India-Pakistan conflict: Does your insurance policy cover war and unrest?

As the India-Pakistan conflict escalates, damages due to continued shelling on homes, schools, and shops have been reported from the border areas in Jammu & Kashmir and Punjab.

With families being forced to flee their homes, one question worries many: will insurance be of help to rebuild lives if homes or shops are destroyed in war? Will one get a life insurance claim if some mishap happens during the war?

Unfortunately, for most policyholders, the answer is no.

“Act of War is a specific exclusion in most policies,” says Abhishek Bondia, co-founder of SecureNow Insurance Broker.

Insurance policies usually contain war exclusion clauses. “This means that claims can be denied if the death is linked to events such as participating in war or similar military actions, invasions, attacks by foreign forces—even if the person wasn’t actively involved in the war, but the damage is due to war, the same is excluded,” added Bondia.

"Standard insurance policies, whether they cover homes, vehicles, businesses, or even lives, do not cover war-related damages directly or indirectly which is mentioned as a proximate cause in insurance policy. This includes losses due to invasions, enemy attacks, civil wars, or nuclear risks. These are listed under what's known as the ‘war exclusion clause’, " said, Sushil Jain, Founder & CEO of Personal CFO.

This clause exists to protect insurance companies from massive losses during war.

Can a war cover be bought?

Technically, yes. Special insurance policies do exist with “war risk” add-ons. But these are not offered to regular citizens. They are usually bought by shipping companies, airlines or international businesses.

“Acts of war are standard exclusions in aviation hull insurance policies. They are instead covered under dedicated war risk policies. These require separate underwriting considerations due to the high-severity, low-frequency nature of such risks, which are subject to real-time geopolitical landscapes and are also largely driven by worldwide losses,” said Amarnath Saxena, Chief Technical Officer - Commercial at Bajaj Allianz General Insurance.

What you should do

When going through your policy papers, don’t skip the fine print. You must pay attention to the exclusions, especially those that mention war, terrorism, or dangerous professions. These are situations where your claim could be denied. Also, look out for optional benefits such as coverage for accidental death or terrorism, which may not be included by default and might need to be added separately. If you come across phrases like "acts of war," "civil unrest," or "terrorism" under exclusions, treat it as a warning sign. Always confirm these details directly with your insurer to avoid surprises later.