Travel insurers have deployed extra resources to help customers caught in the Middle East conflict zone, according to the Insurance Council of Australia, which has declared the US-Israeli war on Iran a significant event.

The move comes amid signs the situation is quickly deteriorating, after Iran broadened its retaliatory attacks on US targets in the Gulf region, including the American embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Travel insurance generally excludes war and conflict, but insurers remain committed to supporting customers, ICA says.

It says its travel insurer members “have stood up additional resources to support customers … with dedicated 24/7 access, assisting with the co-ordination of medical care and prioritising support for those in impacted countries.

“ICA members providing travel insurance have indicated the coverage date of policies will be extended to support customers impacted by airport and airspace closures.

“Insurers are committed to supporting impacted travellers through this period of geopolitical conflict and encourage policyholders to contact their travel insurer if they need support.”

Under the significant event declaration, ICA is working with the federal government and agencies to ensure a “co-ordinated and joined up” approach for affected Australians. An industry-wide taskforce has been established, and it has begun claims data collection, analysis and reporting in consultation with members.

ICA CEO Andrew Hall says the conflict will cause significant disruption to world travel networks.

“We encourage those in transit, or with upcoming travel plans, to speak to their insurer if they have suffered a loss and believe they have a claim,” he said.

“Each claim is assessed on its own merit and insurers are armed with information to support those impacted … insurers’ number one priority for their customers is their safety and security.”

S&P Global Ratings says the conflict is expected to create earnings volatility in global reinsurers’ annual results, particularly in specialty lines.

“The conflict disproportionately affects specialty lines, a segment that insures complex or high‑risk exposures, including war risk, aviation, energy, political violence and other niche classes,” the ratings agency said. “These lines are more directly tied to the types of events unfolding in the region, increasing the likelihood of significant claims activity.”

AM Best senior director and head of analytics Mahesh Mistry says marine, trade credit and political risk insurance will probably experience the most direct and immediate impacts.

“While cyber insurers have been excluding war or state-sponsored attacks, there are products that cover war risks that could be affected in the medium term if cyber risks escalate by state-sponsored actors.”

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