Iran Flight Tickets - At Your Own Risk - 10 Countries Where Travel Insurance Won't Be Able To Help You

We look at the government travel advice and decide from that whether or not we can provide insurance to travellers. Underwriters decide which countries travel insurance should be provided for, and other global travel insurance providers', the foreign and commonwealth office draws up an extensive list of countries that should not be travelled to quite regularly and it is from that our.

The most likely group to have their travel plans altered by the foreign office's travel advice are business travellers. And you're unlikely to have your big holiday plans affected, the list is clear of the majority of popular holiday destinations, thankfully. The current climate ensures that there are some places where the likelihood of incident means that UK travel insurance providers are unable to offer protection, cover the majority of the world, by its nature, although global travel insurance does.

Even if it means losing business - the risk from the warzones listed below is just too great to make the reward worth the danger: the foreign office's travel advice is not to travel to the following countries,

These are the ones that all travellers should avoid like the plague: but to me, the risk is far from conclusive (the foreign office's travel advice lists many more countries), And the reasons for the high risk factor, here's our top 10 countries to avoid travelling to!

10) Liberia

This extra likelihood of incident ensures that no UK travel insurance provider would risk offering you cover if you choose to visit Liberia And foreigners (especially westerners) are at risk targets due to their affluence, economic hardship in Liberia is currently making outbreaks of violence common.

9) Nepal

Killing 3 and injuring many innocent bystanders, three nearly simultaneous bombs went off in the capital of Kathmandu, in September this year. Occasional acts of terrorism and political violence in urban areas make Nepal off-limits for those who want to get travel insurance.

8)Haiti

It's no surprise that the government's travel advice is not to travel here! Day or night, the potential for spontaneous protests and demonstrations has also been known to result in unexpected violence. These kidnappings have ended in physical and sexual assaults and shootings, in the past. There have been 12 kidnappings of American travellers in 2007 - mostly criminal in nature, at the time of writing. Haiti is considered off limits to many travellers on account of the high risk of kidnappings and civil unrest that is prominent.

7)Yemen

Restaurants and shopping areas, the situation is so grave that the US Embassy often restricts American citizens from certain hotels. Then all travellers are encouraged to stay vigilant and to keep a low profile to avoid attacks or kidnapping, if this is not possible. Westerners are advised to steer clear of Yemen, due to the high levels of terrorist activity in Yemen.

6)Israel

The region's continued instability makes travel to Israel widely recommended against - the risk of abduction or worse makes travel insurance impossible to obtain. Kidnappings and violence demonstrations have occurred in each, and shootings, the Gaza Strip and West Bank has seen immense violence in recent months between Israeli and Palestinian factions.

5)Democratic Republic of Congo

Avoid crowds and keep a close eye on local media, avoid the North Kivu district which is the backdrop to armed conflict between government troops and army rebels, any traveller brave enough to travel to the Congo should be extremely cautious. Being unstable, especially in the north and easy, travel outside of Kinshasa is difficult and dangerous with security. And the situation remains volatile despite the immediate threat of violence calming down, fighting erupted in the streets of Kinshasa in March this year. Neglect and corruption has left the country distinctly damaged, where violence, the democratic republic of Congo remains one of the most dangerous places to travel in Africa.

4)Burma (Myanmar)

It still remains an uncertain time to visit the country and you're unlikely to find any global travel insurance company who will insure you, although the dusk-til-dawn curfew imposed in some of the towns has been lifted. The anti-government protests sparked a violent crackdown from the authorities and made international headlines, throughout September. Currently there is a lot of personal risk involved as well, while the human rights situation makes Myanmar an ethically uneasy place to visit.

3)Colombia

Naturally UK travel insurance companies are loathe to insure travellers who choose to ignore these warning and travel to Colombia anyway. While the more rural areas expose visitors to the country at risk from narcoterrorist groups who will often kidnap civilians to use for ransom or to gain media attention, the illicit drug trade in urban areas such as Cali and Buenaventura means that there is often a high risk of violence. Colombia remains one of the most dangerous places to travel in the world thanks to the crime the country suffers from.

2)Afghanistan

The government's travel advice is to avoid travelling here at all costs, unsurprisingly! Military operations and acts of terrorism, landmines, explosive devices, the country remains unsafe due to tribal groups, additionally. As many of the disbanded Taliban and Al-Qa'ida forces remain at large and hostile to the new regieme, western tourists are obvious kidnap and assassination targets. It's no surprise that the country remains a big no-go area, with the war on terror in Afghanistan still fresh in the mind.

1)Iraq

Checkpoints and police stations, restaurants, hotels, transnational terrorists and criminal elements have been known to attack convoys en-route to venues, the instability is caused by various groups - Ba'ath regime remnants. It is no surprise that no travel insurance companies will insure travellers to the troubled country, and the regular acts of terrorism and hostility to Western troops, given the high profile nature of western kidnappings by various insurgent groups.

Their riskiness means that business travellers will have to forgo their travel insurance if they are unable to cancel their trips, while holidaymakers are unlikely to be affected by these less touristy locations.