Many Britons face losing holiday money due to war-related travel exclusions, as the escalating conflict in the Middle East triggers a wave of Foreign Office warnings and leaves travellers with policies that offer no protection. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) now advises against all travel to parts of Lebanon, Israel and Palestine, and advises against all but essential travel to the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait, reflecting heightened security risks including potential airstrikes and civil disorder. For thousands of holidaymakers who booked months ago, the result is a stark choice: travel against official advice and lose their insurance, or cancel and lose the cost of flights and accommodation.
One traveller’s predicament
Lottie Cornwall, a 21-year-old Nottingham Trent University student who works part-time as a waitress, booked a summer trip to Lebanon in February. She was looking forward to introducing her boyfriend to her Lebanese extended family – her mother’s whole side of the family lives there, and she had last seen her grandmother and cousins in 2022. “My heritage means everything to me,” she said. “This was a chance for my boyfriend to meet my family, and to show him where I come from and why I’m so in love with it.”
In March, the FCDO changed its advice, warning against travel to parts of Lebanon. When Cornwall examined her “comprehensive” travel insurance policy, purchased through the online travel agency Trip.com, she discovered it excluded “any claim due to changes in travel advice”. She had bought the flights and insurance together via Trip.com, which contacted the airline AJet on her behalf. AJet, part of Turkish Airlines, told her the usual rules applied: fees to cancel or change the return trip via Istanbul totalled £673, on top of an original booking cost of £782. “The FCDO is warning British nationals not to travel to Lebanon, and my insurer says my policy is void if I do travel,” Cornwall said. “This exclusion is not made clear at point of sale. I believe consumers are being misled into purchasing premium policies. I assumed if your government is telling you not to go somewhere, the airline would give you a credit or change the booking. We will not make the trip if the advice stays the same and will lose the money.”
Trip.com responded by saying its team had reviewed the situation and liaised with the travel partner. The flight remains operational, and the booking does not fall within the airline’s waiver policy, so any cancellation would be subject to fare rules and charges. The insurer’s policy documents were made available during purchase and sent by email, Trip.com added, advising Cornwall to contact the insurer directly to verify coverage.
Insurance exclusions and limitations
The case highlights a widespread issue: standard travel insurance policies are not designed to cover losses arising directly from war or armed conflict. The trade body the Association of British Insurers (ABI) warns that travelling against FCDO advice could invalidate your travel insurance. Claims related to war, invasion, acts of foreign enemies, hostilities, civil war, revolution, rebellion, insurrection or civil commotion are standard exclusions. Furthermore, the Middle East conflict is now considered a “known incident” by insurers, meaning new policies taken out after the conflict escalated will generally not cover anything linked to these existing events. This is why consumer expert Martin Lewis consistently advises buying insurance “as soon as you book” – to cover unforeseen events that occur after booking but before travel.
Even policies that are still on sale for affected destinations come with significant gaps. The analyst Defaqto reports that some insurers have paused quoting for destinations such as Dubai and Cyprus while they reassess risk. Its director Stephen Kennedy said: “Travellers should treat insurance as something to check before they book, not after. Availability can change quickly when a destination is affected by conflict, airspace closures or FCDO advice. Most standard travel policies are not designed to cover losses arising directly from war or armed conflict. That means travellers should not assume they can cancel because they are worried about travelling, or claim for disruption linked to the conflict, unless their policy clearly says so.”
Aviva, for example, said its policies contain an exclusion for the direct and indirect consequences of war. This means that claims arising from fuel shortages caused by the Middle East conflict are not covered. However, Aviva added that it wishes to support customers who become stranded abroad due to flight cancellations, and will consider claims on a case-by-case basis if they cannot recover costs from elsewhere, including unrecoverable costs for hotels and excursions, regardless of when the policy was bought.
