Title: THIA Urges Insurance Cover for Hurricane Season
TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - July 6, 2011) - With the 2011 hurricane
season heating up, the Travel Health Insurance Association of Canada
(THIA) urges all vacationers heading to the southern and eastern United
States, or into the Caribbean region, to obtain trip-cancellation/interruption
insurance to protect against the possibility of storms wiping out their
travel investments.
David Hartman, president of THIA, says that trip cancellation/interruption
policies helped many thousands of travellers affected by volcanic ash
disruptions in Europe last year and more recently in Australia and
New Zealand. \"Since then, trip cancellation insurance has become an
essential component of insurance coverage for experienced travellers
and could be just as effective for vacationers impacted by tropical
storms over the next several months,\" he adds.
Traditionally, hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 30, with
the peak occurring during August and September, although major storms
have also caused considerable personal and property damage in July
and October in recent years.
Mr. Hartman emphasizes that trip cancellation/interruption policies
are specifically designed to reimburse travellers for monetary losses
due to trips, tours or services cancelled, delayed or interrupted because
of unforeseen natural events such as bad weather, volcanic eruptions,
earthquakes, wild fires, even man-made civil disturbances such as those
that occurred in Egypt earlier this year.
Trip cancellation/interruption insurance normally covers:
* The prepaid, non-refundable portions of airfares, tours, hotel or
resort fees, or other cancelled or interrupted trip events or services,
up to limits specified in each policy.
* Accommodation, meal, telephone, ground transportation and other out-of-pocket
costs for travellers stranded or delayed by missed flights or rerouting
of cruise ships due to weather or other unexpected contingencies.
* 24/7 emergency assistance to help insured travellers disrupted by
natural or man-made events get home safely and as quickly as possible.
* Baggage and other personal items lost to storms or other unforeseeable
disruptions.
Most travel insurers in Canada offer either stand-alone trip cancellation
policies or include such benefits in comprehensive travel health insurance
plans, says Mr. Hartman. But he cautions that plans differ, they have
limits on the amounts and the events they will cover, and travellers
need to understand their policies and discuss them with their travel
insurance advisors.
He also notes that trip cancellation/interruption plans need to be
bought concurrently with trip purchases or very shortly thereafter.
Once hurricane warnings are posted by the U.S. National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) or by Canada's Department of Foreign
Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT), new trip cancellation policies
will not cover losses in the affected areas.
About THIA. THIA is the national organization representing travel insurers,
brokers, underwriters, re-insurers, emergency assistance companies,
air ambulance companies and allied services in the travel insurance
field. Its website is http://www.thiaonline.com/
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Seven Ways to Offer the Best Deal on Travel Insurance(Can-Am)
Seven Ways to Offer the Best Deal on Travel Insurance (Can-Am)
Everyone loves getting the best price on their hotel, car rental and airfare when they take a trip. But what about travel insurance? Here are seven easy ways we can help our clients save money on Manulife Travel Insurance when they are preparing for a trip – they’ll love having more left in their pocket to enjoy at their destination!
Save 50% with Travel Canada Savings
Heading to St. John’s or Saskatoon? Any Single-Trip Emergency Medical plan is half the standard out-of-country rate when all the travel is within Canada.
Save 5% with Travel Companion Savings for Any Emergency Medical Plan
Now that’s a good reason not to travel alone.
Family Coverage for Any Emergency Medical Plan
No matter how many dependent kids under the age of 21 (26 if they are full-time students) are travelling with our client, the premium cost for the entire family will equal just twice the premium of the oldest traveller under the age of 55. Isn’t it better to spend those dollars saved on building cherished family memories?
Savings Combinations, Too!
If our client is going on a great Canadian adventure with a friend, combine the Travel Companion Savings with the Travel Canada rates for even bigger savings. You can combine Family Coverage savings with Travel Canada savings, too!
Deductible Savings Options
As with car insurance, you can increase the deductible on single-trip and multi-trip emergency medical coverage for trips outside of Canada – the higher the deductible, the greater the savings. All Manulife Out-of-Province Travel Insurance plans include a $0 deductible – with all eligible expenses paid from dollar one. Can our client afford to pay $500 out of pocket? It would save them 15%. A $1,000 deductible? That’s a 20% savings.
Travel Often?
Offering economical Multi-Trip Coverage can save our client time and money, plus provide the convenience, value and flexibility that comes with knowing any trip they plan over the year is already taken care of. And a Multi-Trip Plan allows unlimited travel within Canada to other provinces or territories!
And don’t forget Top-Up!
Our client may already have coverage under their group insurance plan or their credit card. Find out how long they are covered, and use the Top-Up option to extend coverage for as long as they need it – with no money wasted on ‘double coverage.’¹
¹ It is the client’s responsibility to confirm that a Top-Up is permitted on the existing plan with no loss of coverage.
