Monday, March 4, 2013

The Fix Is IN!

Before retiring from the Canadian army, I never really worried about travel insurance per say, as my leave pass would have covered me in the rare event that medical attention outside of the country was ever required. That said however, I still would have greatly benefited on several occasions due to missed connections, lost luggage, and the cost of pre-paid events that could not be recovered.  But hey, live and learn I guess! Fortunately enough for me though, I have never had to pay more than I could bare losing.
 
In this week’s insurance tip post, I am attaching a few links, one in particular of a previous CBC report, about a retired Canadian couple that was not quite so lucky. I am sure I could write for a week about why you absolutely need travel insurance these days, along with the million and one things to be aware of when buying it! If I have to sum it up in this short post though, I would say “Because the fix is in”, and has been for quite some time. With the ever rising instability of both political and environmental concerns, along with extreme cost cutting throughout the travel industry, if ever there was a time to have decent travel protection and your own advocate who has an invested interest in your well being, that time is definitely now!

Which company offers the best travel insurance?  Very subjective question that is, and usually depends on both the situation and the client. “What are my options?” is usually the first question I ask when buying for myself or recommending a client. If buying it here in the states, I would definitely go with Travel Safe or Travel Guard, but back home in Canada, RBC and Blue Cross offer good products as well. Since Travel Safe has recently become more competitive price wise than in the past, their pre-existing condition coverage, along with the cancel for any reason option, are pretty hard to beat in my opinion. For example, if you were to purchase coverage from one of the cruise lines instead, it will more than likely not only end up being far more expensive, you will likely end up with much less coverage than what some of those other companies might offer. Just don’t be naive about who the company is ultimately interested in protecting. Because once you take a close read of the contract that they make you sign before boarding the ship, you’ll soon understand that getting your coverage from them would be similar to buying Medical Insurance from a cigarette company! Expensive and ultimately useless.

Doesn’t my credit card cover me for that though? For some things it actually might (depending on the card of course), but 9 out of 10 times no, if your trying to claim anything to do with medical or weather. Regardless though, any insurance is better than none at all! On that note though, some great information in the links provided, have a great week!
 
 
 
 

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