Travel insurance for countries with Travel Warnings

mini5476

I am travelling to the DR Congo next week and am having trouble finding any company that doesn't have this in their general exclusions;

We do not cover travel to any country to which the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade have advised against all (but essential) travel

Anybody have any suggestions as to companies that do cover this?

coylemj

Good luck with that, the exclusion you quoted is every travel policy I've ever seen. The view of the insurance business is that anyone going to such a country who isn't an outright nutter is either working for the UN or an NGO, is aware of the risks and will be looked after by their employer if they need medical treatment or evacuation.

galwayjohn89

Try WorldWideInsure. They covered me in North Korea last summer.

killbillvol2

Vuzuggu wrote: »

Try WorldWideInsure. They covered me in North Korea last summer.

Interesting. I'm going there in August and it hadn't dawned on me to check the travel advice from our Dept. of Foreign Affairs. The UK govt doesn't advise against travel there, for example. Seems like our lot are being over cautious.

In any case, my insurance policy specifically mentions UK govt advice so I'll go by their rules!

mini5476

Just looking at their (Worldwideinsure) wording:

loss, damage or expense incurred as a result of
travelling to an area that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (or its equivalent in other EU Countries) have advised against travel, provided that such loss, damage or expense is directly or indirectly related to any such circumstances that are the reason for the advice.

Its a bit of a mess but does it mean they'll cover travel to the Congo but not anything related to the resaons for the travel warning?

coylemj

mini5476 wrote: »

Its a bit of a mess but does it mean they'll cover travel to the Congo but not anything related to the resaons for the travel warning?

Yes that's my reading of it as well. The only problem is that the FCO doesn't usually specifically say why they advise against travel as you can see below in their current advice on the DRC and note that this is not a selective quote, it's the first whole paragraph under 'travel advice'...

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) advise against all travel to eastern and north eastern DRC. The only exceptions to this are the towns of Bukavu and Goma, to which the FCO advise against all but essential travel. The FCO advise against all but essential travel to the remainder of the DRC.

https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/democratic-republic-of-congo

So they're basically saying 'don't go' without saying why. Which means that that insurance company can take your money and then tell you to sod off if you attempt to lodge a claim.

galwayjohn89

mini5476 wrote: »

Just looking at their (Worldwideinsure) wording:

loss, damage or expense incurred as a result of
travelling to an area that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (or its equivalent in other EU Countries) have advised against travel, provided that such loss, damage or expense is directly or indirectly related to any such circumstances that are the reason for the advice.

Its a bit of a mess but does it mean they'll cover travel to the Congo but not anything related to the resaons for the travel warning?

I rang them up as needed cover for trekking up Everest base camp as well. They said they'd cover me fully in north Korea and sent an email confirming the same. Basically saying to ignore that clause

coylemj

Vuzuggu wrote:

I rang them up as needed cover for trekking up Everest base camp as well. They said they'd cover me fully in north Korea and sent an email confirming the same. Basically saying to ignore that clause

Did the e-mail state that that clause was inoperative? Or was this a call agent making unauthorised change to the terms and conditions for the purposes of closing the sale?

johnire

I think it would be incredibly important to have travel insurance for a trip such as this.
Try http://ihi.com/
I know that they definitely provide cover for North Korea and are very helpful with any queries.

killbillvol2 wrote: »

Interesting. I'm going there in August and it hadn't dawned on me to check the travel advice from our Dept. of Foreign Affairs. The UK govt doesn't advise against travel there, for example. Seems like our lot are being over cautious.

In any case, my insurance policy specifically mentions UK govt advice so I'll go by their rules!

galwayjohn89

coylemj wrote: »

Did the e-mail state that that clause was inoperative? Or was this a call agent making unauthorised change to the terms and conditions for the purposes of closing the sale?

Email stating clauses was irrelevant, can't remember exact wording. Was mentioned on the certificate as well beside add ons

coylemj

Vuzuggu wrote: »

Email stating clauses was irrelevant, can't remember exact wording. Was mentioned on the certificate as well beside add ons

I'd be seriously worried about paying for insurance under those terms, it sounds like a company who want your money no matter what it takes. Putting terms and conditions into the policy and then claiming in an e-mail and on the cert that they don't apply sounds like very dodgy business practices. If push comes to shove, you will invariably find that the policy document is the only game in town and you can bet that their asses will be well covered with that clause included.

In most policies of insurance, the Ts & Cs state that the contract you have taken out is outlined in the policy document. That is stated so that if an employee attempts to get around an awkward condition that doesn't suit the prospective customer, the company can wriggle out of it later by invoking what's in the policy document.

In other words, I would not buy insurance from a company where a call agent says that I can ignore a stated condition of the policy - even if they send me an e-mail to that effect.

galwayjohn89

I would have thought its perfectly legit. Happened to me on multiple occasions with different travel insurances. Mentioning on the certificate that I would be covered for a preexisting condition I declared, mentioning that my place of home is Ireland not UK and therefore updating the section 2 stuff like that.

Anyway only had to claim from them once and they couldn't of been more helpful when I was taken ill in Florida, missed a connecting flight and lost a bag all in the same trip.

For example on the policy schedule:

This policy is amended under Section 2a to include the cost of repatriation to Ireland.
It is hereby noted and agreed as follows:
To permit the issue of this Insurance to the above named insured person, subject to a total exclusion of medical, surgical and hospital treatment expenses incurred in the insured person’s Home Country. Repatriation cover shall be on the basis of return to the insured person’s Home Country.
Subject otherwise to the original terms and conditions contained in the wording.

mini5476

ihi have a similar but more clear version of the worldwide insure clause saying the will not cover for

"Treatment for sickness or injuries directly or indirectly caused while actively engaged in: war, invasion, acts of foreign enemy, hostilities (whether war has been declared or not), civil war, terrorist acts, rebellion, revolution, insurrection, civil commotion, military or usurped power, martial law, riots or any acts of any lawfully constituted authority, or army, naval or air service

operations (whether war has been declared or not"

Wonderful until I see that their policy for a ten month trip is €1700.

mini5476

I'm contemplating this crowd Imglobal for about €750