As Trees Crush Roofs and Houses are Flooded in March Nor’easter, Trip Cancellation Covers When Travelers’ Homes Are Uninhabitable

East Hartford, CT (Vocus) March 24, 2010 -- News video of the March 13-14 Nor’easter that struck the New York metropolitan area told the tale of disaster at home. High winds caused dozens of toppling trees in southern Connecticut and Westchester to crash into homes, cars and power lines, while overflowing New Jersey rivers turned some Essex and Passaic county residences into uninhabitable islands amid floodwaters.

Travel insurance can protect the trip plans of some residents based in severely damaged New York area suburban communities that are home to many of the most active U.S. travelers. Travel Insured International provides Trip Cancellation and Trip Interruption coverage when an insured traveler has their primary residence made uninhabitable by a fire, flood or other unforeseen natural disaster. The coverage applies in all four plans sold under Travel Insured’s Worldwide Trip Protector line of insurance products. Other unforeseen disasters for which the uninhabitable residence coverage for Trip Cancellation / Interruption could apply are hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, blizzards or avalanches.

Trip Cancellation / Trip Interruption due to a disaster is covered in all of the Worldwide Trip Protector plans, whether the disaster hits home before the insured has departed or when the insured is already traveling and needs to cut short the trip. Trip Cancellation coverage provides for reimbursement of up to the full trip cost for any prepaid, non-refundable travel payments. Trip Interruption, depending upon the specific plan, can cover up to 100% or up to 150% of prepaid trip costs. Trip Interruption benefits can include the unused, non-refundable portion of the shortened trip, and the new airfare paid by the traveler to make a return flight, minus any credit earned from the originally prepaid return ticket.

Financial Advantage

Travel Insured International, as a third-party travel insurance provider, offers a financial advantage over most policies purchased directly from travel suppliers for insured travelers who suffer a home or destination disaster. A Travel Insured plan provides a cash refund for covered losses unlike many supplier plans that offer a credit toward the same trip, often with a rebooking deadline period within which the credit must be taken. Remember that travel insurance for an unforeseen storm to be covered must be purchased before that storm is predicted by the U.S. national weather service.

Whether a traveler lives in the tornado targets of the Midwest and Southwest, the hurricane belts of the southern and eastern seaboards, the wildfire and earthquake zones of the West, or the blizzard regions across the national map each winter, an unforeseen natural disaster that threatens to make a U.S. traveler temporarily homeless can happen anywhere.

The difference for recovering prepaid costs for a suddenly unlikely vacation, and avoiding adding more financial insult to injury, is in having the right travel insurance plan. A plan from the Worldwide Trip Protector line can handle the travel end of the crisis so that travelers can focus on recovering their homes.

About Travel Insured International:

Travel Insured delivers comprehensive travel protection benefits ranging from trip cancellation and trip interruption to emergency assistance and Medevac insurance, travel accident and sickness medical expense, accidental death and dismemberment, missed connection and baggage delay or loss.

The company's travel insurance plans include its comprehensive Worldwide Trip Protector, the most popular travel protection plan (http://www.travelinsured.com/Travel-Insurance/TravelPlan.aspx?plan=333) and Worldwide Trip Protector Gold (http://www.travelinsured.com/Travel-Insurance/TravelPlan.aspx?plan=334), an enhanced travel insurance plan designed to protect luxury vacations and business trips. Travel Insured also offers two travel insurance plans designed to provide basic yet flexible protection for families and budget conscious travelers, its Worldwide Trip Protector Lite insurance plan and Worldwide Trip Protector Lite Expanded insurance plan. Finally they offer an Airline Ticket Protector plan as well as a complete offering of Group Travel Insurance plans including Student Group insurance plans.

Visit Travel Insured's travel insurance (http://www.travelinsured.com) web site or speak to a friendly, knowledgeable Travel Insured customer care professional at 1-800-243-3174.

Travel Insured International, based in East Hartford, Connecticut, was founded in 1993 by the foresight of insurance industry executive Peter Gehris when he acquired the travel protection division of the Travelers Insurance Company. Coverage is underwritten by Arch Insurance Company (a Missouri corporation, NAIC #11150) with executive offices located in Jersey City, NJ. Not all insurance products or coverage is available in all jurisdictions. Coverage is subject to actual policy language.

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