You’ve received their postcards, seen their photos and been presented with gifts from around the world. The fact is that clients with money will travel — a lot.

It’s your job to ensure your footloose clients protect their assets by sending them off with adequate coverage against unforeseen mishaps, accidents or illness. Travel insurance will protect clients in three areas:

> Trip Cancellation Or Interruption. After your clients purchase their tickets and pay for their hotels, ill health or the ill health or death of a close relative may prevent them from travelling or force them to return home early. Trip cancellation and interruption coverage can help them recover the cost of changing their travel plans.

> Baggage. Coverage will recover the cost of lost, stolen or damaged baggage.

> Health. Medical travel coverage will allow your clients to avoid the expenses of health services bills abroad in the event of an illness or injury. This is absolutely essential because provincial health insurance plans pay only part of the cost of medical care outside Canada.

“The portability principle of the Canada Health Act, with a few notable exceptions, is not being met by most provinces,” says Michael Mackenzie, director of communications in Toronto with the Canadian Snowbird Association, a non-profit organization representing Canadian travellers.

The maximum amounts the provinces pay per day toward medical expenses incurred outside Canada are:

• British Columbia, $75
• Alberta, $100
• Saskatchewan, $100
• Manitoba, $570
• Ontario, $400
• Quebec, $100
• New Brunswick, $100
• Nova Scotia, $525
• Newfoundland & Labrador, $350-$465
• Prince Edward Island, $952
• Yukon, $1,297
• Northwest Territories, $1,283
• Nunavut, $1,261.

With hospital stays in the U.S. costing around $10,000 a day, for example, your clients clearly need medical insurance to cover the difference.

“Some travellers don’t buy medical insurance because they assume the insurance provided by their credit card company will cover all medical costs,” says Christiane Théberge, president and CEO of the Association of Canadian Travel Agents in Ottawa. “This is a big mistake. Your clients need to find out what coverage these companies offer and whether it is capped. Travel insurance is very inexpensive when you consider how much medical treatment outside Canada can cost.”

And, says Vancouver lawyer Douglas Gray, author of The Canadian Snowbird Guide (John Wiley & Sons Canada Ltd., $26.99), caution your clients against choosing a policy just because it’s cheap. “You might save a few hundred dollars on a policy,” he says, “but end up spending thousands on extras that aren’t covered.”

Also, make sure the policy covers air ambulance transport for a client’s return to Canada after his or her condition has been stabilized in hospital, he adds: “It may be weeks until a person is able to travel home on a commercial airliner.”

Even clients travelling within Canada should arrange for medical coverage that includes air and ground ambulance transport. Although basic emergency medical costs, including hospital stays in other provinces, are covered up to the home province’s maximum fee schedule, ambulance transport is not covered. A client injured while hiking in Whistler, B.C., for example, will pay around $25,000 to be taken to hospital in Vancouver.

Your clients should read the fine print on the policy they are considering and find out exactly what is covered. “Make sure the policy includes the return home of your client’s travel companion,” Gray advises.

As well, most medical plans require completion of a health questionnaire. So, make sure your client understands the importance of full, accurate disclosure. An incomplete or inaccurate application is a “material misstatement,” which gives the insurer the right to turn down a claim.

Medical travel premiums vary widely, depending on the benefits covered by the policy and your clients’ medical conditions, and prices rise dramatically with age. For example, coverage offered by Medipac International Inc. , the Toronto-based insurer endorsed by the CSA, for a 62-year-old man or woman whose health has been stable for the past six months costs $587.35 for 183 days (six months) outside Canada. That almost doubles to $964.75 for a 72-year-old and almost triples to $2,328.15 for an 82-year-old.

Medipac sets no age limit, although some insurers do not cover people over 80.

But, the CSA’s Mackenzie says, it is a myth that older people with medical conditions can’t get medical travel coverage. “I’ve known snowbirds aged 100 who were insured,” he says. “Of course, their premiums will be a lot higher.” IE