Conditions, Exclusions and Limitations may apply.
Quoted by the website of The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company (Manulife Financial).
Friday, September 24, 2010
Message from Dr Michael Moreton
TRAVEL INSURANCE
Your vacation is coming up; it’s all so exciting you can hardly sit still. Passports found and checked, flights booked and confirmed, hotels selected and reservations made, clothes chosen and packed, travelers cheques purchased, arrangements made for friends to feed the dog and check your house.
Is there anything you have forgotten? What about Travel Insurance? Oh sure, travel insurance, that’s dull stuff, do you really need that? You’ve never lost a bag and you have a good feeling about things, there is no need for Travel Insurance.
WRONG! There is a very definite need for Travel Insurance and the need is much greater for Canadians than for many other people and yet many travelers are very casual about obtaining it.
Travel Insurance covers many eventualities. If your flight is cancelled and you are stranded or if your bag is missing and you are in a strange place without even a toothbrush, the insurance will help to defray your expenses.
These, however, are not the most important or expensive eventualities that are covered. The most important is Health Care Insurance for Canadians abroad or expatriate while you are out of the country.
British travelers are more casual about purchasing this type of insurance than are Americans or Europeans. The NHS, with all its faults, is always there for you and many people rarely think about private Health Insurance. This is spite of the fact that your NHS coverage is of no help when you are out of the country.
The concept of the ‘uninsured patient” is not part of the British, Canadian, Australian or New Zealand experience. Neither is the phenomenon of patients being turned away from hospitals as they have no insurance or cannot document their coverage. But if you are taken ill or injured in a foreign country and you do not have travel insurance you are an uninsured patient and may have trouble getting care.
Robert Jackson was looking forward to his visit to South East Asia. He spent several months planning his trip. Reading the history of the countries that he would visit and creating a demanding schedule for himself. He was planning to travel to the less visited areas in Northern Thailand and visit as many of the holy sites as he could cram into his schedule. He had not had any serious illness for several years and his Family Doctor and the local NHS hospital had taken care of all his minor Health problems. He did not obtain any travel insurance.
He had many plans but not planning on visiting the Intensive Care Unit of a Bangkok Hospital, he was not planning on spending over forty-eight hours unconscious, he was not planning on multiple surgeries, neither was he planning on intensive rehabilitation, but that is just what he got.
In spite of the fact that he was not too agile and had never ridden a motor-bike in over ten years, he decided to rent a motor bike and ride around the back roads in Thailand. A truck that he was following too closely suddenly braked. Robert flew through the air and landed on his face in the road. Fortunately he was transported into the city quickly and brought to the Bangkok Hospital Medical Center, a tertiary care JCI Accredited facility. As he was unconscious he was admitted to the Neurological Intensive Care unit.
His family was contacted and consent for treatment obtained. They were not aware if Robert had any private Health Insurance and were reluctant to guarantee payment for the care. In spite of this he received excellent care and is now on his way to full recovery after multiple surgeries for his facial fractures and skin grafting to other wounds. He was obliged to take out a considerable bank loan to cover his care.
Melanie Albert was working as a volunteer in a children’s care home in Cambodia. After eating a very spicy dinner one evening she started to have abdominal pain. Thinking it was indigestion she initially ignored the pain but by the following morning realized that this might be something more serious than an upset stomach. She had not obtained any insurance when she left Canada and naively thought that the province would cover her medical expenses while out of the country. After been seen in the clinic she was flown to Bangkok. A diagnosis of Appendicitis was made and she had an operation on the same day. Her family came out from Canada and were able to have funds transferred to cover the cost of her care.
She was particularly fortunate as she was able to get to Bangkok on a commercial flight. If she had needed to have a special air-ambulance the cost would have been enormous. One of the features that is always included in Travel Insurance is Evacuation Insurance, this covers the cost of you being transported to a good medical center close to your accident or where you were taken ill.
It also covers the expense of getting you home after treatment has reached that point that you are ready to travel. Recently another British patient needed to be transported back to Canada after Surgery and Intensive Care treatment for a collapsed lung which happened quite spontaneously and without warning.
He needed a nurse and a doctor to travel with him as he was taking anti-coagulants and there was the possibility that he might need extra oxygen on the flight. He was flown from Bangkok to London; he traveled Business class with his two attendants. Luckily he had good coverage for this very expensive journey.
These three patients were all fit young people with no previous medical illnesses who had no reason to believe that they would need hospital care during their vacation. That is the whole point about Insurance it is there to help you when the unexpected happens
Travel Insurance is surprisingly inexpensive and for a young person may be as little as $25 for a three week vacation. I would suggest that you purchase this before you leave home. The Information Center that the insurer provides can be very useful to you, as they will be able to direct you to the best Medical facility wherever you are in the world.
