we have a very important topic to talk to you about today it is the importance
of why you need travel insurance now a lot of people don't think about travel
insurance when they're when they're heading out on even a short trip or a
long trip really but we're here to tell you that you definitely need it and we
know from firsthand experience
yeah Dave broke his back in the Amazon a couple of
years ago yes he did and if we didn't have insurance it would have cost us
well over $100,000 and we'd still be paying that sucker off right now but
because we have travel insurance we had medical evacuation we have hospital
stays covered we had x-rays and CT scans everything was covered and we I had it
all under our insurance otherwise if we didn't we either a would have been
paying all of that in a pocket or even worse what many people do is think well
maybe it's not so bad maybe he just has a really badly bruised back for
everything and maybe we'll just try and get ourselves back to Canada it wouldn't
have worked he had a broken back you broke two vertebrae in your back and
thank God for health insurance because you have a full recovery I did I'm
standing here today though most people think oh well that'll never happen to me
I'm not gonna break my back you know did you do it doing some adventure obviously
cuz we're adventures no all I was doing was stepping into a boat and I happened
to slip and fall backwards and hit my back on a metal stair so it can happen
doing anything anywhere that's why it's great to have the best coverage when
you're away you don't want to be stuck with those medical bills like Deb said
for the rest of your life and it doesn't have to be something also
it doesn't have to be something that is super serious you know I know this
happened to Deb brother he was down in Florida you know dad down in the US and
he slipped and broke his fall with his hands you know didn't hurt anything but
about an hour later his wrist wrist all swelled up and he had to go to the
hospital to get it looked at and if he didn't have medical insurance we all
know what the cost can be in the US and he was covered so even though he was
just going to Florida for a short amount of time he understood the importance of
having travel insurance no matter what the length or where you're going of your
what destination your trip is in too many people think oh it's just a short
trip nothing will happen well things do happen Dave and I can
vouch that things happen all the time when we least expect it when we're
climbing or kayaking or doing some treks in the outback
nothing ever happens to us no but whatever we're just in the city or doing
something mundane that's when it seems like we hurt ourselves we never worry
about how much it's going to cost us the minute we feel something an ailment or
sick or hurt ourselves we go to a doctor overseas and we make sure that it's
better so let's talk about a few of the misconceptions that people think of why
they don't need health insurance or travel insurance one thing people think
is that oh I'm covered as long as I got that travel insurance with my credit
card not always so we always recommend for people to check the fine print read
see what's covered a lot of people don't do this and you don't want to be in a
destination and have to use it and find out you're not covered
we recommend buying supplemental insurance on top of your credit card
insurance because just then you know what you're covered for and you don't
have to worry about things so reading that fine print buying a little bit of
extra coverage especially we're doing a longer trip is well worth the cost a lot
of people think they have coverage with their company at work or with their home
province or state that's not the case most of the time the minute you step
foot out of the country or even out of your province or state you are not
covered so you want to make sure you find out about that and the coverage
that you need to get you want to make sure that you have emergency evacuation
insurance that's really important if you have a severe injury you need to get out
of there and get on an air ambulance and get home or get to a facility that can
take care of you when Dave broke his back in the Amazon we were in the middle
of the jungle and he had to spend some time in a little tiny jungle hospital
that did not have the facilities and things No thank God we had that air
ambulance insurance that could take him on a stretcher back to Canada where he
could get the health that he needed
now a lot of people say oh I don't need trip cancellation or trip interruption
insurance well this is something else you should have as well especially if
you're going on a longer term trip if you're doing something a little bit
short where the cost isn't that big I wouldn't really worry about it but if
you're doing a longer trip I would definitely recommend it because if
something comes up a medical emergency or anything like that you can get your
flights and everything refunded which is which is a great thing especially if
you've dished out you know five to ten thousand dollars you don't want to eat
that money so it'll be covered under your insurance you also want to make
sure what kind of coverage you are covered for do you have a private
hospital room do you have hotels covered do you have food covered that's all
really important when you if when you have your loved one in the hospital when
dave was injured I didn't have to worry about the extra days I was spending in
in Peru or the extra money I'd be spending on a hotel or food everything
was covered all prescriptions were covered and the great thing about a lot
of those flights the medical evacuation insurance if you don't even have to pay
for that that money goes into paperwork and goes right to the insurance company
so you don't have to fork out fifty to one hundred thousand dollars right then
and there who be happy about that yeah now baggage insurance is another thing
that people don't really think about it a lot of times it is included in your
credit card insurance or in your travel insurance policy but again it's always
good to check the fine print it's a really good thing to have because if
your bags get lost or they get stolen or they don't get there in time then you
have that insurance where you can go out and buy clothes and and toiletries and
all those things that you that you need to they actually find your bags or you
know to get you to the store when you do have a medical emergency you want to
make sure that you have all of your paperwork in order Dave wouldn't really
know about this then he was on a lot of drugs when we were in Peru he was really
really in badging but I had a lot of work that I had to do I had to gather up
all the paperwork I had to make sure that I called my insurance company
before anything happened and luckily there was a satellite phone on the ship
we were on I called American Express was who we we used and I said my husband has
had a bad fall I need to know what I'm covered for and if you can't get on the
phone beforehand you have to do it right away soon as you get to the hospital
make sure you get on the phone to your insurance company a good insurance
company will be on there telling what you what you're covered for telling you
what paperwork you need I needed to get all of his x-rays all of his doctor's
notes everything that he possibly had all of his prescriptions and another
great thing that insurance companies offer our translators a lot of times you
can do the basic conversation with people when you're in a country but you
can't do the really important things so having a translator come to help you out
set things up and gather what you need is invaluable so as you can see we are
true believers in travel insurance we have used our insurance a lot we've had
a motorcycle accident in Thailand I've had a knee infection a very bad blood
infection in Africa gave absolutely broke his back in Peru and we've always
had travel insurance we've never had to worry about going broke because we get
sick when we're travelling so we highly recommend you getting it it's very
little money for a lot of peace of mind so before you head out on your next trip
make sure to call your insurance provider or your credit card see what
you're covered for and make sure you have all the right covers before you
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