With the ongoing situation in the Middle East, we thought it would be prudent to provide some advice for our corporate travel clients (policy prefixes PGT, PGC, PAT, PET) so they can understand how their cover would respond in certain circumstances.
In the first instance, travellers should follow the advice of their airline and the Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office (FCDO).
In the event of restricted air space or the FCDO advising against all travel to an area, through which a client is due to connect, it is the airline’s responsibility to reroute them to their final destination via a safe route. The client should not cancel their flights themselves, as this then absolves the airline of their contractual liability and this would not be covered by insurance.
For Business Trips;
If an insured person’s final destination is a Middle Eastern country and they are travelling on business – they can continue to travel provided the FCDO advice is green or amber.
If the advice is ‘red’ (advise against all travel) at the time of booking, we can consider providing cover but would require specific info regarding security and travel plans, we advise clients to contact their brokers to provide this information and they will provide it to Pulse.
If a client has already booked a trip to a country and FCDO advice changes from green or amber to red – they can cancel the trip and subject to them fulfilling their obligations set out in the policy wording, the policy would cover any non-refundable costs incurred by cancelling said trip, due to the change in government advice.
If the FCDO advice is amber, but the client does not want to travel, this would be deemed disinclination to travel and the policy would not cover any unrecoverable expenses. However the advice was green at the time of booking and subsequently changes to amber prior to travel, we would consider the circumstances and may provide cover for the cancellation of the trip.
For Leisure Trips;
If an insured person’s final destination is a Middle Eastern country and they are travelling on business – they can continue to travel provided the FCDO advice is green.
If a client has already booked a trip to a country and FCDO advice changes from green to amber or red – they can cancel the trip and subject to them fulfilling their obligations set out in the policy wording, the policy would cover any non-refundable costs incurred by cancelling said trip, due to the change in government advice.
FCDO travel advice can be reviewed here.
If you have any further queries, please contact your broker who will be able to raise them with us.
