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Riots, civil unrest, civil war maybe! The New Year headlines are full of commotion in Pakistan and Kenya and even the odd national strike nearer to home. All are reminders of what can happen unexpectedly on holiday. What can start as a normal holiday break can quickly deteriorate leaving holidaymakers isolated, often helpless and in some cases endangered through no fault of their own.

The term 'far away places' normally conjures up visions of palm tree beaches in sultry exotic locations but the true fact is that cheap long haul air travel has opened up the globe as never before. Whilst this is good news for all holiday makers, at the same time it comes with an increasing risk of being mixed up in local strife and disturbances. Whilst the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office will be giving out important travel advice and, in extremis, will have contingency plans in place to extract British nationals should it ever be deemed necessary, as occurred in 2006 in the Lebanon, most of us will have to rely on tour operators and local representatives to look after us when on holiday.

This is where a good travel insurance policy comes into play because when it all starts to go wrong on holiday, you need to have something to fall back on to get you out of trouble. But please be aware that most travel insurance providers will have general exclusion clauses when it comes to civil unrest, disturbances, terrorist acts and war so it does pay to check your policy wording. Generally, medical expenses and medical repatriation will be included within your travel insurance policy but if you want to be covered for all eventualities then you will have to pay an increased premium for this. Thankfully the chances of being caught up in these types of incidents are still very slight, and even when they do strike, they tend to be away from the main tourist destinations.

A little preparation before you depart in noting down the latest advice from the FCO or tour operator is always a wise precaution and, in the event of being caught up, it is still possible to keep abreast of developments when at your holiday destination if you have access to the internet or television and most holiday resorts should have this. Tour operators should also be providing their own advice as will the FCO through its website www.fco.gov.uk. But as the title suggests, whilst you might have a riotous holiday and come back safe and sound, never underestimate that it's the riot in riotous that can easily catch you out and that's when it's time to sit up and take note of what is happening around you.