Be Confident with your coverage!
Evaluating can be confusing...I make it easy!
Travel insurance – you get it everywhere, credit cards, extended health benefits, memberships. Each policy is different in its inclusions, trip cancellation, trip interruption and travel medical. So how can you be confident that the coverage you have will protect your family? Do you need to buy additional travel insurance?
Where to start?
As part of the planning process for your vacation ensuring you have travel insurance for you, your family and your money is essential. This doesn’t have to be a huge undertaking, when you do it once, a quick review will be all it takes for future trips. All companies offering insurance should be able to provide you a copy of the insurance policy. You also have a great resource available – your travel agent. A handy website for credit card coverage is insureye to give you details on what different credit cards offer.
It is worth it though? A single missed flight because your train was running late, might cost a family of 4 over $5,000.00 for new flights home. A single broken arm in the Bahamas will cost over $3,000.00 in medical bills. This definitely puts a dent in the vacation budget. So YES, checking your travel insurance coverage is important.
First place to start – Trip Cancellation
Trip Cancellation is for before your trip, but after you have spent your hard earned money! This coverage protects the money you have paid for deposits, by allowing cancellation in the event of something unexpected happening, such as loosing your job or getting sick and being unable to travel. Every policy has slightly different inclusions and exclusions, so be aware of these!
Three things to check with your Trip Cancellation coverage:
- How much have you paid before travelling? Does your policy have a maximum that is lower than this amount?
- Does your policy have a cancel for any reason?
- How many risks are covered in your trip cancellation covered?
Second – Medical Insurance
Accidents happen. Medical insurance ensures you don’t pay for that year after year after year. Surprisingly, Medical Travel Insurance is not expensive compared to what an accident may cost in medical bills. It makes sense you would at a minimum have medical coverage when travelling.
The three things to check about your Medical Travel Insurance coverage:
- Does your policy have a Canadian number to call in the event you need medical attention? You will want support in your native language.
- How many days is the coverage valid for?
- Does the policy include repatriation home?
Third – Trip Interruption
What is this, is the most common question I get regarding Trip Interruption insurance. This applies DURING your vacation. Should your train from regional France be delayed, which causes you to miss your flight from Paris to Vancouver, trip interruption will cover the costs to re-book your flight, overnight accommodation if required and an allowance for meals. Delays happen, ensure you don’t have out of pocket expenses.
The three things to check on your Trip Interruption coverage:
- Does the policy state minimum connection times before the coverage begins?
- Does the policy allow for early return home?
- Does the policy provide coverage for delayed luggage?
It may take a little time initially to determine your coverage, it does get easier though. Download my handy ‘What’s your Coverage’ worksheet to evaluate your current policies.