If things CAN go wrong, they WILL go wrong!- Murphys Law

So, Whether it is a business trip or a vacation with your family that youre eagerly looking forward to, it makes perfect sense to be prepared for situations that show up, out of the blue.

Travel Insurance: why

The cost-benefit ratio of rbc travel insurance packages tells it all. Emergency situations, especially when we are traveling, are far too demanding than normal situations in terms of both finances and logistics. We put so much into your trips/tours, in terms of planning, finances, time and most importantly, our DREAMS! Securing our trip with insurance is in fact, the first step towards realizing those dreams. Travel Insurance packages help us manage emergencies and all those unpleasant situations, which are very much a part of tour packages more efficiently. And, to do this, we just have to spend a few hundred dollars or less, while our tour finances are to the tune of several thousand dollars and emergency expenses may run into hundreds of thousands of dollars!

RBC Travel insurance

Travel Insurance Sector now offers a wide range of plans/products to its clients. With a number of players in the field, the products are competitively priced too. RBC Travel Insurance Company (Registered trademark of Royal Bank of Canada) is one such company with a range of such products in its palette. With a track record of 35 years and a client base of around 3 million a year, RBC Travel Insurance packages provide one of the best bargains one can get, when he/she plans to go in for travel insurance.

All the travel insurance plans offered by RBC

Travel Insurance provide 24x7 global access to assistance in case of emergencies. Clients are just a phone call away from the toll-free numbers or collect-call numbers provided by the company, no matter where they are at any given time. The company provides assistance in multiple languages, through Assured Assistance Inc., which may prove to be very essential when the client is traveling in places where few understand English. The Pay-Assist and Medirect services of the company take care of the clients financial and referral requirements respectively, during emergencies.

Products on offer

The packages offered by RBC travel insurance cover one or a few or all of the following risks:

Emergency Medical

Cancellation and Interruption

Flight Accident

Travel Accident

Baggage and Personal Effects.

The list below gives an idea about the packages offered by RBC Travel Insurance:

Deluxe package

Standard package

Travel within Canada package

TravelCare package

o The above packages insure you against all the five risks mentioned above.

Classic Medical plan covers Emergency Medical Risk

Non-medical Package covers all but the Emergency medical risk.

Visitors to Canada plan is dealt with separately below.

Cancellation and Interruption insurance protects you from 40 specific risks. This can either be purchased separately or as a standard feature with many of the packages mentioned above. This package has to be purchased within 48 hours of booking your tickets.

Travelcare packages

TravelCare packages are meant for persons aged 60 years and above. It comes in several slabs:

TravelCare Gold coverage

TravelCare Silver coverage

TravelCare Bronze coverage

TravelCare Health Select

These slabs, in turn have some sub-slabs also. Completion of medical questionnaire is mandatory for all the TravelCare plans. You can go in for the one that suits your requirements the most.

Visitors to canada plan

This is a package meant for all the following categories of persons:

Visitors to Canada, including those who are on valid student or work visa

New immigrants, who are yet to get governments health insurance coverage

Canadians, who are not eligible for governments health insurance coverage

There are 3 plans to choose from.

Standard Plan I: Coverage-$25000

Standard Plan II: Coverage-$50000

Deluxe Plan: Coverage-$150000

All the three plans cover:

emergency medical care

ground ambulance service

a return trip, home

Over and above these covers, the Deluxe Plan provides a Travel Accident Insurance of $25000; it covers the visitors for: death, dismemberment, loss (partial or complete) of sight, speech or hearing.

Additional benefit riders

Theres an option for availing more benefits or protection on single trip packages, of course with a little extra premium with RBCs Additional Benefits Riders. Even here, there are 2 options:

Additional Benefits Rider - Option 1 covers the following risks:

* Transportation on Same Class Benefit instead of Economy class.

* Under the Emergency Medical Insurance and Cancellation & Interruption Insurance, this option increases the Subsistence Allowance Benefit to a maximum of $5,000, with a daily maximum of $500. (Without this Additional Benefit Rider, the subsistence allowance with respect to Deluxe, TravelCare, Travel within Canada and Non-medical insurance is $3500, while Standard package gives $1750 as subsistence allowance).

* Entertainment Benefit can be availed in case of any delay beyond scheduled date of return, for ticketed cultural or sporting events up to $100.

* Special Event Benefit will be useful in such eventualities as when youre to attend a special event; but your departure is getting delayed. This additional benefit covers up to $600 for additional cost of transportation on an alternate route such that you reach the destination in time.

* Increase Delay of Baggage and Personal Effects Benefit : Increases the maximum sum payable up to $750. (Without this additional benefit rider, the Delay of Baggage and Personal Effects Benefit is up to $400 for Deluxe, TravelCare, Travel within Canada and Non-medical packages and $200 for Standard package)

Additional Benefits Rider Option 2 enhances the cover with respect to cancelled cruise/tour packages:

* Cancellation or change in schedule of a cruise or tour

* Subsistence benefit in case of Cruise/tour cancellation can be increased up to $100.

* In case of cancelled cruise/tour packages, an air fare of up to $1000 can be claimed for a trip to reach or to depart from a place in the original route-plan, provided the fare is not a part of the cruise/tour package.

Annual packages

Theres something more in store for frequent travelers. With Multi-trip Annual packages of RBC Travel Insurance, frequent travelers can now be exempt from the hassles of getting their trips insured every time they travel. Some of the insurance packages mentioned above can be availed on an annual basis. They include the Deluxe Plan and all TravelCare plans. Apart from being convenient, these packages prove to be economical too. There are two sub-packages in this category:

9 day plan: for any number of trips in a year, not exceeding 9 consecutive days in duration.

16 day plan: for any number of trips in a year, not exceeding 16 consecutive days in duration

30 day plan: for any number of trips in a year, not exceeding 30 consecutive days in duration. This plan is not available for persons aged 80 years and above.

60 day plan: for any number of trips in a year, not exceeding 60 consecutive days in duration. This plan is available only for tours outside Canada. RBC travel insurance plan is not available for persons aged 80 years and above.

From whom to buy

Insurance packages can be bought from the branches of RBC Royal Bank or through the banks authorised travel agents. RBC Travel Insurance website has a link (locator tool) through which you can locate the travel agents who deal with RBC Travel Insurance. There are many Travel agents who offer these packages on their own websites. T

The U.S. division of RBC Travel Insurance is operated by Liberty Marketing Corporation, under the brand name RBC Travel Protection.

Claims

The process of making claims differs based on the following factors:

The type of insurance youve purchased

From whom youve purchased your insurance package:

* RBC Royal Bank or

* A travel agent

Not many things in life come without any risks. Life will definitely be more enjoyable when theres something thats arming you with gears to shield you from those risks. Your travel insurance could well be one such gear, you cant to do without!