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7 things to consider when you buy travel insurance

While it’s not as exciting as choosing your hotel, or deciding which excursions you want to add on to your holiday, making sure you have adequate travel insurance for yourself and your family may be the most important decision you make.

Credit cards and travel agents offer insurance packages, but it’s important to have a thorough discussion about where you’re travelling to and what you’re planning to do, to make sure you have the right coverages in place. Here are 7 reasons why you should purchase separate travel insurance:

  1. Anytime, anywhere coverage—Not just your flight, not just a hospital stay…travel insurance protects you on your trip at any time and at any place. This includes medical and family emergencies, travel delays or theft.
  2. Provincial health care only goes so far—The provincial government health care plan provides only limited coverage for medical treatment and hospital costs outside of Canada—ambulance services, emergency dental treatment and prescription drugs may not be covered by some provincial health insurance plans.
  3. High-risk activities—There’s nothing better than learning something new while on holiday, like scuba diving in Hawaii. But check your policy before you book that lesson, or agree to learn from your new friend you met at the beach. Some activities won’t be covered unless they’re conducted by a company accredited by a known organization in that sport.
  4. Medication change—If you’ve had a prescription change for a medical condition—either increased, decreased, started or stopped—an insurer will consider you to have an “unstable medical condition” for which your treatment is changing. Consult the fine print for the time period after which the insurer will cover you for travel.
  5. Destination coverage—Many destinations are experiencing political upheaval. Check the policy to discover what the guidelines are for determining if your destination falls into that category.
  6. Unstable medical condition—Policies may not cover a traveller if they are travelling within a certain time period between a medical event, such as having chemotherapy treatment or heart surgery.
  7. Rental car protection—If you’ll be renting a car at your destination, you want to make sure the vehicle, your belongings and all passengers have adequate coverage.

Vacations can be expensive—not only do you want to protect your health, you want to protect the investment you’re making in your holiday. You can speak with one of our advisors at London Drugs Insurance Services to make sure you’ve considered every contingency, and can have complete peace of mind for your vacation. Visit LD Insurance at https://www.ldinsurance.ca/travel-insurance to get started!