Middle East disaster: Will your journey insurer cowl you?

Tony Forchione

Senior Insurance Analyst

28 April 2026

Share

With the state of affairs within the Middle East often altering and no clear indication of when it is going to finish, what your journey insurance coverage will – and will not – cowl you for now relies upon closely on whenever you purchased it.

Many travellers are going through the opportunity of flight cancellations and disruptions on account of gas shortages, which has knock‑on penalties to pre-booked lodging, excursions and rent automobiles. Yet in case your flight is cancelled, most insurers will anticipate the airline to refund you (or present another) and so will not often cowl you.

Below we run by way of the small handful of choices which can present some stage of canopy. For assist with cancellations, jet gas surcharges and extra, see our separate Middle East journey disruption information story.

Insurance is unlikely to cowl you if the Foreign Office advises in opposition to journey

The UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) at present advises in opposition to ‘all journey’ to locations together with Israel, Iran or Iraq, or ‘all however important journey’ to the United Arab Emirates (Dubai) and elements of another extra widespread locations.

This means the Middle East battle is classed as a “known incident” and journey insurers will robotically exclude it as a legitimate cause for making an insurance coverage declare – conflict, invasion or armed battle is a normal typical exclusion.

So, if the FCDO has suggested in opposition to journey to a vacation spot and also you go anyway, it is nearly sure your journey insurance coverage coverage will not cowl you.

Very few insurance policies provide cowl for cancellations on account of gas shortages – however we have discovered just a few choices

We’ve reviewed over 40 journey insurance coverage insurance policies and our analysis suggests there are only a few insurance policies that may provide any stage of canopy in these situations. The common response insurers gave us was:

“It is the responsibility of the airlines and tour operators to ensure they can fulfil obligations under their contracts with customers. Where a flight is cancelled or delayed, we would advise people to speak directly with their airline or holiday provider.”

We did, nevertheless, discover just a few attainable choices…

1. Urban Jungle (this hyperlink takes you to our journey software the place you may must enter your particulars) says it WILL cowl you for cancellation on account of gas shortages… BUT you could first exhaust making an attempt to get well the prices from all different avenues (such because the airline, transport compensation scheme, the bank card firm, the lodging venue, automobile rent firm, and so on). This could sound exhausting nevertheless it’s greater than some other coverage we may discover.

   What’s included?
   – Flight cancellations on account of gas shortages, plus…
   – The price of individually paid-for lodging, automobile rent and excursions.

   What’s excluded?
   – Claims referring to abandoning the journey on account of uncertainty.
   – Recoverable prices from a tour operator.
   – Travelling in opposition to FCDO recommendation.

2. ‘Travel Disruption Cover’ through packaged financial institution accounts. The Lloyds Silver and Halifax Ultimate packaged financial institution accounts each present in depth Travel Disruption Cover (different insurance policies provide this however to not the identical stage), which suggests if the flight is cancelled or delayed after verify‑in and ends in a delay of 12+ hours, you may make a declare for unrecoverable journey prices.

   Lloyds Silver prices £11.50 a month (£138 a 12 months), whereas Halifax Ultimate is £19 a month (£228 a 12 months). Both of those insurance policies pay out as much as £5,000 should you cancel your journey, or for any additional transport or lodging prices you incur should you resolve to proceed your journey.

   What’s included?
   – Family journey insurance coverage (Europe solely with Lloyds Silver, Worldwide with Halifax Ultimate).
   – AA UK breakdown cowl (for the household).
   – Mobile telephone cowl for account holders.

   What’s excluded?
   – Claims referring to abandoning the journey on account of uncertainty.
   – Travelling in opposition to FCDO recommendation.

See our Cheap Travel Insurance information in case you are in search of journey insurance coverage.

You cannot declare in your insurance coverage for added gas surcharges

If these are imposed by the airline/tour operator you will not be capable of declare in your journey insurance coverage for it.

Even if it have been coated, the surplus on a journey insurance coverage coverage would doubtless have exceeded the surcharge anyway.

‘Cancel For Any Reason’ (CFAR) insurance coverage is not widespread within the UK

This does what it says on the tin and allows you to declare a refund should you cancel a visit for any cause in any respect, together with the price of flights, lodging and automobile rent. BUT it isn’t generally out there within the UK on account of our stricter underwriting laws, and when it’s, it is extraordinarily costly and comes with caveats.

The solely cowl of this kind that we may discover is…

1. Revolut’s (Ultra) packaged bank account at a whopping £55 a month (£660 a 12 months).

   What’s included?
   – You can declare as much as 70% of the price of non-refundable pre-paid bookings (together with flights, automobile rent, lodging, and excursions).
   – There’s a £2,500 restrict per declare.

   What’s excluded?
   – The vacation (and pre-paid bookings) MUST be paid for through a Revolut checking account.
   – The complete journey have to be cancelled, not a part of it.
   – Any prices which are recoverable through different means (eg, the airline, bank card firm, and so on).
   – Countries the FCDO recommendation warns in opposition to travelling to.

You ought to nonetheless get journey insurance coverage – nevertheless it will not cowl all the pieces

You can nonetheless purchase customary journey insurance coverage for international locations that aren’t on the FCDO record.

New insurance policies usually will not cowl something linked to occasions which are already thought of “known”, corresponding to the present Middle East battle. That’s why shopping for journey insurance coverage ‘As Soon As You Book (ASAB)’ is so vital, to remain forward of any issues that would occur after you’re insured, not ones already occurring.

That mentioned, even with the battle ongoing, most traditional insurance policies ought to nonetheless cowl you for any non‑battle‑associated claims. For instance:

Before you go (or when on the airport), try to be coated for:

• Cancellation of the vacation. Examples could be in case you are not medically match to journey, a household emergency, jury service otherwise you have been made redundant from work (causes cannot be linked to the Middle East state of affairs).

• Delayed departure. You can often declare an quantity of £10 to £30 for every 12-hour interval the flight is delayed (verify your coverage because the quantities can differ from insurer to insurer).

• Lost baggage.

• Abandonment of the journey. This varies from insurer to insurer however some insurance policies will cowl you if, for instance, your take-off has been delayed by 12 or extra hours and you may not proceed with the vacation.

While you’re away, you’ll often be coated for:

• Lost, stolen or delayed baggage.

• Delayed departure returning to the UK. You can often declare an quantity of £10 to £30 for every 12-hour interval the flight is delayed (verify your coverage because the quantities can differ from insurer to insurer).

• Some insurers may additionally proceed restricted cowl for a brief interval whilst you return dwelling – however this varies by insurer, so verify immediately.