1. Pre-departure security training for the expatriate;  What activities, locations, and behaviors should be avoided in the host country to stay out of trouble.  This should be integrated into cross cultural training.
2. Emergency security plan for expatriates.  Does the host country need an emergency security plan for expatriates in case they need to leave the country or stay safe during an incident?  For example, if expatriates are in the U.K. an emergency security plan may not be necessary.  If they are in India, after what happened in Mumbai a few years ago yes, an emergency security plan is in order.  No matter how “safe the country” we learned after 9-11 that expatriates should be given security instructions and guidelines for just about ANY host country.
3. Making sure expatriates don’t know about the existence of a Kidnap and Ransom insurance policy, yet expatriates should be ready and able to call the emergency phone number if they feel threatened.
4. Host country work site assessment by an international security professional.  Again, the urgency to assess the safety of the work site will vary by country, and even by region in the host country.
5. Misc expenses related to proper host country security.  Drivers | Alarms | Security enhanced SUV | Local body guards, etc.

Unfortunately, most employers that send people to work internationally as expatriates only score a C on the above, including kidnap and ransom insurance.  Universities sending faculty to travel or work abroad get the worst grade and do very little for their employees from a security perspective.

However, the kidnap and ransom scenario is the classic “it will never happen to me case.”  No matter how much one reads up on the need for kidnap and ransom insurance for the expatriate family, there is that little voice inside us that says, it will never happen and that is the next guy’s problem.  A movie like Taken is one of the few things that can get the adrenaline pumping and can make us actually consider, “what if that was my child.” 

We find it amazing how many high net worth individuals take their entire family to places like Kuwait, Mexico, Philippines, Egypt and 20 other highly dangerous places without even checking up on kidnap and ransom insurance.  Many won’t even question their own employer about what security plans may be in place in the event of an incident. 

Of course, under a real kidnap and ransom insurance program the company is not at liberty to discuss the particulars and even inform the expatriate about the existence of a kidnap and ransom insurance plan, but the point is very few even ask, at least this is our experience.

It’s too late to make plans once something happens.  A private kidnap and ransom insurance plan may only cost a family $2,000 a year.  If you are a high net worth individual working away from home, this is money well spent.

The policy will cover extortion payments, legal fees and trauma counselling in the event of kidnap.

A few of the sectors that are at high risk in Uganda include NGOs (non-governmental organisations and non-profits), oil companies, and telecommunications.  The AIG product was already available in Kenya and South Africa, and AIG U.S. offers companies with expatriates global expatriate kidnap and ransom insurance policies.

With the discovery of oil in the country, in a region that has some pockets of instability, it was crucial to respond to these unique challenges.

Today’s business leaders are charged with breaking new markets and territories. This puts us face-to-face with new challenges such as having to work in politically-unstable regions of which are some of the best drivers for kidnap, ransom or extortion.

AIG works in collaboration with Clayton Consultants Inc., which specialises in the prevention and resolution of a kidnap for ransom, extortion, malicious product tampering and wrongful detention.

Clayton Consultants, a Triple Canopy company, is a crisis management security consultancy offering incident response, security consulting and training services to clients across the globe. Clayton specializes in the prevention and resolution of kidnaps-for-ransom, extortions, malicious product tampering and client risk.

Clayton consultants are experts in the field of crisis resolution with decades of government, military, foreign service and private industry experience. Strategically located around the world, Clayton’s consultants support clients in an advisory capacity based on their security expertise and an intimate knowledge of the local culture. Clayton, collectively has resolved more than 1,500 confirmed kidnap-for-ransom and extortion cases.

Triple Canopy, a security solutions company, acquired Clayton Consultants in 2007.

Mark Courtney, a consultant with Clayton Consultants, said the kidnap for ransom globally is worth $13,000,000,000 and only 50%of kidnappings are reported.  While kidnap cases are on the rise around the world, some can be prevented through security measures.

He noted that Africa is beginning to register a rise in kidnap cases to 17%, up from 5% seven years ago.

Getting an expatriate back safe is possible working with the right people

Sometimes a blanket and worldwide kidnap and ransom insurance policy is not needed.  It is possible to secure an expatriate kidnap and ransom insurance policy only for certain expatriates in select countries.  This would be called a named policy vs. a blanket policy.

If a company has 25 expatriates with five each in Mexico, Germany, U.K., Russia, and China it may be unnecessary to cover the expatriates in all countries other than Mexico and Russia, where there is a definite threat of kidnap for Westerners.  A global employer can take out a named expatriate kidnap and ransom insurance policy on select individual employees residing in certain countries. 

Of course, the disadvantage of these policies is there has to be a consistent reporting to the kidnap and ransom insurer, and if a few people are left off the list, they will most likely be left without coverage in the event of an expatriate kidnapping or extortion threat against an expatriate.

If a company can afford it, a blanket policy is superior, but in many cases companies can be charged to enroll individual expatriates in countries where the risk is very low.  In these economic times few companies can afford to pay for insurance not needed.