Any suggestions for travel insurance for a "Do Not Travel" area?

[RSD]

My regular annual multi-trip policy has an exclusion for areas that SmartTraveller classifies as "Do Not Go", but on an upcoming trip I need to land in a city that is in such and area and then drive a couple of hours before I get out of that area into a "Reconsider Your Need to Travel" area. (For those that are wondering where, its landing at General Santos city on Mindanao and then heading south east from there).

Any suggestions for a travel insurance policy that covers travel in a "Do Not Go" area?

 

[albatross710]

I have travelled in Mindanao but not in the area you are going.

My unsolicited thoughts:
I don't think any travel insurer would know how to price such a policy..
You may have to shoulder that the risk of that portion of your trip.
Insurers would consider it a war type zone when on Sunday this just happened two hours north of Gen San (makes burnig a flag look very tame.)

 

[bPeteb]

When we traveled to southern Africa a couple of years ago Zimbabwe was specifically excluded from cover, by everyone.

We flew into Livingstone Zambia then crossed to Victoria Falls to begin our trip. We just didn't say we were going to Zimbabwe, and took the risk that we would be ok for the one night we stayed. .

 

[oz_mark]

Possibly need to speak to a broker - I don't think any of the standard retail products would cover this (aside from the pricing issue, one insurer once told me the biggest issue is whether they are actually able to help you if there is a problem)

 

[RSD]

I have travelled in Mindanao but not in the area you are going.

My unsolicited thoughts:
I don't think any travel insurer would know how to price such a policy..
You may have to shoulder that the risk of that portion of your trip.
Insurers would consider it a war type zone when on Sunday this just happened two hours north of Gen San (makes burnig a flag look very tame.)

I did see that they tried to put a rocket up the cough of the mayor - thankfully they missed. Out on the west coast near Zamboanga they killed four troops the other day as well.

I was thinking that someone on here that had been on a trip to Iran might have found a policy that covered them.

When we traveled to southern Africa a couple of years ago Zimbabwe was specifically excluded from cover, by everyone.

We flew into Livingstone Zambia then crossed to Victoria Falls to begin our trip. We just didn't say we were going to Zimbabwe, and took the risk that we would be ok for the one night we stayed. .

I might have to do something similar if all else fails.

Possibly need to speak to a broker - I don't think any of the standard retail products would cover this (aside from the pricing issue, one insurer once told me the biggest issue is whether they are actually able to help you if there is a problem)

Good idea - if all else fails I will give a broker a call.

 

[Ansett Nostalgic]

I did see that they tried to put a rocket up the cough of the mayor - thankfully they missed. Out on the west coast near Zamboanga they killed four troops the other day as well.

I was thinking that someone on here that had been on a trip to Iran might have found a policy that covered them.

I might have to do something similar if all else fails.

Good idea - if all else fails I will give a broker a call.

thankfully there is no longer an exclusion for Zimbabwe

 

[Melburnian1]

My regular annual multi-trip policy has an exclusion for areas that SmartTraveller classifies as "Do Not Go", but on an upcoming trip I need to land in a city that is in such and area and then drive a couple of hours before I get out of that area into a "Reconsider Your Need to Travel" area. (For those that are wondering where, its landing at General Santos city on Mindanao and then heading south east from there).

Any suggestions for a travel insurance policy that covers travel in a "Do Not Go" area?

I can't help, but have been to General Santos once, and found it as safe as anywhere else. But it's from a very limited sample of one visit, and years ago.

Surprising it's included in a 'do not travel' area. DFAT seems very conservative with such warnings. For years it insisted northeasten Mindanao was unsafe. Thankfully that has been downgraded to 'exercise caution'.

 

[RSD]

I can't help, but have been to General Santos once, and found it as safe as anywhere else. But it's from a very limited sample of one visit, and years ago.

Surprising it's included in a 'do not travel' area. DFAT seems very conservative with such warnings. For years it insisted northeasten Mindanao was unsafe. Thankfully that has been downgraded to 'exercise caution'.

GenSan being included in the Do Not Travel area might be a bit conservative, some areas of Mindanao definitely warrant that rating though.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Can you find a policy that covers everything else apart from the time spent in the ‘do not travel’ zone? And perhaps self insure for the two hours in transit?

 

[RSD]

Can you find a policy that covers everything else apart from the time spent in the ‘do not travel’ zone? And perhaps self insure for the two hours in transit?

My existing annual multi-trip policy will cover me for areas outside the "do not travel" zone, I might have to do the self-insure thing for when I am "in the bad zone"

 

[Tiki]

We were in Gensan a couple years ago for an overnight with early morning bird watching about 90 minutes drive out of the city. We self-insured for that portion but were extremely cautious. Taxi straight from bus station to hotel, only went out for a quick dinner a couple blocks away before dark and bought food for breakfast nearby. The guide came and picked us up at the hotel, we checked out and took our small backpacks. We went birding, then he dropped us back at the bus station and we got the first bus back to Davao City. Nothing bad happened thankfully. I did a lot of research beforehand and wasn't really worried that something would happen in Gensan because lots of people go there uneventfully. So it was a calculated risk that went well in our case 2 years ago. We spent less than 24 hours in the "bad zone". Just check with your local contacts to see the current situation.

 

[dajop]

GenSan being included in the Do Not Travel area might be a bit conservative, some areas of Mindanao definitely warrant that rating though.

Aah, GenSan. I've been there at least half a dozen times., for work, but not in the last 10 years. First time I ever stayed in a hotel with security guards at the driveway entrance with visible semi (I assume) automatic weapons. That was in 2004, but the safety did seem to improve over the years as the city developed. Although I was always with locals. But can be a violent place, one of our team moved his family to Manila for their own safety and we upgraded his vehicle to be largely armoured, after he received death threats following making some of his staff redundant.

Some little trivia, PR used to fly A340's at about 20% load factor into the airport (many years ago), and I asked why, and that was due to carrying a belly full of tuna back to MNL before continuing on to Tokyo. Also home of Manny Pacquiao, he was on my flight once, although only noticed once in terminal and surrounded by a entourage of security.