Will your travel insurance pay if you have to cancel your trip?

Which reasons for cancelling will your policy pay for?

Only the reasons it lists. Illness or death is on every list. Other reasons appear in some policies only. Daman states that a reason not listed is excluded.¹

Sources for Table 1

GIG Gulf,² AIG,³ Liva,⁴ Allianz Partners,⁵ Orient,⁶ Mastercard,⁷ Daman.¹

Allianz Partners lists 26 numbered reasons, the last only with its Sports add-on.⁵

Your plan decides whether you have the benefit at all. Salama’s Table of Benefits shows no cancellation benefit on its Traveller, Pearl, Family or Schengen plans.⁸ GIG Gulf’s cancellation chapter applies to the Travel Smart plan only.² Liva’s table shows no cover on Schengen Travel.⁴ Orient’s Family Plus and Lite Plus summaries have no cancellation row.⁶ Daman’s limits are in its Schedule of Benefit. Ask Daman for them.

Check that a cancellation line appears on your own schedule.

Will your policy pay if your visa is refused?

Three policies list a refused visa, each with conditions, and three exclude it.

• Orient lists a declined visa if seven conditions are met, including applying 28 days before departure and booking a return ticket. The same section excludes not having the correct passport or visa.⁶ Orient’s Travel Secure Plus and Travel Safe Plus also pay up to USD 100 for visa application costs, under a separate section.⁶
• Daman lists failure to obtain a visa if you applied at least 21 days before the trip.¹
• Allianz Partners lists refusal of a tourist visa by your destination or transit country.⁵
• AIG, Liva and GIG Gulf exclude failure to obtain a visa.³⁴²

The policies use different words, declined, failure to obtain and refused, and none defines the difference. Ask your insurer how it treats a visa that is still pending on your travel date.

What if the problem was known when you booked?

Usually the policy will not pay. Most policies need the event to come after you booked or bought the cover. AIG starts single-trip cancellation cover when the trip is booked or the premium is paid, whichever is later.³ Mastercard needs the costs booked and paid before the incident.⁷ Daman needs a transport event to occur or be announced after booking or policy start.¹ Allianz Partners excludes anything known, foreseeable or expected when the policy was bought.⁵ GIG Gulf, AIG and Liva exclude circumstances known before booking or before the insurance started.²³⁴

How quickly must you tell your airline and hotel?

As soon as you know. Allianz Partners sets 72 hours from finding out, and does not make up any refund lost through later notice.⁵ AIG, Mastercard and Liva say as soon as possible or immediately, and Orient excludes extra charges caused by late notice.³⁷⁴⁶ Allianz Partners and Daman address whether a refund from an airline reduces your claim.⁵¹

Will your policy pay if a government or airline stops the trip?

It depends on the policy. Liva and GIG Gulf exclude government regulations or acts, and GIG Gulf also excludes cancellation of the flight route by the carrier or any government.⁴² Orient excludes withdrawal of an aircraft on an authority’s order or recommendation, a carrier’s refusal to carry, and riot, civil commotion, strike or lock-out.⁶ Daman excludes government advice preventing movement.¹

Allianz Partners lists a government-mandated shutdown of airline or train operations as a reason, and excludes travel alerts or prohibitions from that reason.⁵ The wording does not say how that reason sits beside its war exclusion. Mastercard lists security reasons or a mandatory evacuation at the destination.⁷ The war and airspace terms are in war, conflict and airspace closures.

What is commonly excluded?

Known circumstances and pre-existing conditions in most policies, and pregnancy in several.

• AIG excludes not wanting to travel.³
• AIG, Liva, GIG Gulf, Allianz Partners, Mastercard and Daman exclude known circumstances or pre-existing conditions.³⁴²⁵⁷¹
• GIG Gulf excludes illness from pregnancy. Liva excludes pregnancy unless the expected birth is more than 10 weeks after you return. Mastercard excludes pregnancy and related conditions.²⁴⁷
• Mastercard excludes anxiety or depression.⁷
• GIG Gulf excludes travel restrictions that follow a WHO pandemic or epidemic declaration.²

Pre-existing condition clauses can reach a relative who is not travelling. See pre-existing medical conditions.

The small print

• Mastercard sub-limit. Children, the cardholder’s parents and a domestic helper are limited to 25% of the USD 7,500 cardholder limit.⁷
• Salama. Emergency Return Home Following Death of a Close Relative is a separate benefit during a trip, not a cancellation benefit.⁸
• Schengen visas. Visa Code Art 15(1), the rule for Schengen visa applicants, names repatriation for medical reasons, urgent medical attention, emergency hospital treatment and death. It does not name trip cancellation.⁹
• Schengen refusals in the UAE. In 2025 the not issued rate at Schengen consulates in the UAE was 24.2%. The figure includes discontinued examinations and gives no reasons.¹⁰⁹ See the Schengen consulates study.
• Other insurers. The Central Bank’s register for September 2026 lists 54 insurance companies.¹¹ The reasons here come from the published wordings of seven of them and the Mastercard World card terms, as of 4 November 2026. Your own schedule decides what you are paid.