Volcanoes are generally not considered when discussing insurance risks. They tend to be in more remote areas, there is no volcano season and unless they erupt spectacularly, not much attention is paid to them.

Hawaii has many volcanoes that are tourist attractions, and it has been estimated that around 500 million people currently live near an active volcano. However, unlike hurricanes, predicting an eruption is tricky. Although scientists can view continuously-gathered satellite data; record internal and external temperatures and seismic activity; monitor magma accumulation, volcanic gas, and deformation; whether or not that volcano will even erupt in this lifetime is completely unknown.

While volcanic activity is fairly infrequent, volcanoes can cause inordinate amounts of property damage per occurrence because of their unpredictable nature. In 2010, a volcano erupted in Iceland. It spewed ash several miles into the air, disrupting European air traffic for six days in April and again in May, generating earthquakes and electrical storms. Its impact was short-lived and it was considered dormant by August.