Substitute Insurance

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.

It is a no brainer to take out the insurance, but you might find it confusing knowing which company to go with. In order to choose insurance that is right for you, you will need to do some research. There are some existing policies that you may have that include travel insurance and some credit card companies also have this service.

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.

Basically there are four types of international travel medical insurance: short term or single trip coverage policies, long term or multiple stop trips of up to 12 months, expatriate covers people living overseas and foreign national covers people that are resident of the United States, but not 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.

Some of the inclusions that are usually included with different policies are: emergency medical care, emergency dental care, medical evacuation (covers the cost of transporting you to the nearest hospital equipped to handle your medical emergency), trip cancellation or delay, lost or delayed baggage up to a set amount. It is worth weighing up the likelihood of different conditions and events and you may be able to make realistic cutbacks on inclusions to save some money.

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 settle on the international travel medical insurance coverage that you are going to take out, there are a couple of factors which will affect which insurance policy is the right one for you. You need to consider – the length of your trip, your destination, participation in high-risk sports, your general health. Always check up on the fine details and be clear about what you have covered and how to go about making a claim. Travel insurance can make all the difference between a stress free holiday and a disastrous one.

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.