Disaster-Proof Your Vacation

Travel insurance can recover some costs when a natural disaster ruins your vacation.

- Miriam Cross

LAST YEAR, PLENTY OF vacation plans were roiled by hurricanes and wildfires. If you’re traveling to an area that could be hit by Mother Nature’s wrath, consider adding travel insurance to your pretrip checklist.

You can usually skip a travel insurance policy for an inexpensive domestic trip. If something goes awry, the financial hit will likely be minimal. But for longer and more-expensive trips, which may be locked down with nonrefundable deposits that are difficult to recoup, insuring your vacation is usually worthwhile.

A comprehensive policy will typically run 5% to 10% of your total trip cost, according to Squaremouth .com, a travel insurance search site. You can get policies that reimburse you for the costs of canceling or cutting short your trip if the weather turns dangerous. Or you may be able to get covered if you need to cancel or interrupt your trip because your own home is destroyed.

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