Does insurance cover bad weather?

Ben Hocking

4 years ago

Melissa was caught out by a snowstorm on her last trip to Europe and wonders whether she can get cover to prevent it happening when she travels there again next year.

•••

Q. Melissa
I last travelled to Europe in 2010 and it was a nightmare, there were snowstorms that made it impossible to access many of the areas I planned to visit. And I wasn’t able to get the money back from all of the hotels that I didn’t even make it to as a result. I didn’t have travel insurance last time, but I am definitely making sure I have it this time when I travel over in January. Does travel insurance protect me from losing money if I end up with the same terrible luck?

A. The answer is both yes and no. There can be a great deal of variation between individual travel insurance policies, so if you have already bought your insurance, you will need to carefully inspect the section that deals with their ‘covered reasons’ to provide payment.

Ideally, you should take a close look at the fine-print details about the travel insurance’s conditions surrounding weather problems before you buy. That said, if you are unhappy with the insurance cover you have, it is probably not too late to upgrade it, if you feel you need more protection.

If you want your insurance to cover bad weather, you will need to make sure that your policy covers trip cancellations or interruptions. This allows you to recoup any money that you can’t recover from airlines or hotels as a result of weather-related delays and cancellations.

Essentially, your travel insurance can cover all eventualities if you are willing to pay extra to ensure that you are covered in the worst-case scenario, including extra kennel or cattery fees if your trip home is delayed by bad weather.

Have you ever had a trip ruined by bad weather? Were you able to claim money back from travel insurance?

If you enjoy our content, don’t keep it to yourself. Share our free eNews with your friends and encourage them to sign up.