When planning a trip, no one wants to consider the many ways things could go terribly wrong. Yet, the reality is that earthquakes, labour strikes, pandemics and floods don’t stop because we’re on holiday. In the past few weeks, the lives of locals and travellers have been upended by riots in New Caledonia , Iceland’s volcanic eruption and Indonesia’s freak flash flood.

Tourism businesses such as airlines, hotels, tour groups and travel insurers know these events can come out of nowhere. For this reason, many terms and conditions include a little something called a Force Majeure clause. French for “major force”, a force majeure is a clause you’ll find in many contracts.

Essentially, it removes liability for extraordinary, unforeseen events beyond the parties’ control and prevents them from fulfilling obligations. These could be social or government actions (war, civil unrest, labour strikes), or natural disasters (fire, storms, floods) and while they’re in various types of contracts, travellers should know what they are for key businesses they book with. One often sees a force majure clause work out with domestic flights in New Zealand, as airlines are not obligated to provide refunds or compensation if a flight is delayed or cancelled for reasons outside its control (AKA a force majure).

It can also catch out travellers who endure a major disruption and then realise their travel insurer will not cover the resulting expenses, which can be unusually high follo.