Travel Insurance for Iraqi Kurdistan
RHemmings
Posts: 3,467 Forumite
How does one get travel insurance for Iraqi Kurdistan?
If I search on MoneySupermarket.com giving 'Iraq' as my destination, then I get lots of very competitive (for any country, not just Iraq) results.
If I click on 'more details', then among the other details is 'Countries covered'. I click on the '223' for the countries covered, and Iraq is specifically listed. I note that for 'coverforyou.com', Afghanistan and Somalia aren't.
This should be more than enough evidence that Iraq is covered, but I must admit that I suspect it won't be. It'll be excluded in the fine print, via FCO advice or similar.
How does it work? Is the MoneySupermarket.com 'details' accurate enough so that any country listed as being covered will be covered?
EDIT: Looking at CoverForYou.com's own site, they say:
That would include all of Iraq then, even Kurdistan. It does seem misleading to give a quote for a country if the fine print simply invalidates the cover specifically for a country...
If I search on MoneySupermarket.com giving 'Iraq' as my destination, then I get lots of very competitive (for any country, not just Iraq) results.
If I click on 'more details', then among the other details is 'Countries covered'. I click on the '223' for the countries covered, and Iraq is specifically listed. I note that for 'coverforyou.com', Afghanistan and Somalia aren't.
This should be more than enough evidence that Iraq is covered, but I must admit that I suspect it won't be. It'll be excluded in the fine print, via FCO advice or similar.
How does it work? Is the MoneySupermarket.com 'details' accurate enough so that any country listed as being covered will be covered?
EDIT: Looking at CoverForYou.com's own site, they say:
*All countries worldwide, excluding the United States, Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean. Please note no cover is provided for any destination where, prior to your trip commencing, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office have advised against all (but essential) travel.
That would include all of Iraq then, even Kurdistan. It does seem misleading to give a quote for a country if the fine print simply invalidates the cover specifically for a country...
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Comparison sites aren't very clever, I suspect you'll have to talk to insurance companies or brokers to get what you want.Tall, dark & handsome. Well two out of three ain't bad.0
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I imagine is may be difficult as the Foreign Office advise against 'all but essential travel'.
https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/iraq
This must warn off most insurers.0 -
I imagine is may be difficult as the Foreign Office advise against 'all but essential travel'.
https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/iraq
This must warn off most insurers.
Yes, but that's not my point.
My point is that insurers will quite happily quote for travel specifically to Iraq. And that Moneysupermarket explicitly says that insurance found in its search covers Iraq. Which it appears, given an answer I've had from MoreThan, it doesn't.
It does seem to me incredibly misleading that a person can check that their travel insurance covers Iraq at several stages in the application process, and it doesn't.
I wonder what would happen legally if someone took out insurance specifically for a country, and clearly named the country as part of the application process, and then the insurer claimed that they weren't covered at a later point.0 -
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I wonder what would happen legally if someone took out insurance specifically for a country, and clearly named the country as part of the application process, and then the insurer claimed that they weren't covered at a later point.
Probably nothing as they cover their backs with the "Please note no cover is provided for any destination where, prior to your trip commencing, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office have advised against all (but essential) travel" statement
Puts the onus on the customer to check if this the case, rather than the insurers continually updating their websites/policies.0 -
bradders1983 wrote: »Probably nothing as they cover their backs with the "Please note no cover is provided for any destination where, prior to your trip commencing, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office have advised against all (but essential) travel" statement
Puts the onus on the customer to check if this the case, rather than the insurers continually updating their websites/policies.
Well, if the selection that the customer made is something like 'Worldwide excluding USA and Caribbean' then that would be fair and reasonable.
However, if the destination of (e.g.) Iraq has been specifically chosen and is specifically listed as acceptable, then I'm not sure that legally they can then deny cover through small print. And morally, even less so. I don't believe that it's reasonable to sell a product specifically for one thing, and then say that the fine print actually invalidates the product based on the one thing.0 -
As comparison sites don't provide insurance cover I doubt if you really have anything to complain about. For insurance contact a company that actually offers it. And for something as specialised as cover in Iraq it would be ridiculous to expect standard travel insurance to cover it by default.0
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As comparison sites don't provide insurance cover I doubt if you really have anything to complain about. For insurance contact a company that actually offers it. And for something as specialised as cover in Iraq it would be ridiculous to expect standard travel insurance to cover it by default.
Well yes, comparison sites only ask for the country so it knows whether to give you prices for "Europe" or "Worldwide" cover. Doesnt indicate whether the insurance is valid in that country or not....0 -
bradders1983 wrote: »Well yes, comparison sites only ask for the country so it knows whether to give you prices for "Europe" or "Worldwide" cover. Doesnt indicate whether the insurance is valid in that country or not....
Partially agreed. I think that given the status of Moneysupermarket that the companies should take more effort to ensure that information given early on is correct. If I was a company, I wouldn't want a comparison website mis-selling my products. But, the actual website of the company should. If it was just the comparison site I wouldn't have an issue. But, doing some trial purchases (but not actually purchasing), the company websites backs up the moneysupermarket information. At that point, I'd consider the consumer misled.
My point was not just that the comparison website had it wrong, but that the actual website of the company gets it wrong too. I can easily imagine consumers going through the whole process and not realising that they aren't covered. OK, consumers should read the fine print. But, in the case I describe I don't think it's unreasonable for consumers to not realise that their country of destination has not been checked.0 -
Just had a google
Have you tried these people?
https://www.firstalliedtravelinsurance.com/iraq-travel-insurance0 -
Just had a google
Have you tried these people?
https://www.firstalliedtravelinsurance.com/iraq-travel-insurance
Man, that's some heavy duty travel insurance right there. Crisis response. Ransom reimbursement.
I did find another organisation - can't find them now - but their website was really amateurish. Which put me off.
This is much better.
EDIT:
Here's a quote from First Allied's webpage which I think is rather telling concerning normal travel insurance. (My emphasis)Whether for leisure or business purposes, when travelling to volatile regions and countries, particularly those countries where the UK FCO and the US department of State have advised against all but essential travel, it's a sad fact that your current insurer may not be aware that they are unable to provide the cover you need under your usual insurance policy.0
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