International Travel Medical Insurance

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.

Insurance can cover the unexpected and give you peace as mind as you travel around, but knowing which insurance policy to choose can be a touch confusing. Getting the best insurance usually involves doing a bit of research and getting your head around all the inclusions and exclusions to compare them to the premiums charged.

Some policies may offer you some insurance already on overseas trips, so it is worth looking into what you already have before looking into separate policies. When you have decided the level of cover that you need you can research the products available. Most policies base the premium on the length of the trip, or on a percent of the complete price of the vacation.

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.

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 a number of things that are normally excluded from travel insurance and you should be conscious of them before signing on with any policy. They generally are: pre-existing medical conditions, being pregnant, extreme sports such as diving and mountaineering or rock climbing, self caused harm, mental illnesses. With pre-existing conditions you may be still able to receive coverage with further medical back up or by paying a higher premium than those that do not have such a condition.

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.