In this post we give examples of how severe weather advisories affect travel insurance, how to monitor travel advisories from the Government of Canada.
You’ve planned your trip and you are excited to get away from the snow and cold or just have a change of scenery. But what happens if a severe weather advisory is issued for your destination?
The Government of Canada’s Travel Advice and Advisories service provides Canadians with official information and advice on situations that may affect your safety and well-being abroad.
When advisories are issued at the highest levels, “avoid non-essential travel” and “avoid all travel,” your travel insurance could be impacted.
Here are a couple of scenarios to help you understand why Trip Cancellation and Interruption coverage can protect your travel investment.
Snow storm hits New York: Anne is planning on spending New Year’s Eve in New York. Knowing that the eastern seaboard is prone to epic storms, she purchases Trip Cancellation and Interruption coverage. When an advisory is issued to avoid non-essential travel on her departure date, Anne’s coverage reimburses her for the cost of cancelling her trip.
Injury during a storm: A typhoon hits while Eric is exploring Taiwan, and he is injured by flying debris. There was no travel advisory in place on his departure date, so his emergency medical coverage will pay for the cost of his treatment.
Advisory in place, but no trip cancellation or interruption coverage purchased: The best time to purchase travel insurance is as soon as you finalize your trip. If a travel advisory is issued for a destination you are considering, the situation there is known to you, and trip cancellation and interruption coverage will not pay.
A storm hits while in the destination: Kevin is travelling alone and a storm hits while he’s exploring the Caribbean. He still has a week left in his trip when the Canadian government issues an official travel advisory to avoid non-essential travel.
Kevin doesn’t want to continue to explore in the shaky weather conditions. He had bought trip interruption coverage before his departure, and there was no advisory in place when he left for his trip, so the cost of his early trip home is covered.
If you’re travelling this holiday season, make sure you check the Government of Canada website. You can subscribe to daily travel updates to receive emails that summarize changes made to their Travel Advice and Advisories.
The Government of Canada offers many smart travel tools that can allow you to stay up to date through many social media streams.
Booking your travel? Contact us to purchase emergency medical and trip interruption and cancellation coverage.