From the Daines Kapp Spring 2026 Covernotes Newsletter

June 2026 will see the biggest football tournament in history unfold across three countries. FIFA World Cup 2026 — hosted jointly by the United States, Mexico, and Canada, with matches spread across 16 cities from Vancouver to Mexico City — is an event of extraordinary scale. For the millions of supporters making the journey, it is a once-in-a-generation experience. For the UK businesses planning to attend — whether to entertain clients, reward staff, or simply take advantage of corporate hospitality at a global showcase event — it also represents a travel risk management challenge that deserves careful attention before departure.

The multi-country format of this tournament is unlike anything recent World Cups have presented. A single trip to the 2026 World Cup might involve travel through two or three jurisdictions, each with different healthcare systems, varying levels of political stability, and distinct logistical challenges. Standard annual travel policies, designed for routine business travel, are often poorly aligned with these realities. The potential for financial loss — from cancelled matches, disrupted transport, lost tickets, or medical emergencies far from home — is real, and the gap between what a standard policy covers and what a major international event travel scenario actually requires can be significant.

The employer duty of care dimension

For UK businesses sending employees to the World Cup — whether for client entertainment, business development, or as part of a staff incentive programme — the trip is business travel. That categorisation brings with it a set of legal and ethical obligations that apply regardless of whether the travel has a leisure element.

ISO 31030:2021, the international standard for travel risk management, sets out the framework within which employers should assess and manage the risks associated with business travel. The standard reinforces the common law duty of care that UK employers owe to employees travelling on their behalf, and it addresses a broad scope of risks: medical emergencies, security threats, natural disasters, political instability, and reputational considerations. Compliance with ISO 31030:2021 is not mandatory, but it represents best practice and would be relevant in any litigation arising from a travel-related incident.

In practical terms, this means that businesses sending staff to the 2026 World Cup should be conducting a pre-travel risk assessment, ensuring staff have access to 24/7 emergency assistance, confirming that travel insurance responds to the specific circumstances of the trip, and maintaining the ability to communicate with and, if necessary, evacuate employees if conditions change. These obligations do not disappear because the trip has a hospitality dimension.

Where standard travel policies fall short

Many businesses have annual multi-trip travel policies in place that cover employees travelling internationally for business purposes. These policies are well-suited to routine business travel — flights, hotels, meetings, standard medical cover. They are frequently not designed for major sporting events, and the gaps that arise in an event travel context can be both significant and unexpected.

Event cancellation and postponement. Standard travel policies cover trip cancellation arising from specific insured perils — illness, bereavement, certain force majeure events. They rarely cover the cancellation or postponement of the event itself. If a match is postponed due to severe weather, civil unrest, or operational failure, the accommodation, transport, and logistical costs associated with that match day may not be recoverable under a standard policy. For businesses that have invested substantially in hospitality packages built around specific fixtures, this is a meaningful exposure.

High-value ticket loss. World Cup tickets — particularly for knockout rounds and the final — represent significant financial value. Standard travel policies typically include limits on the value of lost or stolen items that would not come close to the face value of premium match tickets or hospitality packages. Without specific cover for high-value event tickets, loss or theft represents an uninsured loss.

Transport disruption and extended accommodation. The 2026 tournament spans a vast geography. Transport between venues — particularly in the United States, where many cities are connected only by long-haul domestic flights — creates significant exposure to disruption. A transport strike, severe weather event, or logistics failure that prevents travel to a match city could leave attendees stranded, requiring extended accommodation and rebooking costs that a standard policy may not cover in full.

Political unrest and security incidents. Several of the host cities present elevated security considerations. Political demonstrations, civil unrest, or security incidents near stadiums or in city centres are not covered by standard travel policies. Businesses that have a duty of care to their employees cannot rely on standard cover if evacuation or curtailment becomes necessary for security reasons.

Specialist event travel cover

The specialist travel insurance market has developed products specifically designed for major sporting events. These policies address the gaps in standard annual cover and are structured around the specific risk profile of event travel rather than routine business trips.

Cover that should be considered for World Cup travel includes protection for high-value event tickets and hospitality packages, with limits sufficient to reflect the actual cost of the investment. Curtailment cover that responds to political unrest, security alerts, or civil disturbance — not just the personal circumstances of the traveller — is essential for trips to locations with elevated security risk. Extended accommodation and rebooking costs arising from transport disruption or event schedule changes, beyond the limited provisions of standard policies, should also be in scope.

For businesses travelling with sports equipment — whether for commercial filming, sponsorship activations, or other professional purposes — standard baggage limits are rarely adequate, and specialist cover for professional equipment is available.

Medical and evacuation cover deserves particular attention. The United States healthcare system means that a medical emergency requiring hospitalisation can generate costs of a magnitude that would exhaust the medical limits on a standard annual travel policy. Ensuring that the medical cover limit on any policy being relied upon for US travel is sufficient to meet the actual cost of serious medical care is not optional — it is a basic requirement of adequate travel cover.

Planning ahead: what businesses should do now

The tournament begins in June 2026. The time to review travel insurance arrangements is now, before travel bookings are finalised and before the cost of additional cover — which tends to increase as the event approaches and risk information crystallises — makes upgrade decisions more expensive.

Businesses that are planning to attend the World Cup should begin by reviewing their existing corporate travel policy: what are the medical cover limits, particularly for the United States? Does the policy cover event cancellation? What are the limits on lost or stolen tickets and high-value items? Is there any cover for curtailment arising from political or security events?

Where gaps are identified, the options are either to seek an endorsement to the existing policy that extends cover for the specific trip, or to take out a bespoke event travel policy alongside the annual arrangement. Either approach is available from specialist travel insurers, and the cost relative to the investment being made in the trip is typically modest.

Finally, regardless of the insurance position, businesses should ensure they have a pre-travel briefing process in place for travelling employees: destination-specific risk information, emergency contact details, and a clear understanding of what to do in the event of a medical emergency, security incident, or major disruption.