Does your travel insurance policy include coverage for cancellation due to fear?
While far from over, 2016 has already been quite the year – and not usually for the right reasons. Headlines scream about brazen terrorist attacks, baffling police killings, deadly viruses, and unhinged politicians. Who can blame you for preferring the safety and comfort of home?
But what if you already had a big trip planned – and paid for – to Brazil or Europe or some other place far from home? If you call the whole thing off, could trip cancellation coverage help recoup some of that money? The short (but unsatisfying) answer is maybe.
The longer answer is that it mostly depends on the circumstance.
When do you get a refund?
Getting your money back for trip cancellation typically only happens when specific, unexpected threats arise to delay or prevent your trip, or make your destination unsafe. Few things are as dangerous and unexpected as terrorist attacks. As hard as we try to prevent them, there’s no guaranteed way to tell when or where one might occur. Thankfully, if an attack occurs right before your trip, a standard travel insurance policy may cover the costs of cancelling it. Different policies and companies have different rules determining how many days after an attack your trip needs to be for them to cover the cancellation. That time period can be anywhere from a few days to a few weeks.
When it comes to natural disasters such as hurricanes, floods, or other natural disasters that can delay or reroute flights, or that simply makes your destination unsafe, insurance is likely to cover you.
If you don’t have travel insurance, you still have options. When a crisis occurs, airlines sometimes allow customers to rebook for a new date or even choose a different destination. That means that even if you don’t have travel insurance, your money won’t just go down the drain.
Hotels usually allow you to cancel reservations without penalty up to a day or two before your check-in date. Car rental companies offer similar leeway on cancellations. Things are a little different if you use an alternative for your lodgings, such as an Airbnb. In those cases, hosts have their own rules for cancelling reservations.
General fear isn’t good enough for a refund through trip cancellation
The latest health scare is the Zika virus. The deadly disease and has spread to some of Canada’s favourite vacation spots. Unfortunately, even though Zika is a deadly travel risk, it’s not treated the same as violent attacks or natural disasters when it comes to trip cancellation with your travel insurance policy. Because viruses and diseases are ongoing risks rather than events, insurers and airlines usually won’t refund. There are, however, some companies that do, mostly on a case-by-case basis.
If you want to make a claim for cancelling your trip due to fear, the quick rule to remember is that your decision needs to be directly connected to a dangerous event in your destination and not just your fear that something might happen to you.
You can increase trip cancellation coverage
You can guarantee yourself a refund by getting cancel-for-any-reason coverage. This type of travel insurance guarantees that if you change your mind about a trip for any reason whatsoever you’ll be refunded. However, be prepared to pay much more for this flexibility than you would with standard coverage.
Don’t let fear win
We’ve all heard that old saying, “There’s nothing to fear but fear itself.” We shouldn’t let fear keep us from enjoying our lives, but that also doesn’t mean you can’t exercise some caution when the situation demands. With travel insurance and trip cancellation coverage you can have flexibility to adjust to an unpredictable and sometimes dangerous world.