Insurance – why you want it, but don’t.
It was embarrassing. I was in highschool, looking forwards to going down to Seattle with my first able-to-drive-without-adult-supervision friends for a little outlet shopping, and Mom refused to let me go unless everyone going had travel medical insurance. So we all paid the CAD$2.00 for one day’s coverage, went, and grumbled about how we didn’t even need to use it. But now, looking back, I see how right she was. That’s the whole point of having insurance, to have it but not use it. If you do have to use it, it means something horrible has happened, and nobody wants their vacation ruined. Plus - and take my word on this, I see it every day at work - all those unused insurance policies seem like a bargain the second you actually have to make a claim.
Here in Canada, we take a hell of a lot for granted. With our free medicare we can go the doctor or hospital any time we need to and only have to pay for the prescribed medication. But the second you cross any international boarder, all those luxuries are gone. Years ago we had a client who drove across the boarder to play golf in Blaine, Washington, when he had a heart attack. You could practically see Canada from where he was, and since he wasn’t going to the US for long, he didn’t worry about insurance. Then he got the bill for the medical treatment and ambulance transport back to Vancouver, and he had to mortgage his home to pay it off. Granted, that’s an extreme case, but no one wants to go into serious debt in exchange for their health. You shouldn’t have to trade one necessity for another.
Then there’s cancellation insurance, the most underrated of all policies. Nobody plans to cancel their vacation, if they did they wouldn’t have booked it in the first place. But nowadays pretty much everything in the travel world is at least partially nonrefundable, so if you do have to cancel, you’re going to pay for it. For the most part, cancellation insurance covers you if a serious medical condition pops up prior to your departure. Just deciding not to go is not covered. Some policies do offer “change of mind”, where, a certain number of days prior to departure you can cancel for any reason and claim back a percentage of your travel costs, but it’s never, ever, 100%. If you break up with your boyfriend or get into a fight with your roommate and just cannot imagine traveling with them anymore, the change of mind clause would kick in and you could at least recoup some of your costs. Once I had a honeymoon couple who called off their wedding right before it was supposed to take place, and were no longer speaking to one another. They had opted not to take the cancellation insurance because they figured hey, it’s their honeymoon, there’s no way they’re going to cancel. The bride ended up going on the vacation alone (most packages don’t allow name changes, so we couldn’t substitute a friend instead at that late date) while the groom stayed home and sued her to get his money back. Last I heard they were still in litigation.
Oh, and not getting your passport/entry visas in time is not covered by insurance. Ever. It’s considered your own fault for not getting the paperwork in sooner. If you find out you can’t get your passport in time enough days prior to departure the change of mind clause in your cancellation policy may help you get some of your cash back, but for the most part, you’re hooped.
And please, God, do not assume your credit card will cover you. Yes, some credit cards offer cancellation/medical insurance, particularly the higher-end platinum cards, but whatever you do, call the credit card company and double-check what coverage you have before you decline the optional insurance offered by the travel agency. Sometimes the credit card coverage is all that you need, but they’re notorious for having low limits on how much they will pay out in case of emergency, or restrictive age limits. One of my clients had relied on his Avion card for years without a problem, but when he did need to make a claim, he was told that, while his card did offer full coverage, he was a year older than the age limit, so he got no coverage at all. So please, please call your credit card company and make sure you know all the details before you rely on their insurance.
It hurts to add that extra CAD$200.00 or whatever to your already expensive trip. I know. But in comparison to the money and heartache that not having insurance can cause, it’s a small price to pay.
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