Life Insurance and Traveling to Dangerous Countries

Getting life insurance when you travel to a region of the world that is viewed as less than safe can be tricky.

Whether the trip is for work or personal to areas like Haiti, Iraq, Afghanistan, Mexico, etc. obtaining the proper life insurance coverage can be harder than making the right flight connections.

In most cases, traveling to these regions of the world and other trouble spots will leave you with higher premiums, if you can get life insurance in the first place.

As you will discover with some research, there are a number of countries that sit on the U.S. State Department's travel warning list, a list that is constantly updated. Insurance companies use the list in order to decide how much a consumer will be charged when it comes to an updated or new policy.

When it comes to the U.S. military, personnel going into war zones are covered through the government-provided Servicemen's Group Life Insurance. Coverage is also offered through a number of private insurers who cover military members for no extra cost.

Those individuals who work as contractors need to keep in mind that the majority of companies won't insure them. In some cases, employers who send workers to dangerous venues will pay for their employees' life insurance as part of an accident policy. Companies sending employees to an especially dangerous locale, including foreign journalists, can purchase a policy from a high-risk specialist for a certain number of staff, with the underwriter setting a price.

For members of the American Red Cross or the Peace Corp., they will have to have their own life insurance given the fact that neither agency supplies it for their volunteers. For those individuals, underwriters will look at where that person is going, what their agenda will include and how long they will be there in order to determine a premium. Policies could be one fourth or double more as a result of the danger.

According to Control Risks, the 10 most dangerous companies (in alphabetical order) are: Afghanistan; Chad/Sudanese border; Congo (North Kivu Province); Iraq; Pakistan; Palestinian Territories/Gaza Strip; Somalia; Sri Lanka; Sudan/Darfur; Yemen (Saasa Province).

Should you be planning a visit to an area of the world that is troubled by political instability or other issues, be sure to check with a life insurer as to what types of coverages are available and what the expected cost will be.

Visiting troubled areas of the world certainly call for having a sound life insurance policy in hand before you depart.