Canadian tourists may not be able to claim trip cancellations to Jamaica amid violence on island, travel expert warns
Canadian tourists may not be able to claim trip cancellations to Jamaica amid violence on island, travel expert warns
Soldiers stand guard at a checkpoint in the August Town community of Kingston, Jamaica, Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2022. Jamaica’s prime minister declared a widespread state of emergency Tuesday, Dec. 6, to fight a surge in gang violence on an island with one of the highest murder rates in the region. (AP Photo/Collin Reid)
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.”
Firestone remains uncertain as to whether most cancellation policies will cover claims given the fact that media coverage has already notified Canadians about surges in crime and violence in Jamaica.
“If you wanted to cancel a trip to Jamaica right now that you bought a couple weeks ago, and you bought cancelation insurance, will you be able to get paid on that claim? Or, if you buy [cancelation insurance] tomorrow after watching all the news reports, is that now too late and after the fact? I can’t seem to get a clear answer on that.”
Firestone warned that “being afraid of the rioting” is not a legitimate reason to be granted a cancellation claim, despite the pressing dangers spreading throughout Jamaica.
“You could buy a ‘cancel for any reason’ policy, but that’s a very expensive proposition and again that is maybe the only advice that could be given to people right now,” he said.
The bottom line, he explained, is travelling to Jamaica right now is “a really personal decision, but if you have concerns, you have to decide whether you’re going to be protected by insurance, both medically and from a cancellation perspective.”
"It’s going to be dicey how this all falls down.” he added.
The suspected Chinese surveillance balloon that was found floating over sensitive military sites in the western United States had been tracked by Canada's government since last weekend as it passed through Canadian airspace, sources tell CTV News.
The oldest preserved vertebrate brain has been found in a 319-million-year-old fossilized fish skull that was removed from an English coal mine over a century ago.
It took 40 years, but former NHL player and coach Ted Nolan is now one of eight Indigenous ex-NHL-ers being honoured hockey trading cards as a part of Upper Deck's First Peoples Rookie Card series.
Three bodies found in a vacant Detroit-area apartment building have been identified as those of three aspiring rappers who went missing nearly two weeks ago, police said Friday.
For much of disgraced South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh's double murder trial, witnesses have talked about a generous and loving man -- but prosecutors want jurors to know that same man stole over US$4 million from his housekeeper's relatives after she died at work, and killed his wife and son to cover up his crimes.
More than two years after downtown Beirut was levelled by an explosion, a Lebanese-Canadian family of a 3-year-old girl killed in the blast is still searching for answers. Watch W5's documentary 'The Explosion' on CTV at 7 p.m.
In Canada, Medical Assistance in Dying is changing. In 2023, people who have a mental disorder as their sole underlying medical condition will become eligible for an assisted death. Originally, that was scheduled to happen on March 17, but the government has asked for a delay. CTVNews.ca/W5 outlines 9 things you need to know about MAiD.
On CTVNews.ca/W5: Executive Producer Derek Miller highlights an example of a W5 mini investigation that never made it to air, but made a difference in someone's life nonetheless.
On CTVNews.ca/W5: Executive Producer Derek Miller highlights some of W5's upcoming investigations, including Mexico's multi-billion dollar avocado industry run by cartels, and a continuing look into the Pivot Airlines passengers and crew who were detained for months without charges in the Dominican Republic.
The five-member Pivot Airlines crew, who had been detained in the Dominican Republic for almost eight months, is now back in Canada. An emotional airport reunion took place in a special pre-arrivals area of Toronto Pearson International Airport, as the two flight attendants, pilot, co-pilot and mechanic were greeted by family.
W5 speaks with Pivot Airlines flight attendant Christina Carello, who reveals new details about how she uncovered key evidence that had been tampered with in a nightmare ordeal in the Dominican Republic.
After being charged with speeding by a city-operated photo radar device, a Toronto family was able to successfully fight the charge in court largely due to one small detail.
The death of a longtime CBC journalist who was shoved to the ground in Toronto has now been classified as a homicide and police have issued an arrest warrant for a suspect in the case.
Canadian Heritage says Winterlude's outdoor activities will resume in Ottawa and Gatineau on Saturday, one day after the extreme cold weather cancelled all outdoor events.
Parents of students with special needs are speaking out about a decision by the Simcoe County District School Board to change transportation options starting Monday.
Waterloo regional police issued a robbery warning Thursday evening after they said two convenience stores and a restaurant in Kitchener were robbed within a 30 minute span.
The public is being asked to avoid the area of Sixth Avenue in Woodstock, Ont. on Friday afternoon due to an “active police investigation” following a grim discovery made by police.
Extreme cold and snow squall warnings are impacting roads and school bus operations in the region, and multiple area roads and highways have been closed by OPP due to hazardous driving conditions.
Mounting resistance to infill development in neighbourhoods is testing city council’s commitment to The London Plan’s intensification targets. However, one prominent project is bucking the trend.
A River Canard, Ont. woman is on a mission to identify several unknown people in a handful of old photographs she said she found in a box inside her attic. She said she discovered the pictures and postcards while decluttering her home as part of her New Year’s resolution, noticing many date back to the mid 1940s.
The Windsor-Essex Board of Health will move ahead with a compromise that will allow the SafePoint consumption and treatment site (CTS) to open at its previously approved location as soon as possible.
