With unexpected weather delays, cancelled flights, and busy airports anticipated this season, Trip Cancellation & Trip Interruption Insurance and Trip Interruption Insurance plans are a smart purchase to protect your travel plans.
Trip Cancellation Insurance covers the cost of a traveller’s trip if something happens before their departure date, causing them to cancel their trip or a portion of their trip due to one of the covered risks listed in the policy.
Trip Interruption Insurance covers travellers on or after they’ve started their trip for events causing them to disrupt or interrupt their trip, or to return earlier or later than their original return date due to one of the covered risks listed in the policy.
One of our carriers posted these real-life claim stories:
Trip Cancellation: “Jeff”, a 70-year-old retiree, booked a cruise trip around the Caribbean for the summer. He had been eager to go— this was his first trip away from home in many years, and he’d even bought travel insurance early on not to forget.
Several months before he left for his trip, Jeff began experiencing sharp chest pains and went to get examined by a doctor. His physician strongly advised cancelling his trip. Although Jeff was disappointed to have to cancel his cruise, he appreciated buying Trip Cancellation Insurance which saved him the cost of the cancelled cruise which was almost $3000.
Trip Interruption: The “Pawar” family of three travelled to Fiji. However, they discovered that after their arrival, the Fijian government placed the island under a hurricane watch. As a result of this unexpected development, the family decided to return home because they couldn’t predict how long the hurricane warning would last. With their packed itinerary untouched, The Pawars’ were disappointed to interrupt their trip. But they found comfort in knowing they had purchased Trip Interruption Insurance which covered the unexpected costs of over $27,000.
What is covered?
While trip cancellation insurance may sound like a free pass to cancel travels, modern adventurers need to know what their travel insurance plan actually covers. Those specific reasons may include (but are not limited to) the death of the traveler, their travel companion, or an immediate family member; an injury or illness, unforeseen weather occurrence; a legal obligation such as jury duty. Some carriers now provide a “Cancel for Any Reason” endorsement which further broadens the scope of the coverage.