Natural Disaster (hurricanes, etc.) or bad weather effecting common carriers

Policies will commonly have either "natural disaster" or "bad weather" or both as covered reasons for their trip cancellation/interruption coverages. Most policies will state that the "common carrier" must cease operations for 24 to 48 consecutive hours (depends on plan) in order for coverage to apply. There are a couple of policies that don't have a time limit but they do require that it directly affect the common carrier and some require that you comply with airline standards for arriving at the airport and for connecting times.

"Natural disaster" is considered to be more restrictive because of its degree of severity since it requires an emergency situation that significantly threatens or results in loss of life and/or property.
"Bad weather" on the other hand can be any weather event that directly causes the common carrier to be delayed or cancelled for the required time. Most policies will apply this reason to trip cancellation and interruption coverages however there are a couple of plans that only apply it to the post-departure trip interruption coverage.

As with all covered reasons the event causing cancellation/interruption must not be reasonably foreseeable at the time you purchase the policy so if the storm hasn't been forecast when you buy the insurance than you should be OK.

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Your home being made uninhabitable

This is a common covered reason found in most trip cancellation/interruption coverages. It usually requires that your home (principal place of residence) be made uninhabitable by:

fire,
flood, or
similar natural disaster(such as a hurricane).

Not all policies include natural disaster as a reason and some policies add that the event causing your home to be uninhabitable must occur within 10 days of your scheduled departure date.

As with all covered reasons the event causing cancellation/interruption must not be reasonably foreseeable at the time you purchase the policy so if the fire hasn't started or the natural disaster hasn't been forecast when you buy the insurance than you should be OK.

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Your destination being made uninhabitable

This is a common covered reason found in most trip cancellation/interruption coverages. It usually requires that your destination be made uninhabitable by:

fire,
flood, or
similar natural disaster(such as a hurricane).

Not all policies include natural disaster as a reason. Also many companies consider that your destination has been made uninhabitable when its under a mandatory evacuation.

As with all covered reasons the event causing cancellation/interruption must not be reasonably foreseeable at the time you purchase the policy so if the fire hasn't started or the natural disaster hasn't been forecast when you buy the insurance than you should be OK.

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Your workplace being made uninhabitable

This is only found in a couple of policies. It requires that your workplace be made uninhabitable by:

vandalism,
burglary,
fire,
flood,
volcano,
earthquake,
hurricane, or
other natural disaster.

As with all covered reasons the event causing cancellation/interruption must not be reasonably foreseeable at the time you purchase the policy so if the fire hasn't started or the natural disaster hasn't been forecast when you buy the insurance than you should be OK.

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Hurricane Warning

Currently this is only found in a couple of policies. It requires a cancellation of your Trip within 24 hours of your Scheduled Departure Date and time if your Trip destination is under a hurricane warning issued by the NOAA National Hurricane Center, provided the cancellation of your Trip occurs more than 15 days following your effective date of coverage for the Trip Cancellation Benefits.

As with all covered reasons the event causing cancellation/interruption must not be reasonably foreseeable at the time you purchase the policy so if the hurricane hasn't formed or hasn't been named when you buy the insurance than you should be OK.

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50% loss of trip due to trip delay

Six plans currently include this coverage. It generally refers to the Trip Delay benefit (additional living expenses) and provides for cancellation/interruption benefits if:

you first have a valid claim under the Trip Delay benefit and
it has resulted in the loss of 50% or more of your trip due to the covered delay.

Trip Delay is found in all package policies and provides for additional living expenses based on a per day maximum rate if your trip is delayed due to a specific covered reason. Most policies include delays caused by "natural disasters". Some include "bad weather" causing your common carrier to be delay. All of the plans require that you be delayed for 6 to 12 consecutive hours before the benefit applies. As with all covered reasons the event causing your travel delay must not be reasonably foreseeable at the time you purchase the policy.

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Mandatory evacuation or public official evacuation advisements

A couple of plans include specific coverage for Mandatory evacuations or for official public advisements for evacuation that are due to adverse weather or natural disaster.
In order to cancel or interrupt your Covered Trip,

you must have 4 days or 50% of your total Covered Trip length, or
less remaining on your Covered Trip at the time the mandatory evacuation ends.

As with all covered reasons the event causing cancellation/interruption must not be reasonably foreseeable at the time you purchase the policy so if the hurricane hasn't formed or hasn't been named when you buy the insurance than you should be OK.

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Additional Living Expenses

This is the Trip Delay benefit that is found in all "package" policies. It provides for additional living expenses that are actually incurred up to a daily maximum person. In addition to the daily maximum they also have a policy maximum. The Trip Delay must be caused by a specific covered reason. Usually this will include "natural disasters" and/or "bad weather" affecting your common carrier. All of the plans require that you be delayed for more than a specific number of hours (the actual number of hours depends on the plan) in order to be eligible for coverage.

As with all covered reasons the event causing cancellation/interruption must not be reasonably foreseeable at the time you purchase the policy so if the hurricane hasn't formed or hasn't been named when you buy the insurance than you should be OK.

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