Articles About Travel

Travel Insurance And Kenya?s Election ? Your Rights

The recent Kenya elections have led to huge fallout in the country and beyond. When it was announced that President Mwai Kibaki had won the election by just 230,000 votes (out of 10,000,000 constituents) widespread political fury spread across the country ? and violence broke out. Subsequently, all travel to the country was advised against, and a lot of people needed to claim on their global travel insurance, which was confusing given the unusual circumstances. I shall get to that later, but first a little background to the events surrounding the Kenya election.

So far there have been 600 deaths and some 250,000 people (more than the alleged ?majority? of Kibaki) fleeing their homes. The reason for this is the continued allegations of vote rigging, and the evidence for it has really begun to pile up, with plenty of strong claims emerging, including the head of the Kenya election commission admitting that one constituency had the surprising and unlikely turn out of 115%! Elsewhere, results were announced differently nationally to their announcement locally, and the results were delayed for 24 hours at a time when Kibaki?s Kenya election rival, Raila Odinga, was leading in the polls. It?s no surprise that suspicion was rife, and equally unsurprising that the suspicion has led to unrest, which has broken out into the violence that has since engulfed the nation.

One area this has affected the most is Kenya?s previously buzzing tourism industry, and is one that is easily the country?s biggest source of foreign income, totaling an estimated ?500,000,000 per year. At the start of a year, Kenya could generally expect to be welcoming hundreds of tourists a day ? the recent fall out reduced the numbers down to a brave few who had decided to ignore the inevitable warnings from the foreign office about traveling to the country, which was then placed in the ?civil unrest? list of places not to visit. Subsequently, the Federation of Tour Operators cancelled all holidays to Kenya, and a lot of people previously booked to visit the fascinating country were left with no option but to cancel, and hurriedly check the small print of their worldwide travel insurance policies!

Well, now the foreign office?s advice has been lifted, and you can begin traveling to Kenya again (though the FCO still advises against travel to Western and Nyanza provinces, the Rift Valley province between Narok and Kitale, the central business district, Kibera, Mathere and Eastleigh areas of Nairobi, Uhura Park and Mombasa Town.) But what if something like this happens elsewhere? What steps should you take if you find sudden and unexpected political fallout affects a previously peaceful country you were due to travel to? While I can?t speak for all global travel insurance providers, this is the line we took with Kenya, and I suspect a similar policy has been adopted by our rivals for their Kenya travel insurance policies:

1. If you are traveling with a tour operator, they should provide you with a refund or an alternative holiday itinerary in a safer region.

2. If you are traveling independently, then you should be able to easily obtain a refund from your airline, and possibly from your accommodation provider.

3. If for some reason, either of these courses of action fail, and you have a policy with us, then we would offer reimbursement for unused travel and accommodation, under the terms of a Kenya travel insurance policy.

Obviously, I cannot be certain this is the approach other worldwide travel insurance providers will be taking, but I?d imagine the vast majority will be offering something very similar to those unable to travel due to the fallout following Kenya?s election, and this advice should apply in times of future disturbance throughout the world. If in any doubt, you should contact your provider as soon as possible and work out the exact terms of your travel insurance.

Patrick Chong is the Managing Director of Journey?s Travel. Their commercial travel insurance website, Insuremore (http://www.insuremore.co.uk) offers cheap global travel insurance packages for families, singles, children and skiers with free cover against acts of terrorism.

Other Article Sites

findabook.com  moneycd.info  a-mortgage.info   about-lemon-laws.info  aboutstudentloans.info
all-about-publishing.info  auctions-articles.info  bestcollege-university.com  bestispconnection.com
biblefolder.com  blogger-website.com  books-used.info  brokers-guide.info  buywindows.info  cable-dsl.info
career-miner.com  carpel-tunnel.info  cashinaflash.info  cashloanreviews.info  casinobell.com  chat-house.info
clearmycredit.info  collegeloantips.info  crones.info  depression-articles.info   dirnic.net  dishguides.info
divers-below.com  expodog.info   financewizz.com  fire-insurance.info  getgood.info  handleit.net   it-idea.info
health-supplies.info  hosting-right.com  insidealert.com  insurance-facts.info  jobs-employment.info
justgood.info  lookgold.net   lowcost-travel.info  money-source.info  myhostzone.info  numisblog.com
peoplesearchfinder.info  pr-articles.info  realeas.com   refinancing-guides.info  spyware-remove.info
telelot.info  the-law.info   toppaid.info  travel-deals.info  travelcorrect.com  wedding-guide-site.com
your-blog.info  your-credit.info

