Critical travel insurance advice as hurricane season intensifies

On 24 September Hurricane Helene formed and strengthened into a Category 4 storm, wreaking havoc in Florida and the surrounding southeast US states and causing over US$100 billion in damage. Following seven named hurricanes this season, another low-pressure system is being tracked in the Gulf of Mexico and is expected to hit the west coast of Florida as another major hurricane.

As a result, travellers are growing increasingly concerned about severe weather events impacting their trips for the next two months. US travel insurance marketplace Squaremouth explores what travel insurance coverage travellers should consider if they’re taking a trip this hurricane season.

Coverage if your destination is hit by a hurricane

According to Squaremouth, if a hurricane strikes your destination prior to or during a trip, coverage is typically only available if a destination is rendered uninhabitable. In the case of Hurricane Helene, most of the directly affected locations have been rendered uninhabitable due to flooding and could be covered by travel insurance policies with hurricane and weather coverage that were purchased before the storm was named. 

If your destination is still accessible but you decide you don’t want to go, you would need to buy a policy with the cancel for any reason (CFAR) upgrade. A CFAR policy could reimburse you 50–75% of the costs if you decide to cancel because you’re worried a storm could ruin your trip without directly hitting or damaging your destination.

Coverage if a hurricane strikes your home before or during your trip

While travel insurance can’t cover damage to a home, it can help travellers recoup some of their trip expenses if they choose to stay home or end their trip early to return home. If a hurricane impacts your home or your ability to travel prior to departure, you may be covered if you purchased a policy with hurricane and weather coverage before the storm was named.
Under this coverage, travellers can cancel their trip and receive 100% reimbursement for their prepaid, non-refundable trip costs, such as flights, hotels, and tours, if one of the following scenarios occurs:

• Their primary residence becomes uninhabitable because of a hurricane
• A mandatory evacuation order is enforced at their departure destination
• The hurricane forces their common carrier to suspend services for at least six to 48 hours, depending on the policy.

Travellers who learn their home has been hit by a hurricane while they are away may be covered by the trip interruption benefit to return home. This benefit can refund unused trip costs, as well as additional transport expenses to book new flights home.

Tips for travelling during hurricane season

• Purchase your policy early: to be eligible for any coverage, you must buy your policy before the storm is named. Include cancellation coverage: only travellers who insure their trip expenses will have trip cancellation coverage. If you are concerned about a hurricane impacting your trip, be sure to insure your non-refundable trip costs
• Keep all documentation: in the event you need to file a claim, it’s important to save all documents related to your travel disruption.

FlightHub recently introduced a CFAR offering for travellers in Canada and the US.