Government advises against all but essential travel to Sri Lanka – reassurance to travel insurance customers

While most travel policies cover cancellation and additional costs if these are not refunded by the travel provider or air carrier, travel insurance is a very competitive market, so the precise terms, conditions and scope of cover will inevitably vary between policies. This is why it is important to check your cover.

Cheaper policies may offer more limited cover, as reflected in the price. This why it is always important to buy cover on the basis of your needs, not simply on price alone.

Travel insurance does not typically cover you if you decide not to travel when there is no official advice against doing so. However, many travel polices will cover cancellation and additional transport or accommodation costs not recoverable elsewhere, in the event of government (or other authoritative body, such as the World Health Organisation) advice against all or restricted travel.

This is to ensure that operators and airlines meet any legal obligations they have to you. Remember that the primary purpose of travel insurance is to cover overseas emergency medical treatment costs, and repatriation back to the UK on health grounds – these costs can easily run into tens or even hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Travel insurers always look to pay claims as quickly as possible, and Sri Lanka is no different. 

Yes, cover under your travel insurance will operate as normal. If in the country, make sure you keep up to date with, and follow, FCO advice.

The current advice against all but essential travel to Sri Lanka does not apply to flights transiting Colombo airport, providing that passengers remain airside (the side of the airport terminal beyond passport and customs control) in the airport.

Providing that you booked your trip before the current travel advice was issued, and had cancellation cover is in place, then you should be able to claim. Talk to your travel insurer about this.  

If you travel against government advice then you could be putting your travel insurance cover at risk. This is because policies expect you to take reasonable care, and not expose yourself to unnecessary and avoidable risk. Check with your travel insurer if the reasons for any travel would impact on your cover. 

It may be possible to obtain travel insurance, although the cost of a policy will reflect the increased risk in Sri Lanka at the moment. You can check with the British Insurance Brokers’ Association (BIBA) www.biba.org.uk for details of  any specialist insurance brokers who may be able to arrange cover.