Davlyn Financial is so excited to announce that an article by our very own David Reeve was featured in the July 2017 edition of Hespeler Village magazine.
We’re sharing the full article with you here so you can see the wisdom David shared with fellow Hespeler-ites:
Should You Buy Travel Insurance?
It’s 3am and my wife has just woken me from a deep sleep. It seems she has been having chest pains. “I think we need to go to the hospital” she says. I jump out of bed: where am I again? Oh yeah, I’m in a hotel, on vacation. We rush to the hospital and they run a series of tests: x-rays, cat scans etc. The results are inconclusive, so they run more tests. Eventually, we are told that everything is fine. It turns out my wife has a minor issue we can deal with when we are back home. It’s not a heart attack. I’m thanking my lucky stars, but then we are handed the bill: $10,000. The nurse asks how I would like to pay for that? Fortunately, we have insurance from a well-recognized brand name that covers everything, so we are not a penny out of pocket. But it could have been much different.
If you are planning on leaving the province of Ontario (no, you are not necessarily covered by OHIP in other Canadian provinces), travel insurance gives you a simple, affordable way to protect against the cost of an unexpected illness or injury that may occur on your trip.
OHIP may only reimburse a portion of your expenses, but a travel insurance package protects you, in many cases up to $10 million. Non-medical coverage may also be available, such as trip cancellation or interruption, and baggage loss.
I recently read that most people in North America are only one or two paychecks away from serious financial trouble. Yet I’m constantly surprised that we don’t protect ourselves when we go on vacation. I constantly hear of people spending thousands of dollars for their dream trip, sparing no expense so they can have an amazing time. I understand that. So why not ensure that you aren’t wiped out financially by spending a few percent more, often less than $100, for full coverage?
We have all hear stories about people who have gone on vacation, purchased travel insurance and the nasty insurance company refused their claim. That’s an urban myth. I say, as a broker with 23 years in the business, I have seen a lot. What I can tell you is that I have never seen a legitimate claim turned down. Not once.
However, some people try to beat the system. The conveniently forget to tell the insurance company about an existing ailment or condition. Then they appear shocked to find out that they are not covered. An example of this happened a few years ago:
A lady boarded an international flight against doctor’s orders, when she was over eight months pregnant. The baby was born during the flight and the lady was shocked when the travel insurance company refused her claim. It seems she didn’t tell them how advanced her pregnancy was, not did she tell them that she flew against doctor’s orders. Gee, I wonder why the insurance company said “no”?
Do you want to learn more about travel insurance? Contact your local financial advisor.
David Reeve is President of Davlyn Financial Services Inc., a local, family-run firm in Hespeler. Contact him at david@davlynfinancial.com for more information.