MORE ARTICLES:

Travel Insured International Introduces New Travel Insurance Plans with Stronger Benefits, More Insurance Options
Travel Insured International (www.travelinsured.com), a leading provider of travel protection plans for travelers, has unveiled a new trio of travel insurance plans under the company's popular Worldwide Trip Protector brand. The new plans, with stronger benefits and several new options, include Worldwide Trip Protector, a comprehensive travel insurance plan for broad protection of most travel itineraries, Trip Protector Gold for luxury-minded travelers, and Trip Protector Lite and Lite Expanded for budget conscious travelers.

Travel Insurance - Gap Year And Backpacker Travel
There are many hazards and dangers that gappers can encounter if they don't do their homework and plenty of research before setting off. Many of us wish we could blaze a trail across new frontiers, but the reality is that someone has already been there, done that, and got the tee shirt. Nevertheless, it's a good idea to network with those who've gone before you and take advantage of their knowledge.

TRAMS Expands Product by Adding Squaremouth as First Travel Insurance Comparison Solution for Travel Agents
Squaremouth, a leading online travel insurance comparison site, today announced its technology solution has been added to travel industry software provider TRAMS' product offerings. Travel agents using TRAMS Live Connect will now realize a greater product selection, increased sales, preferred supplier customization features, real time reports, saved customer quotes and more.

Traveling by Train a Great Alternative to Ease Air Travel Frustration
IgoUgo.com: "2008 'The Summer of the Train'"

FASTAFF Travel Nursing Offers Travel Nurses Rental Cars
For traveling nurses being able to explore their surroundings while on assignment is not an option, it's a requirement. For this reason rental cars are being offered on most FASTAFF travel nursing assignments.

Travel Tours And Travel Insurance
If you are thinking of taking a vacation but you are not sure whether to take out travel insurance or not then this article is for you. Here you will find out the reasons why travel insurance is often an essential for every vacation that you take which will hopefully help you to understand whether or not you need it.

Cheap Travel Insurance: Why You Need to Be Covered When You Travel
If you travel often or book family holidays, youýll have been offered travel insurance Maybe you didnýt see the need at the time to pay for the extra insurance, and maybe you made a good call

CSA Travel Protection Spotlights Travel Insurance, New Passport Rules, Ski Season and Wave Season
CSA Travel Protection encourages consumers to "travel well and travel wisely," and in that spirit, offers up its Consumer TraveList, a periodic roundup of important travel notes and seasonal happenings. Equally important, the Consumer TraveList identifies how travel insurance enhances and safeguards vacations.

SATH Selects Travel Insured International As Its Preferred Travel Insurance Partner
SATH, the Society For Accessible Travel & Hospitality, has named Travel Insured International as its exclusive, preferred partner in providing travel insurance plans to SATH members, guests and partners.

Journeys Travel Insurance Announce Partnership with The Global Travel Group
The Global Travel Group have appointed Journeys Travel Insurance, the parent company behind insuremore.co.uk as their preferred supplier for international travel insurance. Amongst other reasons, they were said to be impressed with the automatically included terrorism insurance and the ability to settle a claim over the internet for an instant decision. The partnership follows Journeys Travel winning the coveted "Best travel insurer" at this year's Globe Awards.

Travel Insurance When Pregnant Or Traveling With Children
There was a time when pregnant women would avoid traveling altogether, but these days women don't let pregnancy stop them from going abroad and having fun. Only you can decide whether the pros outweigh the cons when travelling while pregnant or with small children.

Squaremouth Travel Insurance Comparison Site Features New Travel Insured Product Enhancements
Squaremouth, the fastest growing travel insurance comparison site, today unveils a trio of travel insurance plans from Travel Insured International.

Discount Air Carriers And Discount Air Travel Transforming The Air Travel Industry
Why the Discount Carriers are Winning

Journeys Travel Insurance Win "Best Travel Insurance Provider" at Travel Bulletin's 2007 Star Awards Ceremony
Journeys Travel Insurance have won the "Best Travel Insurance Provider" at this year's Travel Bulletin Star Awards for the fourth time. The company attribute their continued success to their new initiatives not only to Journeys but also to Insuremore, their commercial worldwide travel insurance company. Both are continuing to innovate with new measures recently introduced including terrorism insurance and instant web travel insurance claims. For more information about Insuremore, please visit http://www.insuremore.co.uk