More consumers may seek volcano insurance

Concerns that more volcanic eruptions will spoil travel plans could boost consumers’ interest in volcano insurance, The Guardian reports.

Magnús Tumi Gudmundsson, professor of geophysics at the University of Iceland, told the newspaper: "The previous activity lasted for 14 months with long spells of inactivity, so on the basis of the history of this volcano we are not convinced that the current activity is over."

The grounding of flights in April as a result of the eruption of Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajökull led to a surge in demand for volcano travel insurance add-ons.

According to web research company Greenlight, The number of people searching on Google for "volcano insurance" increased from 58 searches in March to 9,900 in April while "travel insurance compare" increased, month-on-month, from 18,100 searches in March to 33,100 in May.

Aviva said that 83% of existing customers who have called the insurer about its volcano add-on have gone through with the purchase.