Travel insurance comparison website Squaremouth said more
travelers are interested in purchasing weather- and hurricane-related coverage
this year.
According to Squaremouth, there was a 31% year-over-year
increase in the number of people purchasing insurance plans for the 2018
hurricane season, which begins next month.
Squaremouth has seen a 16% increase in the number of people
searching specifically for policies that include coverage for hurricanes and
weather events.
2018 is expected to have a slightly above-average number of
storms, according to hurricane researchers at Colorado State University. They
are predicting 14 named storms, seven of which they predict will become
hurricanes. Of those seven, researchers expect three to be major hurricanes
(categories 3-5).
Last fall saw three hurricanes -- Harvey, Irma and Maria --
wreak havoc on areas of the Caribbean and United States. At their peaks, the
storms were categories 4, 5 and 5, respectively.
According to Squaremouth, most insurance policies enable
travelers to recoup trip costs if a storm "significantly impacts their
ability to take the trip." That includes damage to their own homes
precluding them from traveling, or necessitating an earlier return home.
While Squaremouth noted that policies differ, most require
one of the following: a flight or cruise is delayed for at least 12-28 hours, the
traveler's home is rendered "uninhabitable," or an evacuation or
hurricane warning is issued for the destination or city the traveler is flying
out of.
Additionally, as its name implies, cancel-for-any-reason
insurance would enable cancellation in the instance of a hurricane.