A kidnapping abroad is a terrifying concept. Assailants may leave you bound and gagged in a dark room or they might threaten you with torture to persuade negotiators to comply. What if you don’t have access to the kind of money they expected to get from you? What happens when no one knows how to help?
The extreme physical and financial risks of a kidnap and ransom case led to the creation of the kidnap and ransom insurance. Over the past few years, kidnappings and ransoms have increased all across the world as more people turn to extreme methods of getting money. While many travelers feel they do not possess enough money to be targeted for kidnap and ransom, the truth is that a majority of kidnap and ransom victims have fairly average incomes. If someone is worth enough money to travel, they are worth enough to kidnap and hold for ransom.
Kidnap and ransom insurance can pay for expert advisors to assist with negotiations and even extraction and reimburses the victim for the payment he or she made. Kidnap and Ransom can also cover all the expenses related to recovery: time off, temporary work replacements, psychiatric therapy and loss due to injury. One of the world’s leasing kidnap and ransom insurance providers is AIG.
Regardless of whether or not a person has a kidnap and ransom insurance policy, he or she must know how to act if kidnapped and held for ransom. A best practice is training workers how to avoid danger in the first place. Educating travelling employees on risks and foreign practices is essential to every aspect of their safety abroad.
Many insurance companies attempt to thwart Kidnap and Ransom fraud at its source: the dishonest policy holder. To do this, these insurers require that individuals covered by a company Kidnap and Ransom policy do not know they have coverage.
In cases where policyholders are aware of their coverage, insurers will usually attempt to provide training on how best to avoid a kidnapping. These courses can substantially reduce the risk of danger to the policyholder while also reducing the risk of loss for the insurance carrier.
The harsh reality of kidnapping is that it can happen anywhere. Some areas of the world or parts of a country may be safer than others, but that doesn’t mean anything is guaranteed. Kidnappers are usually professional groups. They know what they are doing and how to ensure money is paid. By killing a victim they get nothing. The vast majority of kidnappings end with the victim being safely released when some form of ransom changes hands.