Following Icelands Eyjafjallajkull volcano erupting in April, thousands of peoples holidays were delayed. The ash thrown up into the atmosphere by the eruption was carried on the wind and it covered the air space over large parts of Europe.
Travellers were either stranded in their own country, unable to fly out or in other countries, unable to fly into whichever countries were beneath the ash cloud.
This was an unprecedented situation. Holiday and insurance companies werent sure how to respond. However, European law was clear: if someone was booked on an EU airline, that airline was required to provide food an accommodation for its passengers under a duty of care. If a flight was delayed or cancelled, they had to offer a refund to their passengers or an alternative flight date.
However, many people were affected by non-EU airlines or who had additional costs, such as booked accommodation, car hire or even a cruise, the flight part of their trip being only the first part, taking them close to the port where the ship would depart. No airline would meet these costs.
So travellers put in claims to their insurance companies.
However, many people were surprised and angered when they received a reply, telling them that their claim was being declined.
Why?
Travel insurance isnt designed to cover any and every situation. Policy wording exists, detailing what is covered and not.
Unfortunately, many people dont read the wording and assume that all sorts of things will be covered when its never been agreed to insure them. Or, if they had, they thought that the wording was clear that they were covered.
In the case of the volcanic eruption, the relevant section of travel insurance policies is trip delay and abandonment. This is where you can claim an amount of money for each block of, usually, twelve hours that youre delayed. If the delay is longer than 24 hours, you can abandon your trip (if you havent left the UK) and cover is up to the limit of the cancellation section.
However, again, as with any insurance, claims are met only under certain circumstances, one of which is if the delay was caused by adverse weather conditions. Many insurers took the stance that the wind on which the ash was being carried was not adverse it was just a normal wind. If it had been a gale force wind that had caused delays, claims would have been accepted.
However, many people interpreted the phrase adverse weather conditions differently and felt that the ash carried by the wind formed part of the weather.
The situation remains that many, if not most, travel insurance policies will not cover claims related to volcanic ash. But there are some that will.
But now that the Eyjafjallajkull volcano is quieter, should people be concerned about further eruptions?
Could it happen again?
Certainly! A geophysicist in Iceland, Magnus Tumi Gudmundsson, says its too early to say that the Eyjafjallajkull volcano will not erupt again. There are still tremors and seismic activity, which could foretell another eruption.
Furthermore, scientists have warned that Icelands Katla volcano, which is five times larger than Eyjafjallajkull, may be about to erupt. It has a crater diameter of 14km! A research paper written by the University College of London Institute for Risk and Disaster Reduction, analyzed the last decade of seismic activity around Katla and found there is a strong possibility it will soon erupt. Historically, Katla has followed Eyjafjallajkull eruptions within days or months.
The Katla volcano is active and very explosive. Because the chamber in which molten lava collects is under 500 metres of glacial ice, when it erupts, it will have to force its way through the ice. Its this mixture of molten rock and ice that causes the massive plumes of ash.
Katla usually erupts every 40-80 years. However, the last eruption was in 1918 and its been grumbling since 1999, so an eruption is long overdue. Because Katla is only 20kms from Eyjafjallajkull, its quite possible there are underground interlinking chambers or channels. The pressure waves from the Eyjafjallajkull eruption may well have increased pressure in the Katla magma chamber.
An eruption of Katla could be ten times stronger than Eyjafjallajkull and have a far greater influence over Europe because of the much greater ash cloud that it would produce.
Not only that, the Shiveluch volcano on the east Russian Kamchatka Peninsula, erupted in May. The peninsula has a chain of active volcanos. Scientists are keeping a very close watch on the others, also and when they erupt, ash will be blown into extremely busy air space.
Is cover available?
There is a small number of travel insurance policies that will provide ash-related cover.
Its So Easy Travel Insurance was highlighted on BBC Radio 4s You & Yours programme on 31 May as being one such provider. They have set up a special web site: www.volcanicashtravelinsurancepolicy.com, which provides a lot of information and where customers can obtain an online quotation and book the policy. Their main web site has the same information on a special page about the volcanic ash.
If someone is delayed in the UK, they can claim under the delay section of the policy. If they are delayed for longer than 24 hours, they can choose to abandon their trip. As explained earlier in this article, the airline theyve booked with must offer them a refund but other expenses can be claimed on the insurance.
The policy can also include cover for a wide range of pre-existing medical conditions and doesnt have an upper age limit for single trip policies.
However, a policy must have been purchased before the announcement of the closure of the airport to which someone was travelling to or from and any ban on airspace in which they were due to fly. So dont leave it too late!
The policy can be bought online, following the link on the
www.itssoeasytravelinsurance.com and/or
www.volcanicashtravelinsurancepolicy.com web site or call 0844 357 1315.
Its So Easy Travel Insurance is:
Authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority
A member of the British Insurance Brokers Association
A Partner in the Foreign & Commonwealth Offices Know Before You Go Campaign
A sponsor of the Scotland Patients Association
