Does travel insurance cover hurricanes?

The last thing you want to be doing after you’ve booked a trip to the tropics is tracking a hurricane knowing you don’t have adequate hurricane travel insurance. While you can travel safely during hurricane season, we recommend being prepared for the unexpected — like a named storm. To help, here are our answers to some of the most common questions about hurricanes and travel insurance.

What coverage does hurricane travel insurance provide?

The last thing you want to be doing after you’ve booked a trip to the tropics is tracking a hurricane knowing you don’t have adequate hurricane travel insurance. While you can travel safely during hurricane season, we recommend being prepared for the unexpected — like a named storm. To help, here are our answers to some of the most common questions about hurricanes and travel insurance.

What coverage does hurricane travel insurance provide?

Travel insurance can provide coverage for trip cancellation, trip interruption, and travel delay in the event of a hurricane or other named storm; however, coverage can differ from plan to plan, and not all travel insurance providers provide coverage for hurricanes.

When choosing the best travel insurance for hurricane season, it’s important to consider the eligible reasons for trip cancellation, interruption, and delay to make sure you have the coverage you need.

Keep reading to understand how we can provide travel insurance coverage for cancellations due to a hurricane.

What’s the best travel insurance for hurricane season?

The right coverage depends on your travel needs, like your budget, trip length, and planned activities. At Travelex, our best travel insurance plan for hurricane coverage is Ultimate.

With our Ultimate plan, we can reimburse you up to 100% of your insured trip cost for trip cancellation (up to a maximum of $50,000) and up to 150% for trip interruption (up to a maximum of $75,000) in the event of a named hurricane after your policy’s effective date.

This means if your insured trip cost was $5,000, you could receive up to $5,000 for trip cancellation and up to $7,500 for trip interruption for any unused, prepaid trip costs or newly incurred transportation and lodging expenses because of the hurricane.

Our Ultimate plan also has a travel delay benefit that can provide hurricane travel insurance. If a hurricane causes you to be delayed for at least five consecutive hours (six with our Essential plan), you can receive up to $2,000 (with a daily limit of $250) reimbursement for unexpected additional expenses caused by your delay.

With Ultimate, the eligible reasons for trip cancellation, interruption, and delay resulting from a hurricane include:

• Your primary residence becomes uninhabitable or inaccessible.
• Your destination becomes uninhabitable or inaccessible.
• A hurricane cancels flights and causes your travel delay.

If you feel our Ultimate plan isn’t right for your trip, our Advantage, Essential, and Travel Med Go plans also offer hurricane travel insurance. Compare our travel insurance plans to decide which one may work well for your vacation.

For more information, get a quote to compare and read more about our coverage or call our friendly customer service team at 1-800-228-9792.

When should I buy travel insurance to have hurricane coverage?

The best time to buy travel insurance to receive protection from hurricanes is as soon as you make your first trip payment. This will help ensure your travel insurance policy can provide protection from unforeseeable events — such as hurricanes — that haven’t occurred yet.

Important: Once a hurricane is a named storm, it becomes a foreseeable event, which means you can no longer receive coverage for that storm. To see if you’re eligible for coverage for a storm, you can check our hurricane and tropical storm travel alerts page or contact our customer service team.

When doesn’t travel insurance provide coverage for hurricanes?

Travel insurance is designed to help protect travelers’ finances from unforeseen events. This means a hurricane (or other storm) wouldn’t be eligible for coverage if the event is already known. At Travelex, you must purchase your travel insurance policy prior to the hurricane becoming a named storm for coverage to apply.

Additional reasons for a hurricane not being eligible for coverage vary depending on the travel insurance plan you choose. When deciding between plans, it’s important to consider the eligible reasons for trip cancellation, interruption, and delay for each plan to make sure you’re buying the coverage you need.

Pack hurricane travel insurance before you go

If you’re planning a vacation during hurricane season, weather can be unpredictable. It helps to know what to expect when traveling to hurricane-prone places like the Caribbean. Purchasing a policy with hurricane travel insurance as soon as you book any element of your trip (such as accommodation or flights) can help alleviate financial risk.

If you decide to travel during hurricane season, be sure to review our hurricane safety tips before you go. We’re here to help you every step of the way.

Ready to help protect your trip from hurricanes?

Our travel insurance can provide financial relief if a storm affects your trip. Get a quote now.