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My travel insurance has a standard travel warning exclusion that reads:

We do not insure you for any event that is caused by or arises from you failing to follow advice or take heed of a warning from:

− any government; or

− any official body; or

− any publication or broadcast by any member of the mass media; or

(This seems like overly broad language. Couldn't they just point to some fringe government that recommends never travelling anywhere ever to void any claim?).

As a result of the Easter terror attacks in Sri Lanka, the Australian government has issued a 'reconsider your need to travel' advisory.

I understand that I can't recieve specific legal advice here - but is there a framework for understanding/interpreting travel warnings and travel insurance?

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dwjohnston
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1 Answers1

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There is not a single answer, since each insurance provider dictates in which cases you are covered on not, regarding travel warnings issued by government, and this might change from time to time, up to the insurance brand discretion.

Broadly speaking there are 2 types of warnings:

  1. Reconsider your need to travel
  2. Do not travel

Some brands do not cover the insurer if any of those warnings is issued, other ones do provide cover in case a Reconsider your need to travel warning is issued AND "reasonable care" is taken, like not deliberately putting yourself in danger and avoiding specific parts of a country which may actually be considered Do not travel.

This link provides a fair amount of information about insurance brands and their coverage, as well as general information about travel warnings. Might be worth to check, since this info might be updated at any time!

Answer created, based on this comment

gmauch
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