By Olivia Boodram
We have seen record temperatures dip below the freezing mark more times in the last 30 days than we have seen in last 30 years. With the ice storm, power outage, breaking trees, snow accumulation, freezing rain many Canadians (and I’m sure our neighbours in the northern States) have had enough of this winter already. Many of us would love to see more of the white stuff, by that we are talking about the sugary white, fine grains of sand on a beach.
But severe weather conditions have caused flights to be cancelled or delayed, which has consequently caused some significant upsets to some of the passengers travel/vacation plans. And besides the inconvenience of not getting to enjoy their vacation, for the full duration, there usually is some kind of financial set back to their agenda.
True story – Greg and Sandy were sitting on the tarmac at Toronto Pearson International Airport and both were anxiously awaiting their trip to San Francisco to board their cruise ship for their one month sailing trip to Hawaii, South Pacific, New Zealand and Australia. But their flight was cancelled. The plane was scheduled to land in Chicago, and due to severe weather conditions at this airport, other plans had to be arranged. They immediately called the insurance company to inform them of the trip interruption, which caused them to miss the cruise ship designated sail time. Arrangements were made to fly the couple to Hawaii, and put them up in a hotel, while they waited for the ship’s arrival in five days. They were refunded the money for hotel, meals and the five days they missed being on the cruise. All because they had – Trip Interruption/Trip Cancellation insurance.
Here are the main benefits of taking out Trip Interruption Trip Cancellation coverage:
- By having a trip interruption/cancellation plan you can travel with peace of mind
- Many of the plans will cover you if you should lose any of your luggage while traveling – baggage loss or damage coverage.
- Trip cancellation will cover the cost of your trip up to the insured amount if the trip is canceled due to sudden and/or unexpected reasons as defined in the policy.
- Trip Interruption will compensate you if you need to return home due to a sudden or unexpected emergency as defined in the policy.
- Coverage will protect you, should your trip be canceled due: to an act of nature, unexpected sickness, natural disaster, travel advisory, subpoena jury duty, involuntary job loss, missed connection, the non-issuanceof a travel visa, injury, and/or death for you, or your travelling companion (this extends to your immediate family or your travelling companion’s immediate family) and more*.
- A trip cancellation plan is recommended for all Canadian travelers.
Here is how the process works with most of the insurance carriers to make the claim go as smoothly as possible.
Call the company as early as possible, giving them your policy number, and the details of your situation. Make sure you get the name of the person you are speaking with and also their extension number. They should now be able to give you a reference number for your case, which you will use in any of your further communications. Most of the carriers are very efficient at following up with an email or through the mail. If however you have not received any communication in at least 2 weeks then follow up with them again. But remember if you are working with a Travel Insurance Specialist they are also a good source of reference and communication on your behalf.
*Review your policy for the definition and limits of the protection coverage.
This article is used for general discussion and informational purposes only. You should not act or rely on any information from this article without seeking the advice of a professional licensed advisor or representative. We strongly recommend doing your own due diligence regarding travel insurance matters.