The ongoing cold snap has Quebecers cranking up the heat in their homes, which Hydro-Quebe says has caused a record peak in electricity demand. In a Tweet Friday, the hydroelectricity supplier said that around 5:30 p.m., demand across the province reached 42,700 megawatts.
A reclusive billionaire who headed a Montreal tech company is stepping down one day after Radio-Canada/CBC published a report that alleged he paid teenage girls for sex for more than a decade.
The Montreal fire department is advising people to avoid Sherbrooke Street East at Carignan Avenue in the Longue Pointe neighbourhood as a five-alarm fire is burning.
Winnipeg police released a new image of a 31-year-old woman who has been missing since early last year on Friday in the hope it may generate new information on her whereabouts.
A fire destroyed a popular paint and hobby shop in Winkler Thursday afternoon with black smoke prompting Winkler police to close off a stretch of Highway 32 for more than an hour.
Alberta's high court is being asked to overturn a review board decision relating to the stabbing deaths of five young people at a Calgary house party on the grounds the former provincial justice minister interfered.
An Edmonton man who received a ticket from the city under the phase 2 residential parking ban earlier this week says his street has finally been plowed — five days after his vehicle was ticketed.
Marc, Seth and Zacary James are the Melisizwe Brothers, and they performed at Jasper Place High School on Friday as part of Edmonton Public School Black History Month celebrations.
Technology in Alberta that is expected to allow doctors to more accurately and effectively treat cancerous tumours with radiation enters clinical trials next week.
The mayors of Port Coquitlam and Port Moody want Nav Canada — the organization that creates flight paths for airports across the country — to pause its plans for a new YVR arrivals route that will direct many large airplanes over their communities.
Seventy-nine-year-old William Herbert thought the woman coming to see him was a nurse who needed to do bloodwork. But instead of helping him, it’s alleged she stole from him.
Homicide investigators are looking into whether a vehicle fire in Surrey on Thursday morning is connected to the fatal shooting of a 17-year-old boy in Burnaby hours later.
The suspected Chinese surveillance balloon that was found floating over sensitive military sites in the western United States had been tracked by Canada's government since last weekend as it passed through Canadian airspace, sources tell CTV News.
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland is hosting an in-person meeting Friday with the provincial and territorial finance ministers in Toronto to discuss issues including the current economic environment and the transition to a clean economy.
The federal Liberals have withdrawn an amendment to their gun bill aimed at enshrining a definition of banned assault-style firearms, citing 'legitimate concerns' about the need for more consultation on the measure.
Paid subscriptions to on-demand care are among the many strategies primary health-care providers in Ontario are adopting in order to meet increased demand for access to doctors in the past year, while also managing staffing shortages.
Ontario fully supports the federal government's push to make health-care funding contingent on data reporting, the province said Thursday as it announced a plan to boost access to primary care doctors.
White-tailed deer may be a reservoir for COVID-19 variants of concern including Alpha, Delta and Gamma, according to new research out of Cornell University that raises questions about whether deer could re-introduce nearly extinct variants back into the human population.
Using a device that might be described as a super-duper cocktail shaker, scientists have fashioned a previously unknown form of ice - one that might exist on our solar system's icy moons - in research that sheds light on water's behaviour under extreme conditions.
The oldest preserved vertebrate brain has been found in a 319-million-year-old fossilized fish skull that was removed from an English coal mine over a century ago.
Three bodies found in a vacant Detroit-area apartment building have been identified as those of three aspiring rappers who went missing nearly two weeks ago, police said Friday.
Mexican actor Pablo Lyle was sentenced Friday to five years in prison for involuntary manslaughter after fatally punching a man during a road rage confrontation in Miami in 2019.
A Yukon court has quashed government approval for a mining exploration project, siding with a First Nation that argued there was a failure to properly consult it about the project on its traditional territory.
A group of airlines is asking the Supreme Court of Canada to hear their case after a lower court largely upheld the validity of Canada's air passenger bill of rights.
Canada's egg industry appears to be quietly sidestepping widespread shortages and wildly spiking prices affecting other countries, and some say supply management is to thank.
A Portuguese dog named Bobi has been named the world’s oldest living dog by Guinness World Records, which claims the pooch is also the oldest canine ever recorded.
Canada's newest millionaire, an 18-year-old university freshman from northern Ontario, has achieved a lot of firsts with a recent lottery win. Here is her story.
It took 40 years, but former NHL player and coach Ted Nolan is now one of eight Indigenous ex-NHL-ers being honoured hockey trading cards as a part of Upper Deck's First Peoples Rookie Card series.
The world’s largest international Arctic sporting event is underway in northern Alberta, where athletes compete in unique games significant to the cultural identity of the North.
Unable to get a new contract, Kyrie Irving is looking for a new address. The All-Star guard has asked the Brooklyn Nets for a trade, a person with knowledge of the details said Friday.
Formula One's governing body confirmed the six engine providers for the 2026-30 cycle on Friday which aims to use sustainable fuels and greater electric power.
Ford will return to Formula One as the engine provider for Red Bull Racing in a partnership announced Friday that begins with immediate technical support this season and engines in 2026.
Soldiers stand guard at a checkpoint in the August Town community of Kingston, Jamaica, Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2022. Jamaica’s prime minister declared a widespread state of emergency Tuesday, Dec. 6, to fight a surge in gang violence on an island with one of the highest murder rates in the region. (AP Photo/Collin Reid)
