Advisory – Middle East security situation and travel disruption

You may be aware of the recent escalation in hostilities across parts of the Middle East, which has resulted in missile and drone activity, temporary airspace closures and material disruption to commercial aviation across the Gulf region. A number of major international carriers have suspended, cancelled or re routed services, with disruption expected to continue in the short term. We recommend you keep up to date with communications from the Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s Smartraveller website.

If you have been directly affected by this event and need medical assistance, please call our 24-hour emergency assistance team immediately on +61 2 8907 5619. We further urge you to pay close attention to the local media and emergency services.

Policy coverage

Costs that are not covered by your policy:

• There is no cover for claims directly arising from you not following “Do not travel” advice issued by DFAT if the subject of the advice or warning is related to the nature of your claim. Check Smartraveller to confirm the travel advice for your proposed destination(s). If there is ‘do not travel’ advice and you proceed to book your trip – no cover applies. You can see the complete list on the Smartraveller website.

• There is no cover for claims arising as a result of:

  You serving in the armed forces in any capacity whatsoever, or taking active part in any war, invasion, acts of foreign enemies, hostilities (whether declared or not), civil war, rebellion, revolution, or insurrection of military or usurped power.

If your current trip has been cancelled, delayed or re-routed or you have been impacted and incurred additional expenses, please enquire first with your travel provider as to credits or refunds or travel adjustments. Then complete a claim form and return to us with any documents or receipts, so we can assess your claim.

Your period of insurance

If your trip began before ‘Do not travel’ advice was issued and is disrupted by this event, cover continues until the latter of the end date shown in your Policy Schedule or the date your journey ends.

Emergency assistance

If your trip involves travel to a country or part of a country the Australian Government on the Smartraveller website has issued a “Do not travel” advice or warning for, we may not be able to provide you with emergency assistance in that country.

Safety and practical steps

If you are currently in, or transiting through, affected areas, you should follow directions from local authorities and emergency services, including sheltering in place where advised. Avoid non essential movement and monitor local media for updates.

If your travel plans are disrupted, you may wish to contact your airline or travel provider directly to discuss available options, including flight re routes, changes, or credits, to help minimise out of pocket costs.

Australian travellers are also encouraged to subscribe to Smartraveller to ensure you receive email alerts if travel advice changes. We also recommended that you view the Smartraveller Crisis or emergency overseas advice, also available on the Smartraveller website.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) has opened a portal for new registrations via the Smartraveller website for Australians in a number of regions in the Middle East.

Monitoring airport and flight status

Airspace availability and airport operations in the region are being reviewed by authorities on an ongoing basis and may change at short notice. While you remain in impacted locations, you may wish to monitor updates directly from your airline and from official airport and civil aviation authority communications regarding the resumption of flight operations. Airlines are reassessing the feasibility of resuming services on a rolling basis, and flight availability may vary by carrier and destination.

Important notice

This information must be read in conjunction with the Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) as certain terms, conditions, limits, sub-limits and exclusions apply. These are detailed in the PDS and in particular we draw your attention to ‘The Benefits’, ‘Policy Conditions’ and ‘General Exclusions’ sections of the PDS.

Contact us

Our emergency assistance provider

Phone: +61 2 8907 5660
Email: [email protected]

QBE claims

A&H direct line: +61 2 9375 4874
A&H inbox: [email protected]