Recent articles, like the one that ran last Friday in USA Today, explore trip cancellation insurance benefits in relation to the H1N1 flu and along the way create the potential for some misunderstandings. To sort out the subtleties, HTB takes a look at a typical product — TripProtector from HTH Worldwide.

The pandemic exclusion clause contained in the TripProtector plan applies strictly to trip cancellation, trip interruption or travel delay benefits. If a member feels threatened by pandemic flu and decides to cancel her trip prior to departure or to cut her trip short, the policy does not cover the associated travel expenses. Or, if a member’s travel is delayed because of circumstances arising from the pandemic, the policy does not cover the associated travel expenses. But if that person becomes ill while traveling, with H1N1 or any other pandemic infectious agent, TripProtector covers the associated medical costs, including evacuation for medical treatment, if necessary.

By definition, pandemics affect a large swathe of the population, so many trip cancellation carriers anticipate a potential avalanche of claims related to H1N1. Some carriers have decided to take this risk; others have not. We are not aware of any policies that exclude medical treatment for pandemic flu while you are traveling.