2011 has surely been a year to remember for natural disasters. February’s earthquake in Christchurch claimed 181 lives and has cost insurers around NZ$15-16bn. In March the earthquake which led to the devastating tsunami of the east coast of Japan was in the top 5 most powerful ever recorded on earth, claimed over 15,000 lives, caused a nuclear meltdown and has had an unprecedented global economic impact; then in May volcanic eruptions in Iceland resulted in numerous airlines cancelling flights around Europe costing a lump sum of £1.1bn; just now in late August we have witnessed another demonstration of mother nature’s power, Hurricane Irene.  She has claimed lives, left millions powerless and caused the biggest evacuation ever seen in the USA.

So with a quarter of the year to go, 2011’s natural disasters have already cost almost $US300bn and claimed thousands of lives. Furthermore, in the last 20 years they have also increased by 400% in frequency. So ... I think it is fair to say that natural disasters ARE an issue that affect us all.

With so many of us travelling around the globe on holiday it seems particularly relevant to any of us taking holidays. Take Hurricane Irene for example. Thousands of Britons were stranded in US airports with no way of returning home and missing work and the start of the school year whilst many are unable to make it out to the US. Equally, those on cruises have suddenly found their boat changing course to avoid the storm, or worse, like in San Juan this August, 144 people were left behind when a boat was forced to set off early because of the bad weather.

The question that has been puzzling me is, how can we protect ourselves against the stress and cost incurred from having our holidays cancelled at last minute or missing weeks of work from being stuck in a foreign country? In many cases, if you are not prepared then you will find you are left without any compensation. For those who have purchased package holidays, unless the company knew about the impending natural disaster in time to prevent you from travelling, then you will not be able to receive compensation from your tour operator for any disruption to your travelling. For the case of cruise, they have no contractual obligation to stick to an itinerary in the case of bad weather.

If you are forced to miss work, another issue to consider is that in law most employers will have no obligation to pay you for work you are not doing or at best may take your absence out of your paid holiday leave.

However it is not all bad news and there are ways to prevent being left in the dreaded situation where you are having to cover your own expenses because of an unexpected natural event.

Firstly, let us deal with a primary concern, Flights. If you are flying with an EU airline within the EU or to the EU then you are entitled ‘care’ funds which grant you accommodation, food and transport to and from your accommodation. Your airline will have to pay up immediately in this case. They may also be obliged to the pay the cost of extra travel if they are not delivering you directly to the destination you were intending to travel.

If you are not travelling on an EU airliner then you will nearly always be allowed a free rebooking or compensation for the price of the flight. The price of food, accommodation and extra travel costs may be for you to cover but it if you have a holiday operator then it is worth contacting them to see what your options are.

If these costs fall on you then how can you protect yourself? The answer lies in insurance. What does your travel insurance policy cover? If you have to do this after an event then you are best to contact your policy provider and see what you are covered for. However, it is certainly advisable given the increase of natural disasters to consider this before you are put in such a position. That is, take out an insurance policy which covers for natural disasters. There are various providers that can be found just from looking on an online search engine like google. As many disasters cannot be predicted, taking out policies which cover you in these cases maybe the best way to prevent you from incurring the potentially heavy costs of a natural disaster ruining your travels.

Though rare, if you feel that a tour operator, hotel or organisation could and should have prevented a certain injury, or expenses that occurred directly or indirectly from a natural disaster you may be in luck. For example, if you fall during an evacuation of a hotel because a step was not signposted, then you may be able to seek compensation.

So though it may appear that travel disruptions through natural disasters can cost you dearly, there are ways to minimise loss.