visiting the country. Specifically, it advises "reconsider your need to travel" if Istanbul and Ankara are on your itinerary.

This is the second highest warning on Smartraveller's four-level advice ladder, one rung below "do not travel". This advice comes in the wake of suicide bombings in March that killed more than 40 in Ankara and a popular tourist area of Istanbul, both attributed to ​Islamic State. It's virtually impossible to visit Gallipoli without passing through Istanbul and you are potentially putting yourself in harm's way strolling around the grounds of the city's Hagia Sofia or the Grand Bazaar.

Aside from the horror of being caught up in a terrorist attack, the Smartraveller warning comes with an ominous note: "Check that your travel insurer will cover you." What does this mean for your insurance cover? Does a visit to Istanbul void your travel insurance when DFAT has applied a travel warning to the city?

See also: Common travel mistakes and how to avoid them

In just about every case, the product disclosure statements that come with travel insurance policies include an exclusion to the effect that an insurer will not pay claims arising directly or indirectly from an act of terrorism or the threat or perceived threat of an act of terrorism. If you happened to be in Belgium when Brussels Airport suffered a terror attack in March and your plans were disrupted or cancelled as a result and you faced unexpected hotel and other travel expenses, your insurer might not be bailing you out. So too with Turkey. If a terror event anywhere affects your visit to Anzac Day at Gallipoli, you'll be picking up the tab for any additional expenses.

Similarly, if your aircraft is turned around by a bomb scare and you are delayed overnight and miss your cruise, your insurer could mark that as a perceived terror threat and any additional cost is down to you.

It is also possible that what Smartraveller says on its website will have a bearing on any claim you might make. NRMA travel insurance spells this out more clearly than most when it warns in its PDS that it will not pay claims that result from "you not following advice in the mass media or any government or other official body's warning and you did not take appropriate action to avoid or minimise any potential claim under your policy (including delay of travel to the country or part of the country referred to in the warning)." The PDS of other travel insurance policies are generally less specific than this but the intent is the same.

See also: Travel insurance: Mistakes and pitfalls to look out for

What happens if you're already in a country when DFAT upgrades its travel advisory? This is grey territory but it's likely that you would still have a good case for full cover, provided you bear the advice in mind and take reasonable steps to keep away from trouble spots.

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In a variation on this scenario, you might have already booked and paid for a holiday in Turkey with Istanbul in the frame and also taken out travel insurance when DFAT subsequently ups its travel advisory. According to the Smartraveller website on this topic, "you may wish to contact your insurer to see if your policy allows for [you] to make a claim to cover travel booking costs."

The Smartraveller website has a comprehensive list of countries with travel advisories for each. In Europe alone there are eight countries for which Smartraveller advises "do not travel" in at least some regions. Four countries come with the advice "reconsider your need to travel". If you want to preserve your full travel insurance cover, the Smartraveller website is required reading every time you head offshore.

For more information visit www.smartraveller.gov.au

See also: Is travelling as a solo woman dangerous?
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