As many of us prepare for summer travel, it’s important to be aware that summertime marks the beginning of the hurricane season in several countries.
In particular, the Atlantic hurricane season begins in early June and can run as late as November. This usually raises several questions for Canadians travelling to hurricane hot spots like the Caribbean, Mexico, Central America , and the East and Gulf coasts of the United States—especially Florida, Louisiana and Texas.
We know that vacations take a while to plan and the hurricane season can be the wild card that may change your plans at any second. To help you plan, we’ve put together 3 travel insurance tips for hurricane season. Read on!
3 travel insurance tips for hurricane season
1. What if there’s a storm, but it hasn’t yet been named a hurricane?
It’s important to protect yourself by having travel insurance purchased earlier in the planning process. If a storm hasn’t been named and you haven’t left home yet, you can still purchase Emergency Medical Insurance and/or Trip Cancellation & Trip Interruption Insurance. However, once a hurricane has been named coverage won’t be available; it’s similar to trying to buy home insurance while your house is on fire.
And remember, if you do make changes to your travel plans, contact your airline providers before Claims at TuGo, for a smoother claim process experience.
2. What if there’s a hurricane warning for my travel destination?
Only you can decide if you want to take the risk, but keep in mind that if Global Affairs Canada or Public Health Agency of Canada has issued an “Avoid all travel” or “Avoid non-essential travel” advisory to the travel destination and you travel anyways, coverage won’t be available.
We recommend taking the time to read your policy wording to understand your coverage and to learn more about travel advisories and how they impact your travel insurance.
If you need to cancel your trip
For trip cancellation coverage, the travel advisory must have been issued after the date the trip was booked or insurance was purchased and is still in place at the time of scheduled departure date or at any time within the 7 days before your scheduled departure date.
If you need to interrupt your trip
Have you already made it to your destination, only to be notified of a hurricane approaching? With TuGo, we’ll provide coverage if a traveller’s common carrier* is cancelled or delayed, or if the traveller became injured as a result of unforeseeable situations— like hurricanes.
*Common carrier: A boat, cruise ship, airplane, bus, taxi, train or other similar vehicle that is licensed, intended and used primarily to transport passengers for hire.
For trip interruption coverage, the insurance must be purchased prior to the travel advisory, and the travel advisory must be issued after departure and during the scheduled travel dates.
3. What if there’s a hurricane at home, and I can’t leave for my trip?
A ripple effect can happen if you can’t leave your home to get to your destination. Make sure you’ve purchased travel insurance to cover you for situations like these.
TuGo’s Traveller policy will cover you for natural disasters or “unforeseeable events”, and cancellations and delays in flights.
Stay safe this hurricane season and make informed decisions
At the end of the day, purchasing Trip Cancellation & Trip Interruption Insurance as early as possible is your best option.
Share this article with your friends and family travelling to hurricane hot spots!
Happy and safe travels,
Monique
Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in May 2018 and has been updated for freshness and/or accuracy.
