Will Travel Insurance Cover Volcano-related Travel Snafus?

[Kaleel Sakakeeny]

No sooner do we do a piece on Travel Insurance, and a volcano blows, stranding thousands of people and ruining hundreds of vacations.

But don't worry, you read our post, bought insurance and you're covered.

Well, it seems that your claim could be denied, depending on whom you bought the insurance from and whether the company views the disaster as "weather related," usually covered, or "natural disaster," questionable coverage. Or a "trip interruption" or "trip cancellation," which is still being worked out.

Damian Tysdal, publisher of the insurance site TravelInsuranceReview says that most American insurance companies are considering this a weather event, which, he says, is included as a covered reason in travel insurance policies. “Any policies with trip cancellation, trip interruption or travel delay coverage will provide coverage. But keep in mind there are policy limits," Tysdal cautions

More good news, perhaps, is that Access America the largest travel insurance company, said yesterday that in intends to cover "all claims related to the volcano ash, as opposed to limiting coverage under its “natural disaster” policy exclusion."

Access America will shell out million of dollars to cover these claims, but garner incredible credibility. And UK insurer also announced that it is covering claims from consumers either stranded abroad or who can not travel

The rule of thumb seems to be this:

• Ticketed passengers who are waiting to take off to Europe but who can't, can file a trip interruption claim and hope for the best.

• Stranded passengers who can't get home are in the best position for assistance from their insurance companies who are obligated to help with accommodations, re-bookings, medical attention if necessary.
• Travelers planning to leave on a European holiday will almost certainly not be covered unless they bough their insurance before Eyjafjallajjokull's eruption because in this case, it was a foreseeable event
It's not great reading, but do read your insurance policy, paying close attention to the parts covering "natural disaster" and "weather -related incidents."

Do you know anyone who needed their travel insurance?