KIDNAPPING INSURANCE POLICY FOR LIVING / TRAVELING INTERNATIONALLY

 If you are an expatriate living outside your country of citizenship you should consider purchasing an expatriate kidnap and ransom insurance policy, especially if your family is living with you abroad. Kidnap and ransom insurance is no longer just for the "worst of the worst" places for expatriates to live like Bogota Colombia, Mexico City Mexico, Manila Philippines, or Kabul Afghanistan. Expatriates today are "over-confident" thinking their large employer has everything taken care of.

This can be a false assumption. We have interviewed risk managers at even the largest of companies and many do not have a thorough understanding of what they would do if an employee was abducted. If this line of insurance existed at the company, who the security consultant is and how to contact them in an emergency was also not as clear as it should be. The health, safety and security of your family is too important to just "assume" your employer has everything taken care of. Have they given you detailed instructions on what to do if you were abducted or a family member was abducted (or threatened with expatriate extortion?) Today, personal or family plans are essential.

 Every year, thousands students leave America, Canada, the U.K., and EU to study abroad for 9 month or longer. It is estimated that 95% of these students have no kidnap and ransom insurance or even a good emergency security plan they can use in an emergency. There is no better example of "head in the sand syndrome" and "it won’t happen to my family" than when we see the thousands of students studying in Latin America, Africa, or the Middle East without K & R Insurance.

If any kind of kidnap ransom and extortion insurance is provided through higher education we ask the same question we ask all expatriates. How effective is the insurance? What is the plan to hire a local security consultant that would need to intervene locally to negotiate a kidnap release? Almost no parent has vetted these programs and every hour counts. We assure you, there are BIG differences in all of these programs and "just because the university is providing something" does not mean it is adequate for the country location of your study abroad student. Please contact us for details.

 When considering kidnap and ransom insurance for the hundreds of thousands of Americans, Canadians, EU, and Australian travelers this group is the MOST exposed. First, most frequent travelers have no idea that they can buy a personal policy that meets their kidnap and ransom insurance needs. As we have stated in the past, kidnap & ransom insurance is not just for corporate VPs at the large Fortune 500 companies.

All of these travelers should be considering travel insurance for kidnapping as well: A small firm that sends 2 people abroad several months a year into the Middle East to service aquariums. A machine tool mechanic that has to visit Venezuela every few months as an individual to perform service. Even students living abroad for just 8 or 9 months a year should secure high quality kidnap and ransom programs that can save lives.

 There have been thousands of expatriates living abroad and global travelers that have been introduced to the idea of kidnap and ransom insurance but either "put off the consideration" or succumbed to the "it won’t happen to me" group-think, THAT WERE LATER ABDUCTED. Not every international kidnapping is a long and drawn out 2 month process like we saw in the movie "Proof of Life" with Russell Crow. Some kidnappers only hold the victim for 24 or 48 hours and if simple demands are made, people can be released unharmed. Even more of a quick hit, the "express kidnapping" can be only a few hours in the back of a van as the ATM card and credit cards are maxed out.

It’s far too late to wish a kidnapping insurance policy had been purchased after a kidnapping. Since no individual expatriate has the expertise to develop an emergency security plan a kidnap and ransom insurance policy does two essential things: 1) it provides a large ransom benefit but more importantly 2) it gives the expatriate and the family an action plan. Who can I call at 2 a.m. How long will it take the consultant to arrive at my doorstep? 24 hour response time is essential!