Does Travel Insurance Cover Acts of War?

Quick summary for busy readers:

• Travel insurance almost always excludes war and armed conflict, so cancellations, delays and evacuation costs directly caused by conflict typically won’t be covered.
• The exclusion doesn’t void your whole policy. If conflict breaks out after you’ve bought cover, things like emergency assistance and unrelated medical claims should still be assessed normally.
• If MFAT issues a Do Not Travel warning before you buy your policy or book your trip, travelling anyway will likely void your cover, whether or not war is the cause.
• Your airline, accommodation provider or tour operator, not your insurer, is usually the first place to go if conflict disrupts your trip, since they’re typically responsible for handling cancellations outside their control.

 

War and armed conflict can throw travel plans into chaos with almost no warning. Flights get cancelled because airspace is shut down. Not to mention, the New Zealand Government might issue urgent advice for travellers to leave affected and surrounding areas in a hurry.

If you’re currently in that situation, or just planning ahead in case it happens, you’re probably wondering whether your travel insurance will actually step in. The short answer is that it usually won’t, at least not for the war-related losses themselves. But that doesn’t mean your insurer won’t help at all. Read on to learn what’s covered, what isn’t, and what to do if conflict disrupts your trip.

Does my travel insurance cover me for acts of war?

For the most part, no. Almost every travel insurance policy on the market carries a war exclusion, which means insurers won’t pay out for losses that stem directly from war, invasion or military conflict. That covers a lot of ground, including:

• Trip cancellations caused by war
• Flights cancelled due to military conflict
• Delays caused by airspace closures
• Cancelled accommodation or tours
• Evacuation costs linked to conflict

You’ll usually find this written into the General Exclusions section of your Policy Wording, often in wording similar to this: claims arising from war, invasion, acts of foreign enemies, hostilities (whether declared or not), civil war, rebellion, revolution or military power aren’t covered.

That said, a war exclusion doesn’t negate your entire policy. If conflict breaks out after you’ve already bought your insurance, your insurer may still help with things that fall outside the exclusion, like emergency assistance, advice while you’re overseas, or extending your cover if you can’t get home on schedule. For example, if your flight is delayed by the conflict but you then get sick or injured, that medical claim should still be assessed on its own merits rather than lumped in with the war exclusion.

It’s a similar story if the New Zealand Government issues a Do Not Travel warning through SafeTravel or MFAT. Insurance generally won’t cover you if you travel to a destination against that advice. But if the warning is issued or changes after you’ve already bought your policy, some insurers will let you rearrange or cancel your trip, depending on their terms. If that warning was triggered by war itself, though, the war exclusion tends to override it anyway.

Why are acts of war not covered by insurance?

It comes down to how insurance works as a concept. Insurers price policies based on risks that are unpredictable for any one traveller but statistically manageable across a large pool of customers; things like lost luggage, a broken leg on the slopes, or a cancelled flight because of a mechanical fault. War breaks that model completely.

How? Well, when conflict breaks out, it doesn’t cause one isolated claim. It can trigger thousands of claims at once, all tied to the same event, all happening in the same window of time. That kind of correlated, large-scale risk is extremely hard to price, and insurers generally aren’t willing to carry it. Excluding war keeps everyday premiums affordable for the ordinary risks travel insurance is actually built to handle.

It’s worth knowing that an act of war isn’t quite the same thing as terrorism, even though the two get lumped together in everyday conversation. War typically involves state-sanctioned military forces, while terrorism is usually carried out by non-state actors aiming to create fear among civilians. Most policies exclude war outright, but some offer limited terrorism cover, so it’s worth checking the Policy Wording, if that distinction matters for your trip.

What happens if my holiday is cancelled due to war?

If conflict disrupts your travel plans, your airline is your first port of call, not your insurer. Airlines are usually responsible for handling disruptions that are outside their control, including military conflict, airspace closures and government restrictions. If they cancel your flight, you’re typically entitled to a refund, a travel credit or rebooking onto another service.

One thing worth remembering though: if you cancel the flight yourself before the airline does, you might lose that entitlement and be stuck with whatever your fare rules allow instead. It’s usually smarter to wait for the airline to make the call.

The same logic applies to accommodation and tours. Reach out to the provider directly, since many will offer flexible rebooking or a partial refund depending on their own cancellation terms. If you booked through an online travel agency rather than directly, you’ll need to go through that platform, as they’ll have their own policy for handling major disruptions.

If you end up stranded overseas once conflict has already disrupted your travel, get in touch with your insurer’s emergency assistance line as soon as you can. They won’t cover war-related costs, but they can often provide practical support like local advice, help coordinating medical care, and an extension to your policy so you’re still covered for anything unrelated to the conflict while you wait to get home.

If you’re planning to travel through a region with any level of tension, check SafeTravel before you book and again before you fly, since advisories can shift quickly. A Do Not Travel or Reconsider Your Need To Travel warning is a strong signal to rethink your plans, both for your safety and because travelling against that advice will likely void any related insurance cover.