New Orleans, Miami, and the Caribbean are great vacation spots. However, despite how much fun you might have travelling to these places, Mother Nature occasionally is interested in disrupting your vacation plans. You may think you've planned a dream vacation only to find that a hurricane is brewing in the Gulf or along the Atlantic. You've already spent money on the hotel room, or the rental car, or the flight. Or perhaps you're already on vacation and your belongings have already taken damage? What then? Thankfully, many companies offer hurricane travel insurance for problems like these. There are a few things to be aware of when looking into travel insurance, especially those for hurricanes.



First off, just as you can't buy homeowner's insurance to cover damages you incurred previously, you can usually only get a traveler's insurance policy prior to notification of foul weather. In the case of hurricanes, the general policy across the industry is that you can purchase a traveler's insurance policy up until the hurricane has been named. Even in those cases, the policy usually extends only to nonrefundable travel expenses. Anything that can be refunded, such as airfare or hotel rooms, is oftentimes up to you to take care of.



If you made your plans with a travel agent, contact them to see what you can collect refunds on. If you've already made your way to your destination and are forced to evacuate due to a hurricane or tropical storm, your traveler's insurance will cover any lost items (up to the amount defined in the plan, of course).

If you have to make alternate travel and lodging arrangements, these too are usually covered under the policy. It must be reiterated that these things are only covered if you purchased your traveler's insurance prior to notification of the approaching storm. Otherwise, you will be denied coverage. Therefore, it goes without saying that if you are traveling in any area prone to natural disasters, you should look into getting travelers insurance. This is especially the case if you are making any reservations for trips during hurricane season.