Does Travel Insurance Provide Coverage for Hurricanes?

If you’re planning a vacation during hurricane season (typically June through November), it’s wise to consider the risks and how you can protect your travel investment. When conditions become favorable for a severe storm — especially in locations around the Caribbean and Atlantic waters — you may feel concerned that they’ll ruin your trip.

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 cover. While you certainly can travel safely during hurricane season, we recommend you do your homework and be prepared for the unexpected. To help, here are our answers to some of the most common questions about hurricanes and travel insurance. 

What does hurricane travel insurance coverage provide? 

Travel insurance can provide coverage for trip cancellation, trip interruption, and trip 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 will cover hurricanes. 

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

Keep reading to understand how Travelex can provide travel insurance cover for cancellations related to hurricane. 

What’s the best travel insurance for hurricane season? 

The greatest coverage depends on your need and trip plans, but, at Travelex, our best travel insurance plan for hurricane coverage is Travel Select. 

With our Travel Select plan, you can receive up to 100% of 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 the policy 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 expenses because of the hurricane. 

Travel Select also has a trip delay benefit that can provide hurricane travel insurance coverage. If a hurricane causes you to be delayed for five consecutive hours and prevents you from reaching your destination, you can receive up to $2,000 (with a daily limit of $250) to cover unexpected additional expenses caused by your delay. 

With Travel Select, the covered reasons for trip cancellation, interruption, and delay resulting from a hurricane include: 

• you or a traveling companion’s primary residence becoming uninhabitable or inaccessible; 

• your destination is made uninhabitable or inaccessible; and 

• you or your traveling companion’s company is deemed to be unstable for business and you or your traveling companion are directly involved with the disaster recovery team. 

If our Travel Select plan isn’t suitable for your trip, our Travel Basic, Travel Med, and Travel America plans also offer hurricane travel insurance coverage, including coverage for trip delays, homes or businesses made inaccessible by the storm, and more.  

For more information, get a quote to compare and read more about our plans 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 have yet to occur.  

Once a hurricane is a named storm, it becomes a foreseeable event, which means you can no longer purchase travel insurance and receive coverage for that storm. 

When doesn’t travel insurance provide coverage for hurricanes? 

Travel insurance is designed to protect travelers from unforeseen events. This means a hurricane (or other storm) wouldn’t be covered by travel insurance 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. Our Travel Select plan can provide travelers with coverage for any financial losses that occur within 14 days after the named hurricane makes your vacation destination uninhabitable or inaccessible. 

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

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 coverage 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.  

Want to protect your trip? Get a quote today. 

_{The product descriptions provided here are only brief summaries and may be changed without notice. The full coverage terms and details, including limitations and exclusions, are contained in the insurance policy. Travelex Insurance Services, Inc. CA Agency License #0D10209. Travel Insurance is underwritten by Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance Company; NAIC #22276}