I too, am an independent travel insurance broker, who specializes in travel insurance, including visitors to Canada travel health insurance. And Gary is correct: the two documents that are required are the 'confirmation of coverage' that has the policy number, coverage details and the insured person's name on it; and a copy of the complete policy wording so that coverage details can be reviewed to ensure that the policy is from a Canadian company, and offers the required forms of coverage (health, hospital and repatriation benefits). These two documents are provided by the insurance company or your broker/insurance agent upon purchase - whether that's from a broker that operates a comparable quote website (me), or one that doesn't (Gary).
I'm surprised that if Gary 'shops around at all the companies', he doesn't deal with Manulife - now the single largest provider of travel insurance in Canada - just passing RBC this last year. In the 'super visa' department, they have competitive rates. Plan A offers no coverage for illnesses related to pre-existing medical conditions. So noone should buy that sort of policy unless they know absolutely beyond a doubt, that the person who will be insured doesn't have any pre-existing medical conditions. Ask them to find out before buying a policy for another person. If you don't, that's where mistakes can be made - and they can be costly mistakes. Manulife's Plan B costs more, but it MAY cover pre-existing medical conditions, depending on...(please always refer to the exact language in the policy) and don't accept paraphrasing...whether the person's conditions meet the proper definitions - just like in any travel insurance policy.
Manulife's Plan B is, for age groups 80-84, the only company available that will insure pre-ex simply by accepting the stated eligibility requirements - without direct underwriting. Manulife also allows larger discounts than most companies for using higher deductibles with the policy. That's an important consideration for lots of super visa applicants, because their first trip here is not planned for the full year and they will want to apply for a refund. Refunds for the unused insurance is only provided as long as there has been no claim on the policy - so submitting a small claim voids any possible refund - which could be in excess of $1000. In that case, often using a larger deductible makes sense. So why Gary doesn't at least let his clients see what Manulife has to offer - I can't understand.
I'm not loyal to any one company though - far from it. We look at over ten Canadian companies, and we do present their rates online for anyone to see - and all the exact policy wording as well. That of course doesn't include direct medical underwriting - when someone provides a complete run down of all pre-existing medical conditions - and gets a personalized quote that ensures they have solid coverage - we do that too - but most people won't ever have to go through those steps to get their travel health insurance for their super visa application. And the idea that a quote is only valid for 90 days? It's only good for as long as your age doesn't change, and the company doesn't change it's rates. Gary seems to be alluding to him being able to do a better job than an 'online' service? I have an online service, because it helps me do a better job. Better at highlighting exact differences in policy wording, what to watch out for, and to enable me to tell someone what the best rates can be given their situation and use of a certain deductible.
You won't beat the rates, or the service. contact admin @ bestquotetravelinsurance.ca or just google: super visa insurance.
Aside from TIC, Travel Underwriters (Platinum), and Manulife Plan B, the other company that offers coverage for pre-existing medical conditions, that just announced on December 13th that they are entering the 'super visa insurance market' is GMS. On the 19th, they announced that they will allow persons age 55+ to have polices for 365 days (it was limited to 180), and their rates are very competitive. So that's good news! Rates for most ages 60-79 will becoming down!
I will endeavour to keep posting informative comments on the changing super visa insurance 'industry', including comments from my clients concerning their experiences at application time, and at their port of entry. Hopefully that promise will keep my posts alive! ie. please don't delete I'm trying to be helpful!
