Taking A Road Trip To The U.S? Why You Need Trip Insurance For Cross-Border Trips
Planning A Car Trip To The U.S?
Are you planning a road trip to the United States? As the holiday season is coming in a few months time, undoubtedly there will be many of you planning to drive to the U.S to avail of great shopping opportunities or festive weekend getaway travel deals.
Each year, millions of Canadians travel across the border by car to the United States. Due to the interdependent relationship that Canada and the U.S maintain, this makes cross-border travel easy and we often do it without having a second thought. According to Statistics Canada, between January and May of this year, 18.1 million trips made to the United States were by Canadians. Yet, how many of those taking cross-border trips cover themselves for travel and medical before leaving Canada? The answer is not very many.
Taking out travel insurance for cross-border trips is just as important as it is when vacationing for two weeks abroad in Europe. Although it may be tempting to save a little money, next time you are travelling to the U.S via car it is worth considering otherwise.
Reasons That You Need Coverage For A Short Trip
A common myth that individuals often believe is that travel insurance is only needed in cases when you are flying on a long-haul trip or when you will be abroad for a significant period of time. But even if you are on a short trip, you still face the same risks as you would when going on vacation.
Although you may not consider it, when you go on a cross-border shopping trip to New York or Seattle there is always a possibility that you may have an accident, get injured or your personal belongings could get stolen or damaged. As awful as it may be to think about, there is always a risk of an unfortunate event happening even if you are not far from home.
Remember, provincial Canadian health care programs such as the OHIP and the AHCIP do not extend their full coverage when you are travelling to the United States. Therefore, if you have an accident which requires you to have emergency medical attention, your universal health coverage will not cover you for all medical expenses.
Without a travel insurance policy, a cross-border shopping trip could end up costing you more than you bargained for.
Stories From Cross-Border Travel Mishaps
In recent years, there have been case studies from individuals who had medical emergencies and travel mishaps when on a cross-border trip who later were required to pay extensive health care fees and additional expenses due to not having travel coverage.
One such story is of a woman from Ontario who made a cross-border trip via car to Buffalo with the intention of spending a day shopping and visiting family. During her day trip, she suffered a stroke although she displayed no signs of being ill beforehand. Due to her critical condition, she could not be transferred to a Canadian hospital. Sadly, she passed away a few days later in a local hospital in Buffalo. Without trip insurance, her family were then faced with paying a $150,000 medical bill.
Another case study involved a group of friends who decided to go on a road trip to Detroit for a weekend getaway. While out exploring the city, the accommodation that they were staying in was broken into. Two had personal items from their luggage stolen including expensive jewellery. While another had a new Mac laptop taken. As the accommodation clearly stated that personal belongings were to be locked in the safe provided and nobody had insurance coverage, these individuals faced unnecessary additional expenses.