Whatever insurance you have, keep the details of the policy and call center number with you, on your person, at all times. I hope you have a wonderful trip and do not need any medical services, but it is best to plan for all eventualities.
Dr Michael Moreton trained as an Obstetrician and Gynecologist in Montreal, Canada. He practised in Ottawa, then in Beijing and Shanghai. He is the International Medical Coordinator at the Bangkok Hospital Medical Center. Bangkok, Thailand.
Moreton@bgh.co.th
Your vacation is coming up; it’s all so exciting you can hardly sit still. Passports found and checked, flights booked and confirmed, hotels selected and reservations made, clothes chosen and packed, travelers cheques purchased, arrangements made for friends to feed the dog and check your house.
Is there anything you have forgotten? What about Travel Insurance? Oh sure, travel insurance, that’s dull stuff, do you really need that? You’ve never lost a bag and you have a good feeling about things, there is no need for Travel Insurance.
WRONG! There is a very definite need for Travel Insurance and the need is much greater for Canadians than for many other people and yet many travelers are very casual about obtaining it.
Travel Insurance covers many eventualities. If your flight is cancelled and you are stranded or if your bag is missing and you are in a strange place without even a toothbrush, the insurance will help to defray your expenses.
These, however, are not the most important or expensive eventualities that are covered. The most important is Health Care Insurance for Canadians abroad or expatriate while you are out of the country.
British travelers are more casual about purchasing this type of insurance than are Americans or Europeans. The NHS, with all its faults, is always there for you and many people rarely think about private Health Insurance. This is spite of the fact that your NHS coverage is of no help when you are out of the country.
The concept of the ‘uninsured patient” is not part of the British, Canadian, Australian or New Zealand experience. Neither is the phenomenon of patients being turned away from hospitals as they have no insurance or cannot document their coverage. But if you are taken ill or injured in a foreign country and you do not have travel insurance you are an uninsured patient and may have trouble getting care.
Robert Jackson was looking forward to his visit to South East Asia. He spent several months planning his trip. Reading the history of the countries that he would visit and creating a demanding schedule for himself. He was planning to travel to the less visited areas in Northern Thailand and visit as many of the holy sites as he could cram into his schedule. He had not had any serious illness for several years and his Family Doctor and the local NHS hospital had taken care of all his minor Health problems. He did not obtain any travel insurance.
He had many plans but not planning on visiting the Intensive Care Unit of a Bangkok Hospital, he was not planning on spending over forty-eight hours unconscious, he was not planning on multiple surgeries, neither was he planning on intensive rehabilitation, but that is just what he got.
In spite of the fact that he was not too agile and had never ridden a motor-bike in over ten years, he decided to rent a motor bike and ride around the back roads in Thailand. A truck that he was following too closely suddenly braked. Robert flew through the air and landed on his face in the road. Fortunately he was transported into the city quickly and brought to the Bangkok Hospital Medical Center, a tertiary care JCI Accredited facility. As he was unconscious he was admitted to the Neurological Intensive Care unit.
His family was contacted and consent for treatment obtained. They were not aware if Robert had any private Health Insurance and were reluctant to guarantee payment for the care. In spite of this he received excellent care and is now on his way to full recovery after multiple surgeries for his facial fractures and skin grafting to other wounds. He was obliged to take out a considerable bank loan to cover his care.
Melanie Albert was working as a volunteer in a children’s care home in Cambodia. After eating a very spicy dinner one evening she started to have abdominal pain. Thinking it was indigestion she initially ignored the pain but by the following morning realized that this might be something more serious than an upset stomach. She had not obtained any insurance when she left Canada and naively thought that the province would cover her medical expenses while out of the country. After been seen in the clinic she was flown to Bangkok. A diagnosis of Appendicitis was made and she had an operation on the same day. Her family came out from Canada and were able to have funds transferred to cover the cost of her care.
She was particularly fortunate as she was able to get to Bangkok on a commercial flight. If she had needed to have a special air-ambulance the cost would have been enormous. One of the features that is always included in Travel Insurance is Evacuation Insurance, this covers the cost of you being transported to a good medical center close to your accident or where you were taken ill.
It also covers the expense of getting you home after treatment has reached that point that you are ready to travel. Recently another British patient needed to be transported back to Canada after Surgery and Intensive Care treatment for a collapsed lung which happened quite spontaneously and without warning.
He needed a nurse and a doctor to travel with him as he was taking anti-coagulants and there was the possibility that he might need extra oxygen on the flight. He was flown from Bangkok to London; he traveled Business class with his two attendants. Luckily he had good coverage for this very expensive journey.