A review of 40 travel insurance policies by the website MoneySavingExpert found only a handful that would cover the financial knock-on effects of a flight cancellation linked to fuel shortages. Those include the insurer Urban Jungle, which positions itself as a fair provider, and the policies that come with the Lloyds Silver Account (£11.50 a month) and the Halifax Ultimate Reward Account (£19 a month). Both packaged bank account policies are administered by AWP Assistance UK Ltd (Allianz Assistance) and underwritten by AWP P&C SA. The Lloyds Silver policy covers European and UK family travel insurance up to age 65, including winter sports and golf. The Halifax Ultimate Reward covers worldwide family travel insurance up to age 70, also including winter sports and golf, plus AA breakdown cover, mobile phone insurance and home emergency cover.
If a flight is cancelled, the ABI says passengers should contact their airline or tour operator, as they are responsible for offering refunds, rerouting or alternative plans. Confused.com’s Tom Vaughan notes that if a flight is cancelled because of a fuel shortage, the airline is responsible for providing an alternative flight or refunding the cost. “Some travel policies will cover travellers for disruption to their journey, although this must specifically be included,” he said. “Certain policies provide cover for unrecoverable costs when a flight is cancelled or delayed after check-in and results in a delay of more than 12 hours.”
Advice for travellers
Those who have booked a package holiday are in a significantly better position. Under the Package Travel Regulations (PTRs), if the FCDO issues a warning against travel to the destination after you have booked, the tour operator must offer a suitable alternative or, if that is not possible or represents a significant change, provide a full refund. This protection applies even if the holiday has not been officially cancelled. For travellers who have put together their own itinerary – booking flights, accommodation and car hire separately – the risk of losing money on prepaid items is much higher. Martin Lewis advises contacting hotels or car hire companies directly if the worst happens: “Once you understand that you have no rights, and they say ‘We’ll give you a voucher’… you suddenly realise you’re doing well, not badly.”
Travellers should also note that reforms to the Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018, due to come into force on 6 April 2027, will reclassify many linked travel arrangements as packages, extending greater consumer protection. This means that booking a flight and then a hotel on the same trader’s website during a single visit will become a package, giving you the same rights.
For those still looking to travel, the advice from Gary Murphy, head of travel at the insurance provider Gigasure, is clear: “If you haven’t booked, the best advice is to book a package trip. Then, if something happens, the travel provider is liable to refund, replace or reorganise it. If you don’t want to book a package, then book flexible arrangements.” He adds that travel insurance is designed to cover individual risks such as illness or redundancy, not mass risks like war, which are generally excluded.
Premiums have also risen. The price comparison site Compare the Market reports that the average premium for a trip to Turkey costs 12% more than this time last year; for the UAE the increase is 22%, and for Saudi Arabia it is 21%. Travellers may find fewer policies available, more exclusions and greater scrutiny around the destination and official travel advice.
Jane Hawkes, behind the consumer advice website Lady Janey, warns that the main issue now is not price but whether insurance will “be worth the paper it’s written on”. She advises: “Consumers should look for policies with strong travel disruption and curtailment cover, and check carefully how insurers handle changes in advice after booking. For most mainstream travellers, established insurers with strong emergency assistance and clearer disruption policies are likely to offer better protection than ultra-budget options.”
When examining a policy, it is important to check that the benefit limit for cancellation or curtailment is high enough to cover the full cost of the trip. The “insurance product information document” gives a concise overview of what is and is not insured. Defaqto also warns about how excesses are applied: about a quarter of policies charge an excess on a “per person” basis, while almost two-thirds apply multiple excesses to a single claim. A “per person, per section” excess means that a couple claiming for stolen luggage and money could face a £50 excess applied four times, resulting in a £200 contribution.
For anyone still considering travel to Lebanon, entry requirements are also strict. Passports must be valid for at least three months from the date of entry. British citizens can obtain a free single-entry tourist or family visit visa on arrival at Beirut airport, valid for one month and extendable. However, passports that contain an Israeli stamp may lead to refusal of entry, even with a valid Lebanese visa.
Trip.com, when questioned about Lottie Cornwall’s situation, said the relevant insurance policy documents and terms were made available during the purchase process and sent to the customer by email after purchase, setting out the cover, restrictions and exclusions. They advised her to contact the insurer directly to verify whether the situation qualifies for coverage under the policy terms.
