Answering traveller ‘what ifs’
With a number of catastrophic events taking place on a global scale, including severe floods in Venice and devastating bushfires in Australia, it is necessary for travellers to prepare for the unthinkable. US travel insurance comparison website Squaremouth has responded to key traveller ‘what ifs’ in a bid to help them plan for the unexpected.
The first is ‘What if I can’t get to my destination?’. Squaremouth said that most policies provide coverage to cancel or shorten a trip, including coverage for grounded flights due to local smoke, closed roads due to flooding and other impacts of natural disasters that render their destination inaccessible.
The second ‘what if’ is ‘What if I have nowhere to stay?’. Squaremouth’s advice is that, should a traveller need to cancel their trip because their accommodation was damaged or destroyed by flooding or fires, they can be refunded up to their entire trip cost including flights, hotel and prepared tours.
Third is ‘What if my activities are cancelled?’, to which Squaremouth says: “While flooded streets and closed attractions may throw a wrench in vacation plans, standard travel insurance policies never cover disappointment or ‘loss of enjoyment’. As long as a traveller can reach their destination safely and their accommodation is inhabitable, they will not be refunded if they choose to cancel their trip.”
Next up is ‘What if I want to cancel my trip?’. Squaremouth said that travellers with a standard Trip Cancellation-style policy must meet one of that policy’s covered reasons to cancel in order to be fully refunded. This might include an extended airline delay or accommodation becoming inhabitable due to fire or flood. Squaremouth also said that most cancellation-style policies also include coverage if the city listed on a traveller’s itinerary is under a mandatory evacuation order. If a traveller has a cancel for any reason upgraded policy, it is likely they can cancel outright, and have a portion of their expenses refunded.
The final ‘what if’, and arguably the most important, is ‘What if I don’t have a policy?’. To this, Squaremouth responds: “In order to be covered for any event, travel insurance must be purchased before the event occurs. If a traveller does not already have a policy in place, it is too late to buy one now for [either] the fires in Australia or floods in Venice. Travellers should keep in mind that by the time an event is on the news, it is too late to buy a travel insurance policy to be covered for that event. Squaremouth reports that some policies are using 12 November as the cutoff date for coverage related to the floods in Venice.”
With catastrophic events becoming increasingly common, it is more important than ever before that travellers purchase the right travel insurance and read the fine print to ensure they are covered for unexpected eventualities.