Travel Insurance / Hurricane Disruption

irldonalb

Hi

I’m just back from my honeymoon where my wife and I got caught in a Hurricane in Mexico.

It was a disaster. It happed two days into a week’s holiday. The area including the hotel and airport was destroyed. We stayed in the hotel for another 4 nights until the airport re-opened. However we were basically living in a building site. There was no running water and only emergency lighting.

We have travel insurance and we booked through a travel agency that our bonded. Before I do anything, I’m trying to understand my best approach.

I’m nervous, as my experience is that they look for a reason not to pay money. I don’t know if this falls under “Catastrophe”, “holiday abandonment” or similar.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks
Donal

Alan_Bowen

Hurricanes are expected in Mexico and the Caribbean in September, they are frequently described as 'force majeure', circumstances beyond the control of the operator and you may get a small refund from the operator for the unused accommodation but there certainly won't be compensation. As a honeymoon destination, I really wouldn't choose Mexico during the peak hurricane season, unless you chose the destination and just asked the travel agent to book it for you, I would ask them why they recommended it?

Bonding has nothing to do with this, that protects your money if the operator goes bust, which it hasn't. Your holiday was certainly interrupted but whether you are covered will depend entirely on the terms of the insurance policy you bought. You were very unfortunate to be caught by Hurricane Odile, normally they hit the Atlantic coast rather than the Pacific coast and the damage was particularly bad in Cabo San Lucas, you need to read the terms of your policy, I assume the operator or hotel looked after you until you got home, rather than through any contact you had with the insurer?

InsideInsurance

How many days did you lose? Presumably you bought a package so had paid the full amount up front?

Did you pay extra for your early flight home?

You'd be looking at curtailment section of your policy but it is unlikely that they will cover weather driven choice as its normally limited to health or damage to your home unless you are armed/emergency forces in which case annual leave cancellation is also covered

Speak to your travel agents but really, you chose to go at the height of hurricane season and so will have had a significant discount. You took a gamble and lost. I am sure you wouldnt have wanted to be charged extra if you had gone and turned out the weather was perfect the whole time