TRAVEL INSURANCE

Traveling in or out of Canada?

Make sure you are protected and get your travel insurance now.

Do not leave home uninsured!!!

Our insurance covers:

- EMERGENCY MEDICAL INSURANCE
- TRIP INTERRUPTION
- LOST BAGGAGE & PERSONAL EFFECTS
- ILLNESS IN THE FAMILY
- FLIGHT ACCIDENT
- TRAVEL ACCIDENT

Insurance Information Links:
Travel Insurance Packages
Insurance for Canada and United States by RBC Insurance

The only thing worse than an accident while on vacation is having no insurance in an emergency.  Travel insurance is a fraction of the cost of your vacation. Small procedures can cost thousands of dollars. Did you know most medical plans that cover you out-of-country require you to pay up front for all services? What if you get hurt before you travel? Trip cancellation insurance can cover you for your illness, your traveling partner(s)', your children's' or your parents' illnesses. A death in the family can cause you to miss your trip or cut it short. Costs incurred at destination if someone becomes ill. Repatriation.  All are costs that are often unfordable. We sell RBC insurance and I don't travel without it. Let one of our travel agents talk to you about insurance before you travel.

Some common misconceptions about travel health insurance

My provincial Canadian health care will cover me.

As soon as you leave Canada, your provincial health care plans, for example OHIP in Ontario, does not cover you. In fact, some things are not even covered when you travel to a different province. Provincial government and employee health plans are not designed to cover everything and may limit reimbursement for expenses such as air ambulance service, prescription drugs and X-rays. Canadians should definitely be aware of the coverage provided by their provincial and employee health plans when planning a trip anywhere outside their home province or territory and purchase travel health insurance. A broken leg and a few days in the hospital in the United States or elsewhere may cost you $20,000 out of your own pocket. Pay $100 now for the travel health insurance or take the risk and be in debt for $20,000? The choice is yours.

I will take the chance and just charge it to my credit card.

Obtaining health care in some parts of the world can be tricky. Some hospitals won't provide any treatment--or won't allow a patient to be discharged--until the hospital has received a guarantee of payment. This means you'll have to pay in advance, perhaps as much as tens of thousands of dollars, with your credit card. Of course, for this to work the hospital must accept foreign credit cards and your card must have a sufficient credit limit.  In addition, remember that leaving your destination for a place with higher quality medical care or to return home where your regular insurance is accepted--can be difficult and extremely costly to arrange. Emergencies are rare but everyone should have a contingency plan and travel health insurance from your travel insurance company which provides just that.

If I cancel my trip, the travel company, airline, cruise line etc will refund my money.

Trip cancellation insurance is also an very important coverage to have from your travel insurance company. It may come as something of a revelation to find out that if for whatever reason you need to cancel your trip, most are 100% non refundable and you will lose the entire cost of your trip.  Check the fine print of your travel documents, you may be surprised but it is there. If you think the tour company or the airline will feel sorry for you and refund your tickets, I guarantee it will not happen. If they did this for everyone, they would quickly be out of business.

The following real-life scenarios provided by Travel Guard Insurance Company, demonstrate the necessity of purchasing travel insurance:

Medical Emergency: A 50-year old woman collapses aboard a cruise ship in the Caribbean. The ship's doctor recommends she be taken to the nearest island hospital at the next port of call where very little English is spoken.  The hospital expenses, emergency air ambulance home and additional emergency air transportation home for her family members cost $50,000. The lost portion of the pre-paid cruise is valued at $10,000. Her provincial health insurance plan only reimburses $2,000.  With Travel Guard trip interruption and emergency accident and sickness benefits, not only are all these expenses and losses covered, their multi-lingual emergency assistance counselors work with the attending physician and family physician to organize the best possible care, air ambulance, family transportation and the securing of a hospital bed back home.