Insurer restores leisure travel cover

Friday 13th December 2002

New Zealand's biggest travel insurer Mike Henry has re-instated terrorism cover for all leisure travel following the Bali bombings.

Mike Henry, which writes around $35 million in premiums a year, restored business travel cover in October and general manager travel services Fiona Hewitt said the decision to extend it to holiday-makers was an "ethical" one.

Most insurance underwriters worldwide withdrew terrorism cover after the September 11 attacks, excluding most travel insurers including Mike Henry from offering the service.

Ms Hewitt said the Bali bombings has presented insurers with an ethical challenge and her company had broken from the predominant industry position by re-negotiating terrorism cover back into leisure policies.

"Even though none of our customers was hurt in Bali, we felt that for the future it was important we cover people for such events," she said. "Bali brought home that there is no way of knowing where to recommend additional cover, so we have included it across the board."

The expanded cover provides for medical care and repatriation or personal accident claims resulting from terrorist acts but excludes the costs new travel plans for those not directly affected by an attack. The change increases premiums for short trips by around $3 and long-haul by $24. Terrorism cover for business travellers is an optional extra for 15% of the policy premium.

"We continue to advise travellers to be careful, well prepared and to consider the advice of New Zealand travel advisories when it comes to choosing destinations," Ms Hewitt said. "Some New Zealanders still travel either un-insured or without reading the policy wording and are unaware of the potential cost of unexpected situations."

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