Devices in checked bags may not be insured

Travellers who expect to be caught up in the controversial US and UK crackdown on carry-on electronic devices are being urged to check their travel insurance carefully.

Many policies do not cover devices such as laptops and tablets if they are damaged or stolen while packed in checked luggage.

But there are some that do, according to the Insurance Council of Australia.

“Though many travel insurance policies do not cover claims for lost or damaged valuables that are stored in the luggage hold of aeroplanes, rather than kept with the passenger in the cabin, policies are available that do not have this exclusion,’’ said  ICA general manager media and communications Campbell Fuller. 

“Travellers requiring this cover should consult insurers’ product disclosure statements (PDS) and select a policy that does not exclude claims for items checked in as luggage.”

Insurance cover is just one of problems thrown up by the sudden crackdown on carrying  electronic gear such as laptops, CD players, tablets, cameras and e-readers on some flights into the US and the UK.

The move has drawn the ire of travellers and raised questions about the airlines and airports targeted. Experts have also raised questions about the safety of having devices powered by lithium batteries in an aircraft hold.

Affected airlines are now scrambling to ensure that airport staff are aware of the rules and can remind passengers connecting to US and UK flights to put their devices in their checked luggage when they check-in for their first flight. This is because bags for people not staying over at a hub are transferred automatically between flights.

Anybody still carrying a device when they transfer US- or UK-bound flights may find they have to leave it behind or see their cabin baggage transferred to the aircraft hold. An alternative of collecting checked-baggage at the transit hub, putting the devices in it and rechecking the bag would be cumbersome, time-consuming and could run into problems with issues such as visas.

Ironically, many people on connecting flights will check-in their devices and then travel on an aircraft where others in the same cabin and not heading to the UK or he US have full access to their laptops and tablets.

The US ban covers all direct flights from Cairo, Egypt; Amman, Jordan; Kuwait City, Kuwait; Casablanca, Morocco; Doha, Qatar; Riyadh and Jeddah in Saudi Arabia; Istanbul, Turkey; and Abu Dhabi and Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.

The British bans cover direct passenger flights to the UK from Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Tunisia and Saudi Arabia.

They UkKbans do not cover Dubai, Doha or Abu Dhabi, a difference that has prompted suggestions there may be political as well as security considerations behind the hastily announced US ban.

Almost 750 flights a week to the US and UK will be affected by the bans, according to the International Air Transport Association.