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WARWICK, R.I., May 8, 2019 — InsureMyTrip, a NOAA Weather-Ready Nation WRN Ambassador™, launched a new hurricane preparedness campaign this week in an effort to help travelers best prepare for the season. As a dedicated NOAA partner, InsureMyTrip is committed to improving travelers’ readiness and responsiveness against extreme weather. To help travelers stay informed and be better prepared, this educational campaign includes several initiatives with content delivery across all platforms.

2019 NOAA Hurricane Preparedness Campaign

Photo Source: NOAA. Hurricane Preparedness Week is May 5-11, 2019. InsureMyTrip is committed to educating travelers as a proud Weather-Ready Nation (WRN) Ambassador™.

InsureMyTrip has expanded its Hurricane Educational Center to include more information to better assist travelers with their upcoming trip. The content hub also offers access to travel data, a free travel guide ebook, videos, and other resources.

Travelers can also subscribe to “Trips & Tips”, an InsureMyTrip podcast hosted by Abbey Zartman, available on iTunes and Spotify. The podcast will release new episodes related to hurricane preparedness throughout the 2019 season.

“More than half of the U.S. population has listened to a podcast. This gives us a great, direct way to speak to travelers about how to stay safe during hurricane season. We get to deliver our data and NOAA’s information in short, entertaining episodes that fit into a traveler’s busy lifestyle,” says InsureMyTrip Digital Marketing Specialist Abbey Zartman.

Understanding Hurricane Coverage
As National Hurricane Preparedness Week (May 5-11, 2019) is underway, travel insurance agents at InsureMyTrip are also reminding travelers about the advantages of buying trip insurance early. Once a storm starts forming, it is considered a foreseeable event and insurance coverage will no longer be available to cover losses related to that storm.

This season, InsureMyTrip predicts three out of four travel insurance customers will choose a comprehensive travel insurance policy. This type of policy provides a variety of benefits including emergency medical coverage, emergency travel services, baggage protection, trip cancellation and trip interruption coverage.

Travel insurance is an effective and cost-efficient way to cope with the risk of travel during hurricane season and to help guard against potential financial losses.

When it comes to severe weather, here are some examples of how insurance may enable travelers to receive reimbursement of pre-paid, non-refundable trip costs if they must cancel a trip due to severe weather-related issues that are covered under the trip cancellation benefit:

Flights are grounded due to a hurricane: Many plans will cover a traveler when common carriers such as airlines and cruise lines cease service due to weather. The cessation of services must be for a certain number of hours, usually 24-48.

Resort is in the path of a hurricane: A few plans will cover when the traveler’s destination is under a NOAA-issued hurricane warning.*

A hurricane damaged my hotel or resort: Many plans will cover a traveler when a hotel, resort, or vacation rental is devastated and made uninhabitable by a storm.

A hurricane damaged my home: Many plans will offer coverage when the primary home of a traveler sustains destructive storm damage that renders the home uninhabitable.

I changed my mind: For the opportunity to cancel a trip for reasons other than those listed as “covered reasons” on a policy, a traveler may consider Cancel For Any Reason (CFAR) protection.

CFAR is an optional time-sensitive benefit available on some plans that allow a traveler to cancel a trip for any reason, up to 48 hours prior to the scheduled departure. Reimbursement is usually 50-75% of the prepaid, non-refundable trip cost. A traveler must meet specific eligibility requirements and must purchase a policy with CFAR selected within 14-21 days of making an initial trip payment or deposit.

*With most comprehensive travel insurance plans, the NOAA-issued hurricane warning must be issued for the traveler’s destination within 24-48 hours of the traveler’s scheduled departure. The cancellation must also be more than 14 days after the traveler’s effective date for trip cancellation coverage. This means this coverage would not be available if the traveler is 15 days or closer to the departure of a trip.

Hurricanes and Airline Cancellation Policies

Flight cancellation policies vary by airline and circumstance. When an airline cancels a flight due to bad weather, most will try to rebook passengers on the next available flight.

Airlines are not required to reimburse travelers for losses incurred as a result of a canceled flight due to weather. Travelers concerned about protecting pre-paid, non-refundable trip expenses should buy travel insurance.

Travelers interested in learning more about insurance plans for travel during hurricane season can visit www.InsureMyTrip.com or call 1-800-551-4635 to speak with a licensed travel insurance agent.

Hurricane Travel Insurance Expert:
Meghan Walch
[email protected]

About Weather-Ready Nation

InsureMyTrip is part of the Weather-Ready Nation (WRN) Ambassador™ program, an initiative of the U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), to strengthen partnerships with external organizations toward building community resilience in the face of increasing vulnerability to extreme weather and water events.

About InsureMyTrip

It’s simple. InsureMyTrip finds you the right travel insurance plan, every time. InsureMyTrip is the authority on travel insurance. We are committed to empowering travelers to make the best possible insurance decisions by leveraging our technology, data intelligence, and expertise. InsureMyTrip is rated A+ by the Better Business Bureau.

SOURCE InsureMyTrip

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