Issued: 14 January 2020
After Taal Volcano in the Philippines erupted on Sunday 12th January 2020, with minor earthquakes having also been recorded, plumes of smoke and ash have resulted in officials halting flights at Manila’s main airport until further notice.
With thousands of people evacuated near the volcano that has become popular with tourists, where there have been reports of earthquakes and lightning explosions, the Philippines seismological agency has warned of an imminent hazardous explosive eruption and that Taal Volcano could erupt lava within weeks.
If you have been directly affected and need medical assistance, please call our 24 hour emergency assistance team immediately on +61 2 8907 5619. We further urge you to pay close attention to local media and emergency services, following any instructions provided and visit the DFAT page on Smartraveller.
If you are planning to travel, we encourage you to contact your travel agent, airline or tour operator as soon as possible to discuss whether there have been any changes to your itinerary.
If you have been directly affected from this event, there may be provision for you to claim for benefits provided by your travel insurance policy. Claims will be assessed in accordance with your Product Disclosure Statement and may vary depending on the type of policy you purchased.
There is no cover for policies issued after this date as it would no longer deemed an unforeseeable event.
This information must be read in conjunction with the Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) as certain terms, conditions, limits, and exclusions apply. These terms, conditions, limits and exclusions are detailed in the PDS and in particular we draw your attention to ‘The Benefits’ and ‘General Exclusions’ sections of the PDS.
If you have any further enquiries, please contact our Customer Service team on 1300 728 822 between 8.00am and 7.00pm Monday to Friday (AEDT).