Hi Everyone,

This is a followup to my other post regarding the protests and buying travel insurance. I've called a few travel insurance companies today and they pretty much universally said that protests (including the protests that shut down the BKK airport last year) are considered "civil unrest" and not covered under a travel insurance policy. Can anyone recommend a reputable company that does not exclude civil unrest under their insurance policies? Thanks!

I was stranded in Thailand last year for 6 days when BKK was shut down by the PAD protesters. I had travel insurance purchased from AIG Travelguard. I called Travelguard from Thailand and was told the delays and cancellations of my vacation would be covered, to save all receipts and document to file a claim when I got home. So I did, and they turned me down. They said civil unrest is not covered. Terrorism is, but they said it wasn't terrorism. So I filed a complaint with my state's insurance licensing commission and after getting a letter from the Missouri Attorney General AIG Travelguard reversed their position and paid me $1500. But I had to fight for it. And my vacation was still ruined.

You won't find this coverage anywhere from US companies. They are all sleazy. If you did have insurance, and something happened while you were there, and you had a claim you'd want to hope (morbidly) that someone got killed and it was labeled terrorism.be sure to print copies of newspaper and internet stories about the situation from the local press/web sites as your documented evidence.

Or you can just not go to Thailand (like I'm not) until they get their act together. But don't do business with AIG Travelguard. They are the worst insurance company out there (which is why they had to be bailed out).

I'd suggest you go to an insurance comparison site like www.insuremytrip.com and see what you can find.

Susiean, are you also boycotting Greece, France, and a dozen other countries "until they get their act together"? Civil unrest occurs everywhere.

Yes, I am staying away from the countries where the civil unrest has gotten out of control to the point it affects transportation to, from, and within the country. I work too hard and long and save my travel dollars to visit people and countries around the world and help their local economies by spending in those countries.

There are plenty of places in the world where people express their political opinions without causing self-inflicted harm to themselves by disrupting tourism, which is often the biggest employer and source of revenue in many places.

JB, without looking up the policy I am quite sure that mine would have covered the Nov-Dec BKK situation. (I did report the details on Fodors on an earlier thread.) However, one of the key restrictions was that you had to purchase this comprehensive cancellation/medical plan *before* buying your air ticket. Have you purchased your ticket already? I doubt you can insure yourself after purchase if a potential problem of civil unrest looms into view or should the current disturbances escalate.