Canadian tourists may not be able to claim trip cancellations to Jamaica amid violence on island, travel expert warns
CTV
Despite Jamaica’s prime minister recently declaring a widespread state of emergency following a surge in gang violence and murder on the island, a travel expert warns that Canadian travellers may not be granted cancellation claims for travel insurance policies.
Despite Jamaica’s prime minister recently declaring a widespread state of emergency following a surge in gang violence and murder on the island, a travel expert warns that Canadian travellers may not be granted cancellation claims for travel insurance policies.
According to Government of Canada’s travel advice and advisories notices, travellers entering Jamaica should “exercise a high-degree of caution in Jamaica due to a high level of violent crime.”
The state of emergency applies to regions in the capital of Kingston as well as six of Jamaica's 14 parishes. This includes popular tourist spots in Montego Bay.
The Associated Press has reported that the island of 2.8 million people tallied 1,421 killings so far this year. This time last year, Jamaica had 1,375 reported killings, according to Jamaica’s Constabulary Force.
As the situation continues to unfold in Jamaica, advisory warnings could change.
Martin Firestone, president of Travel Secure Insurance, warns that travel insurance policies do not necessarily account for cancellations or medical concerns when they are attributed to what constitutes as “known causes.”
“There’s a small clause in many of the contracts that basically addresses a ‘known cause,’” he told CTVNews.ca on the phone Thursday. “If you bought that policy and it’s starting to be shown in the media that there is unrest [in a specific destination] and you bought it while knowing that you may want to cancel your trip, it’s too late.”
