Can I travel against Foreign Office Advice when on Business
If your business takes you to parts of the world that are unstable or dangerous, to where travel is advised against by the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO), what do you need to think about? Bronwen Courtenay Stamp from our Travel, Tourism and Insurance Team, highlights the issues:
- Your first port of call for up to date information should be the FCO website – www.fco.gov.uk
- If there is a warning against all travel to a particular country, your travel insurer would not pay out if you visited that country and there was a problem
- Warnings against non-essential travel are a grey area for insurers and it is always best to check with your insurer before travel
- Insurance will normally cover your trip if the official warnings were issued while you are already abroad, but the claim could be invalidated if you fail to follow official advice once the warning is in place
- If you decide to cancel your trip because of problems in your country of destination after it is booked and the insurance taken out, you should read your policy carefully to see if your insurer will pay out
- As well as checking with the FCO, it is also good to check with the World Health Organisation (WHO) which advises about travel to areas affected by outbreaks of disease
- In this case, check your travel insurance policy to see if it specifies cover or non-cover regarding WHO warnings
For a full description of the issues covered and FCO warnings, click here
Bronwen Courtenay-Stamp can be contacted at bcs@stones-solicitors.co.uk
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