As the ongoing Iran–US conflict disrupts travel globally, thousands of travellers are facing flight delays, cancellations and costly rebookings. With airspace shut across West Asia, a key transit corridor for Indians flying to Europe and North America, airlines have been forced to suspend or reroute services, disrupting travel plans at scale.
Amid the chaos, many travellers are discovering a costly, unexpected gap: their travel insurance does not cover cancelled flights, missed connections or extended hotel stays caused by the war.
The reason is how travel insurance is fundamentally designed to cover individual, unforeseen risks, not large-scale geopolitical events, said Abhishek Bondia, co-founder of SecureNow, an insurance broking firm. “The main purpose of travel insurance is to cover personal emergencies. If you fall ill and cannot travel, that’s where insurance will cover your losses, not when a broader event or conflict disrupts everyone.”
The fine print of the policies includes a war exclusion clause, which states that losses arising “directly or indirectly due to war, hostilities or government restrictions” are not covered.
In such cases, responsibility typically shifts to airlines. As per the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) passenger charter, airlines must offer refunds or alternative arrangements when flights are cancelled.
Under normal circumstances, must also provide monetary compensation when the cancellation is not communicated appropriately well in advance. However, in the case of cancellations caused by a war, airlines are not liable to provide monetary compensation.
What else is excluded
The exclusion extends beyond just ticket cancellations. Claims for trip interruption, delays, missed connections and even additional accommodation costs may be denied if it is linked to a conflict.
Baggage-related claims may also be denied if the delay or loss is directly attributable to shutdowns or conflict conditions. Medical treatment for injuries caused by war or civil unrest is not covered.
Even when travellers are not flying into a conflict zone, the exclusion still applies. For instance, flights between India and Europe are currently being disrupted because large parts of the West Asia airspace have been shut, forcing cancellations and rerouting. In such cases, travel insurance is unlikely to help.
“Anything directly or indirectly linked to a war situation is not covered. Insurers look at the proximate cause of the disruption, and if that is war, the claim is not admissible, regardless of the destination,” said Bondia.
He noted that the key factor is always the primary cause of the loss. “There could be multiple events in a chain, but insurers look at what triggered the loss. If that is attributable to war, it will not be paid,” he said.
For instance, say your baggage was left behind in the country of origin by the airlines and is due to reach you the next day. But the flight carrying the delayed baggage gets cancelled due to civil unrest. In this case, you will be paid for baggage delay as the first cause of delay was the airline’s fault and not the civil unrest.
What travel insurance actually covers
Despite these limitations, travel insurance continues to serve an important purpose. “The real value of travel insurance is medical coverage abroad,” Bondia said. If a traveller falls ill or is hospitalised overseas, can cover substantial healthcare costs that domestic health policies typically do not.
Other benefits, such as trip cancellation, baggage delay or curtailment, are secondary features with relatively small payouts. They are designed to cover minor inconveniences, not large systemic disruptions.