Travel insurance for 1+ years for Canadians

I will be traveling in roughly 40 days and have already purchased travel insurance from Travel CUTS for 1 year. But I was wondering if anyone has a solution for travel insurance longer than 1 year? I intend to be gone longer than 1 year and have no real plan for how I will be covered. I might just stay not covered after that point because it is so hard/expensive to get insured.

I have noticed most UK/USA residents don't seem to have this problem but as a Canadian living in Saskatchewan I have had trouble finding providers that even sell insurance over 1 year. If you actually read there policies almost none sell to Canadians for over 365 days. And if they do then its for a much reduced coverage such as $20,000 instead of $1,000,000.

Some providers say they will insure you as long as your provincial health care is still active but I have talked to Saskatchewan health services and they will not extend there coverage after 1 year of being out of the country. Many Canadian providers don't even do over 183 days.

An example of this is the very popular World Nomads who says this on there FAQ for Canadians.

If you are traveling for an extended period of time, you would need to take out a 6 month policy initially and then extend for as long as you need, in increments of up to 6 months at a time. Please note that at present the maximum total duration we can insure you for on the one trip is 365 days and you should also hold valid provincial health cover for the duration of your extension. If you do not have valid provincial health cover for the full duration of your trip, your aggregate limit for all Emergency Medical and Dental Benefits will be CAD$20,000.

Any suggestions?

Can't say for Sask but in Ontario OHIP will give coverage for up to 2 yrs "extended vacation" out of the country, it isn't publicized much but available upon asking, might be checking into.

I used RBC insurance, was only away a year but pretty sure they will cover longer.

My 2 yr exemption runs out in Aug but health care here in El Salvador is so cheap (walk-in clinics free even to nonresidents)that not going to worry about it.

Ya, sadly it is 1 year here in Saskatchewan. I called basically every person in Regina who makes those decisions and got the same answer. I found this site that confirms that http://www.health.gov.sk.ca/away-from-saskatchewan.

You may retain limited coverage while away for the purposes of a vacation, visit, business engagement or employment up to one year provided you intend to return to Saskatchewan to live.

In all situations where you will be temporarily absent from the province for more than
three months, the Saskatchewan Ministry of Health requires you to let Saskatchewan Health Registration know.

Also I found the information about Ontario that does indeed say 2 years located here http://www.health.gov.on.ca/en/public/publications/ohip/travel.aspx.

How long will OHIP provide me with continuous coverage during a temporary extended absence?

Any Reason - Two-year terms (specific residency requirements must be met for 5 years between absences)

Which is good for you but still a problem for me. And a year into my travel I don't yet expect to be in a place were I will not be leaving in a month, so even if I was in say El Salvador, it would be a temporary solution.

Dustin, there is plan that can be purchased for 12 months and then renewed for another 12 months.

Here is the link to check it out; Plan Name Patriot America.

http://www.worldtravelcenter.com/eng/in ... =bootsnall

Let me know if this is helpful.

Ya that one is not to bad. It doesn't appear to involve itself with provincial health care at all. Rather expensive though, for 365 days with no deductible for $1,000,000 it is 3 times the cost of the insurance I ended up getting. It's only real value is that it can be extended for an additional 365 days.

It's basically what I was looking for but I guess I was hoping for a cheaper option like people in the states have.

This may be late for the initial discussion but late arrivals may find it useful.
In Australian where I live, many of the banks will supply travel insurance as part of their high value credit card packages. If you take out a credit card then some of the bonuses they throw in is travel insurance at NO COST.

Might be an idea to ask your local bank...where ever you are.

Sultans1005 wrote:This may be late for the initial discussion but late arrivals may find it useful.
In Australian where I live, many of the banks will supply travel insurance as part of their high value credit card packages. If you take out a credit card then some of the bonuses they throw in is travel insurance at NO COST.

Might be an idea to ask your local bank...where ever you are.

Make sure to check the fine print as in Canada, the cc's limit the coverage to trips of 30 days maximum.

I'd recommend checking out travelinsurance.ca

This is the company my brother went with, when he was backpacking around South America 2 years ago. Even though it was a few years ago, I still think it might be worth checking out, assuming their rates have stayed the same.

Cheers,

Mark

I recommend Generali. I've had a claim with them once and believe me that's when you find out if your insurer is good. This one is. To be exact I've rented it out with Sixt Mallorca and had a little fender bender and that issue took 1 phone call to solve.

If it were me, I’d just go at the reduced rate. I seriously doubt that something tragic will happen to you, well not to the tune of $100,000, but I guess it depends on the individual. However you feel about it.