Tropical Storm Isaac is bearing down on Haiti and the Dominican Republic and may elevate to hurricane status. They are expecting it to spread across much of Florida in the next few days. Don’t rush out to buy travel insurance now to cover Isaac as travel insurance policies do not provide coverage to anyone purchasing a plan after a storm has been named. In this case, Tropical Storm Isaac was officially named on August 21, 2012, and anyone who purchased travel insurance after that date, is not covered for this storm.
Under plans purchased before Isaac was named, there may be a number of benefits available, depending on the plan. You should always review your specific plan to determine which of the following benefits or provisions are included in your policy.
If your flight is delayed or canceled due to Isaac, most plans will cover cancellation penalties if you are not able to travel for a specified period of time, which varies from plan to plan. Most plans also cover you if your destination is officially declared uninhabitable due to the storm. Some policies may also provide coverage if your home or work place is made uninhabitable due to the storm, and others include a hurricane warning provision, allowing you to cancel your trip if your home or destination is under an official hurricane warning issued by NOAA.
Trip Interruption – Generally, most of the reasons listed for trip cancellation also apply if you have to return home early from your trip due to a named storm such as Isaac.
Most plans include a delay benefit and many also include a missed connection benefit. Depending on the plan purchased, one of these benefits will cover additional meal and hotel expenses due to a flight delay or cancellation. Check your policy for complete details.
You can follow the storm’s progress our in our travel alerts section in our page dedicated to hurricane storm forecasts from NOAA
If you have any additional questions, please contact our Customer Service team, and we would be happy to answer any questions for you.
