Do Your Snowbird Clients Have Adequate Insurance Coverage? Experts Say, Probably Not

Nov 15, 2013 | News

It’s that time of year again, when Canadian snowbirds head south, and should be thinking about what kind of medical coverage they’ll need in the United States. The problem, experts say, is many Canadians don’t want to consider the scary possibility that they may face a catastrophic medical emergency and need to be treated in a U.S. hospital.

According to a recent survey conducted for TD Insurance, only about half of Canadians aged 50 and over bother to check their coverage before leaving for vacation, and only 16 per cent call their insurance provider to determine if they need to update their policy.

Are you reviewing your clients’ travel insurance need this time of year? In addition to travel health insurance, its important to review homeowners and vehicle policies as well.

When buying insurance, consumers should take care to know what they are covered for and what they are not – high risk activities, for instance. And they should declare pre-existing medical conditions, which could cause them to have their claim rejected.

“The horror stories I’ve heard usually have to do with people who purchase insurance and think they are covered only to find out their claim is being denied because they did not disclose a medical condition they had before travelling,” says Dave Minor, a vice president responsible for life and health insurance at TD.

Canadians are accustomed to not worrying about who pays the medical bills; all they need to be concerned about is recovery. In the United States, hospital bills can run as high as $15,000 a day. At that rate, it doesn’t take much time to get into serious money.

David Redekop, the principal research associate at the Conference Board, says the issue of Canadians travelling to the U.S., or really any country, without insurance is much more prevalent among ordinary vacationers than so-called snowbirds.

The risk-takers are the day-trippers or those who only go for a week or two of sun, beach and golf.

There is a strong market for Canadian insurance agents to provide coverage for snowbirds. About 1.3 million snowbirds travelled south last year and took out about $200-million on insurance premiums, with the average individual premium about $700, according to Redekop’s research. The amount was almost double that for those 65 years and over staying three months or more.

There are other forms of coverage snowbirds should consider before leaving.

Many home insurance policies do not specifically cover incidents such as burst pipes, unless the homeowner has made arrangements with a neighbour or friend to regularly check the home, or they have an alarm system.

Most auto insurance policies will cover snowbirds driving their own vehicle in the U.S., but Minor says they should make sure their liability ceiling is high enough for the American court system. He recommends up to $2-million.

Insurance agents can learn more to guide their snowbird clients with ILScorp’s new homeowners policy courses as well as ICBC Autoplan and Ontario Auto Expert courses. And now, ILS is offering new Errors and Omissions courses as part of our Life / A&S insurance bundle.