Insurance gaps expose business travellers to $150,000 risks

Zurich said 53% faced incidents abroad with medical cases driving most assistance claims.

Business travel is creating bigger insurance gaps as delays, medical emergencies and mixed work-leisure trips become more common, according to a Zurich Insurance Group report.

The report is based on a survey of 4,000 international business travellers across eight countries, and it points to a clear problem: many workers are travelling more, but their cover may not match the risks they face. 

In 2025, 80% of business travellers said they faced at least one disruption, and 53% said they experienced an incident or emergency whilst abroad. 

The most common problems were flight delays at 52%, local transport delays at 24%, lost luggage at 23%, delayed luggage at 23%, and visa or entry requirement changes at 12%. 

On the incident side, loss or theft of valuables was common, whilst 13% needed treatment from a doctor or hospital. 

One in five, or 20%, said they faced natural disasters, geopolitical threats or social unrest whilst travelling for work. 

The report says medical cases are especially important for insurers and employers because the financial exposure can be very high. 

Zurich-owned assistance provider World Travel Protection said medical incidents made up 80% of its leisure and corporate assistance cases in 2025, even though only 13% of surveyed travellers said they needed medical treatment. 

Emergency evacuations made up just 3% of cases, but the costs were far higher. Air ambulance evacuations usually cost more than $150,000, and complex cases can go above $1m. 

The report says many domestic health plans and basic business travel accident policies do not fully cover this kind of risk. 

The insurance issue becomes more complicated when business and personal travel overlap. Zurich says 81% of respondents plan to combine business and leisure travel in 2026 in some form. 
That includes 61% who plan to add personal time to a work trip, 54% who expect to work remotely from abroad, and 56% who plan to add work meetings to a personal trip. 
The report also highlights gaps in what many corporate policies include. It says some employers still rely on credit card travel insurance or basic injury and workers’ compensation cover, but these often do not include security assistance, cyber protection, evacuation or repatriation. 
Zurich says those gaps matter more now because business travellers face not only medical risk, but also cyber threats, civil unrest and climate-related disruption.