Compulsory Travel Insurance in Malaysia: Some Regulatory Considerations

In some developed countries, several legal measures were introduced to broaden the types of protection mechanism for outbound travelers on top of reliance on regulated travel insurance. In Malaysia, outbound travelers are protected, to a large extent, through licensing regulations of travel agencies which are insufficient in many aspects. This article provides a cursory review on the importance of travel insurance in Malaysian travel industry, examines the regulatory framework currently in place in the United Kingdom (UK), Hong Kong and the United States (US), and identifies several legal challenges for implementing compulsory travel insurance in Malaysia.