​​​Travel insurance and exclusions: What’s covered when unrest or war erupts​

World events seem straight out of a war drama lately. Just when travel truly bounced back, many Canadian travellers are seeing trips cut short, interrupted or called off again, this time by civil unrest, armed conflict, or unexpected wars. 

If you are planning a trip to countries that made headlines recently, like parts of Mexico, Iran, or the Middle East region, it is worth understanding one uncomfortable truth up front: your travel insurance coverage will have exclusions tied to violence or unrest. For Canadian travellers, that raises a stressful but important question: if something goes wrong, will my travel insurance cover it? 

We decode how travel insurance treats war, violence, and civil unrest, what typically isn’t covered, what happens if you’re caught in the middle, the role of travel advisories, and what you can do to protect yourself before you take off. 

War, unrest and terrorism exclusions 

Travel insurance is generally designed for unexpected illness, accidents, routine mishaps, and not full-scale political crises. That’s why most Canadian policies carve out broad exclusions for violence, war and politically driven unrest. 

Kristina Koch, Business Development Manager at Canadian travel insurance provider TuGo, points out, “war, civil unrest or riot, terrorism, insurrection, known event, participation, are all words that will show up in a travel insurance’s general exclusions” section. 

Some common exclusions include: 

• War and acts of war, whether declared or undeclared (including invasion, rebellion, insurrection and civil war). 
• Civil disorder or unrest, riots, and popular uprisings. 
• Terrorism or acts of terrorism, unless your policy specifically lists terrorism as a covered risk. 
• Events that were known when you bought the policy, such as a travel advisory in place before purchase. 
• Losses that arise if you refuse to travel, fearing unrest. 

If you’re harmed or your property is damaged 

Being stuck in a war-like scenario can trigger different parts of a travel insurance policy depending on how the event is classified and what happens as a result of it. Travellers often assume they’ll be covered and are not aware that different parts of a policy respond to different kinds of loss.  

Koch says the policy will not respond to property damage due to unrest. “However, it will respond if the traveller is injured due to unrest or conflict as long as they’ve not participated in the event and as long as the event was unknown prior to them departing from their home province,” she said. So, even when medical claims might be considered, property claims often are not, and the timeline of events matter. If the event was already known before departure, you can run into exclusions. 

Typically, you can expect the following outcomes on your policy: 

Injury during unrest or an attack: Emergency medical coverage may still respond if the policy doesn’t exclude medical costs arising from the type of event. If you’re an innocent bystander in a riot or criminal incident, you’ll still be covered. 

Property damaged or lost belongings: The baggage coverage usually covers theft, loss or damage caused by common perils but loss due to war or unrest can be excluded. 

Trip cancellation or interruption: If an “Avoid all travel (Level 4)” advisory is issued by the government after you book and buy insurance, some insurance plans allow a cancellation or interruption claim or prepaid or non-refundable costs.

Can you buy coverage for these risks?  

It’s not that straightforward. You cannot fully insure against war itself, but there are specialty coverages that improve protection against unexpected unrest. But these are not widely offered as simple add-ons for everyday leisure travellers in Canada and Koch confirms, TuGo doesn’t offer this type of coverage. “If they (travellers) are looking for terrorism coverage, security or political evacuation coverage they would need to do a ...search in Canada since that is not widely offered on a regular basis,” she says. 

If you find that your travel destination is a high-risk region, you can consider talking about speciality coverages with a specialized travel insurance broker. In such a scenario, you could ask for: 

• Policies that explicitly cover terrorism or acts of terrorism, which is distinct from war. 
• Cancel for Any Reason (CFAR) coverage lets you cancel or cut a trip short for reasons not otherwise covered, such as fear or violence or unrest, and potentially a partial refund. 
• Political evacuation coverage is offered by some comprehensive travel plans or corporate policies. 

Travel advisories and how they affect your claim  

Canada’s official source of travel information and advice – The Travel Advice and Advisories – helps travellers make informed decisions. There are four risk levels: Take normal security precautions (Level 1), exercise a high degree of caution (Level 2), avoid non-essential travel (Level 3) and avoid all travel (Level 4). 

How your insurance plan will protect you, depends on the travel advisory. “If an advisory is issued prior to departure, there will be an exclusion on your medical policy for that advisory issued. Which means, you can still go, but you won't be able to make a medical claim due to the event because it was known at the time of departure,” Koch confirms.  

“If the (untoward) event happens while the traveller is at the destination, TuGo provides them with 30 days of event coverage, but at the same time, 30 days to evacuate the area where the event is occurring. After 30 days we would no longer cover medical claims associated with the event,” she adds. 

Overall, these advisories matter for insurance coverage, because you will have to pay for cancellation or interruption claims if a Level 3 or 4 is in place and you travel anyway, because you knowingly assumed a risk. 

What to do if violence breaks out while you’re there? 

If an unrest or conflict breaks out after you arrive in a country, like Mexico, Kuwait or the UAE, you can take steps to best protect yourself and your co-travellers. 

“In the case of Mexico recently, it was to shelter in place and wait to hear what to do next,” Koch said, adding, “Follow whatever the government of Canada is asking travellers to do. Contact the Canadian Consulate in that country to advise [if] you are in the affected area. Then follow what is advised.” 

A few practical steps often help from an insurance standpoint: 

• Contact the nearest Canadian office abroad and Emergency Watch and Response Centre in Ottawa. 
• Call your insurer’s emergency assistance line as soon as it is safe to do so. Keep emergency numbers handy and not just on your devices. 
• Save receipts and records for any extra costs you incur (hotel, transport changes, medical bills) and save screenshots of alerts/advisories if relevant. 
• Avoid risky movement that could be interpreted as voluntary exposure (for example, travelling toward an active hotspot out of curiosity). 

A quick checklist before you fly 

Some key steps to take before you take off for your destination: 

 ✅ Register before you travel: Irrespective of the type of travel, you’re planning (vacation, work, meet family), always sign up for the Registration of Canadians Abroad service. This allows you to be notified in case of an emergency abroad or a personal emergency at home. 

 ✅ Even as the decision to travel is yours alone, if a Travel Advisory is issued for your destination, it may impact your travel insurance coverage. Make sure you understand the terms and conditions of your policy related to travel advisories. Check the travel advisories before you book or leave. 

 ✅ Keep emergency contacts like insurer’s emergency line, airline, hotel numbers handy and not just on your devices.