Why And How To Choose International Travel Medical Insurance
February 11, 2010 - Posted in travel
If you are planning your trip to Canada or any other overseas location, then you are probably more occupied with planning your activities and hotels than thinking about your travel insurance. Chances are that you will not need to have international travel medical insurance, but if something does go wrong the small investment in your health can save you a lot of problems.
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.
The complicated bit about choosing the right travel insurance for your Canadian vacation or other overseas journey is comparing what type of incidents are covered with the policy. There is a great degree of variability between what is covered with different policies as well as the amounts that you are covered 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 take out your international travel medical insurance you should check all the details of the policy that you are considering. You do not want to be caught out and have your vacation ruined by unforeseen costs.
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.