29.09.11
Kidnapping happening closer to home
If you are a traveller who thinks that kidnap and ransom is
something that happens in obscure parts of the world, it might be
wise to take a few minutes to study the latest list of incident
reports on where these potentially nightmarish events happened in
the past few weeks.
In the fourth incident of its type this year, armed men broke
into a Belfast home, abducted a teenager and woman who were held
overnight and told her partner to pay them around £200,000. In
another incident last month in Ireland, armed men broke into a Co.
Louth home, held a partner and three month old baby hostage
and ordered a man to withdraw 500,000 Euros.
While Iraq, Colombia and Afghanistan kidnappings are perhaps not
quite such a shock, the latest report also reveals that popular
tourist destinations such as Mexico and Trinidad and Tobago are
also experiencing these types of incidents.
Sydney Charles' expert adviser Marilyn Greening said that
arranging cover for Kidnap and Ransom is an increasing area of
business. 'It wasn't all that long ago that this sort of insurance
was really only required by business people working in countries or
areas that were clearly seen as presenting a risk. These days,
tourists and corporates planning to visit a whole host of countries
are taking precautions by putting cover in place,' she said.
The Caribbean and Africa have seen fairly high levels of kidnap
and ransom, together with the Philippines and China. There were
four reported kidnaps in India in August and seven in Mexico.
'People tend to be more adventurous with their travel plans
these days but, as a recent event in Kenya demonstrated, kidnappers
appear to be identifying them as a source of potentially
substantial income. We cover a whole range of aspects, ranging from
ransoms to using specialists to achieve the quickest and
safest possible release of the victim - which is, after all, the
result that is uppermost in most victims' minds and their
families. It also covers interpreters, loss in transit of a
ransom, travel, medical care, legal advice, rewards and any
personal financial loss.'
If you would like more details on Kidnap and Ransom Insurance,
contact Marilyn on 739970 or email
marilyn.greening@sydneycharles.co.uk