These three patients were all fit young people with no previous medical illnesses who had no reason to believe that they would need hospital care during their vacation. That is the whole point about Insurance it is there to help you when the unexpected happens
Travel Insurance is surprisingly inexpensive and for a young person may be as little as $25 for a three week vacation. I would suggest that you purchase this before you leave home. The Information Center that the insurer provides can be very useful to you, as they will be able to direct you to the best Medical facility wherever you are in the world.
Whatever insurance you have, keep the details of the policy and call center number with you, on your person, at all times. I hope you have a wonderful trip and do not need any medical services, but it is best to plan for all eventualities.
Dr Michael Moreton trained as an Obstetrician and Gynecologist in Montreal, Canada. He practised in Ottawa, then in Beijing and Shanghai. He is the International Medical Coordinator at the Bangkok Hospital Medical Center. Bangkok, Thailand.
Moreton@bgh.co.th
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Iceland Volcano Eruption Update
We are aware of the Eyjafjallajökull eruption in Iceland. This natural disaster has created an ash cloud over much of Europe which has led to the biggest travel disruption since 9/11, with flight cancellations quickly spreading across the globe from Australia and Asia to the Americas.
The European Union has not yet determined how long flight restrictions will last as they continue to send test planes at various altitudes to assess whether or not it is safe to fly. The ash, composed of superfine particulate matter, can seize up jet engines, making air travel impossible anywhere in the ash plume.
In many cases clients who have purchased Trip Cancellation & Interruption policies will be covered. Clients are encouraged to submit their claim with the necessary information so that their claim can be properly adjudicated.
If you have any further questions we advise you to contact our 24/7 Emergency Travel Assistance line at 1-800-995-1662.
The European Union has not yet determined how long flight restrictions will last as they continue to send test planes at various altitudes to assess whether or not it is safe to fly. The ash, composed of superfine particulate matter, can seize up jet engines, making air travel impossible anywhere in the ash plume.
In many cases clients who have purchased Trip Cancellation & Interruption policies will be covered. Clients are encouraged to submit their claim with the necessary information so that their claim can be properly adjudicated.
If you have any further questions we advise you to contact our 24/7 Emergency Travel Assistance line at 1-800-995-1662.
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Medical insurance for Canadians abroad
If you are Canadian citizen abroad without any emergency medical insurance, you can still apply for a medical insurance without any problems. Just apply for Medical Insurance for Canadians abroad or expatriate. If you have any questions, contact Bridges International Insurance Services
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Affliate Program - Canadians organizations
As Bridges International has expanded travel insurance business, now we have Canadian travel insurance affiliate program. Please contact us if you would be interested in our Canadian travel insurance affiliate program. See at Affiliate for Canadian travel insurance. We provide you an affiliate page like this once you sign up.
Thank you,
Thank you,
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Trip to USA is cheaper now.
Hello!
With the Strength of the Loonie - trips across the boarder just got cheaper!
According to Statistics Canada, Canadians took 3.3 million trips across the border to the US in August, up 7.9 percent from July. The average exchange rate for the month of August was around 0.91 USD. With exchange rates now even higher, on average 0.95 USD during October, trips to the US are sure to be popular this winter.
Many of your friends may be planning:
• Cross-border shopping trips
• Sun destination vacations
• Bargain getaways
• Family visits over the holidays
With more trips across the border anticipated over the coming months, take the time to remind your friends about:
• Passport regulations – since June 1st 2009, passports are a requirement at the border • Travel insurance – did you know US hospital costs can exceed $10,000 a day?
If Canadians are travelling, then travel insurance is going to be in the cards. No matter what type of trip your clients are planning. Events including the global pandemic H1N1 are increasing consumer awareness about travel insurance. Make sure to ask your clients about their upcoming travel plans. As always, I look forward to your questions and feedback.
Don't forget Canadian Travel Insurance
With the Strength of the Loonie - trips across the boarder just got cheaper!
According to Statistics Canada, Canadians took 3.3 million trips across the border to the US in August, up 7.9 percent from July. The average exchange rate for the month of August was around 0.91 USD. With exchange rates now even higher, on average 0.95 USD during October, trips to the US are sure to be popular this winter.
Many of your friends may be planning:
• Cross-border shopping trips
• Sun destination vacations
• Bargain getaways
• Family visits over the holidays
With more trips across the border anticipated over the coming months, take the time to remind your friends about:
• Passport regulations – since June 1st 2009, passports are a requirement at the border • Travel insurance – did you know US hospital costs can exceed $10,000 a day?
If Canadians are travelling, then travel insurance is going to be in the cards. No matter what type of trip your clients are planning. Events including the global pandemic H1N1 are increasing consumer awareness about travel insurance. Make sure to ask your clients about their upcoming travel plans. As always, I look forward to your questions and feedback.
Don't forget Canadian Travel Insurance
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