When planning a trip through the beautiful landscapes of Canada or anywhere else for that matter, you should make sure that you have international travel medical insurance up your sleeve just in case something does occur. There is little chance that you will have some kind of problem but being caught in a foreign country with no medical insurance can be an exceptionally expensive exercise.
So you know that you need to find some travel insurance, but choosing a policy can be confusing. There are different companies and options and they each have differing inclusions, exclusions, premiums and gap fees. Before selecting a policy, you should compare what each is offering and make an educated decision based upon your health needs and those of the other people that will be covered with the plan.
Work out roughly what level of coverage you require and from there choose a few different companies' products to compare. Look at what they cover and the amount that they will cover you for, check how long it takes them to make payment and what happens in the case of emergency. It is no good having the insurance if the company is slow to respond in times of emergency. Also compare the prices of the policy, but the cheapest is not always the best.
You can choose between around four basic types of international medical travel insurance – short or single trip covers travel up to 90 days in length, long or multiple trip coverage of up to to one year, expat. Covers people living overseas and foreign national covers non United States citizens.
There can be a great deal of difference between different policies. You may be able to save money on some items that are not necessary for you and are extremely unlikely to be necessary when you are overseas. The level of coverage that you need might also depend on the length of time that you will be taking out the policy for.
There are a number of inclusions in a policy that are pretty standard. The basics to look out for include: emergency hospital care, emergency dental treatment, emergency medical removal from the country, trip delays, lost luggage covers up to a set price and includes sending the luggage onwards. You may find some more expensive policies are more comprehensive and this may appeal to you, but if you do not think you need some of the inclusions, then you may be able to get a lower priced policy.
There are also some items that are not typically included in a travel insurance policy. It is common for pre existing conditions to be excluded. If you do have some condition that you need covered, you will have to find out whether the company will insure you. If they do, you may have to pay an extra fee. Extreme sports are not usually covered by insurance companies. Pregnancy, mental illness and self harm incidents are also unlikely to be covered.
Before you pick the international travel medical insurance that you are going to go with you should look carefully at all the options. Most vacations go smoothly and you do not need to make a claim. But, and this is a big but, if something does happen or you get sick overseas you want to have the support and backing of your travel insurance to give you peace of mind.
Dan Pucher Insurance is an independent Travel Health Insurance Broker offering personal and corporate solutions. When looking for Visitors to Canada Insurance and information on Canada Travel Insurance please give us a call.