After the recent earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan on March 11, the damage caused to a nuclear reactor plant is causing concern for travelers to Japan. While it’s important to note that radiation poisoning concerns to travelers as of this writing are limited, travelers with plans for future travel in Japan need to understand that fear of radiation poisoning isn’t a covered reason for trip cancellation if your plan doesn’t have the ‘cancel for any reason’ coverage.
Trip cancellation coverage provides coverage for a defined set of covered reasons and those reasons vary from travel insurance plan to travel insurance plan. In no case, however, is a concern or worry about an event that hasn’t yet happened covered under trip cancellation coverage.
If events in Japan change and nuclear contamination occurs, then coverage options may change. For example, if a hotel is shut down due to radiation concerns, then your travel insurance protection may kick in because the destination is rendered uninhabitable.
‘Cancel for any reason’ coverage, however lets travelers cancel their insured travel plans for any reason – including fears over radiation poisoning. See how much ‘cancel for any reason’ coverage is provided by each each company at Travel Insurance Review.
