Getting top-up insurance while out-of-county: is it allowed?
Posted date : Nov 7, 2017.
Dear Bird Talk,
In response to your letter from Len Stoll, Ottawa, re top-up insurance. My husband and I wanted an extra five days in April 2011 and I called the insurance company we were with that year and there was no problem. They sold us five days’ each. Were we covered if an emergency occurred? Your answer to Len was that no medical insurance provider is permitted to sell medical insurance in the U.S. Am I understanding this correctly? Please clarify the rules and regulations regarding this very important matter.
Thank you so much,
Yvette Romaine
Response:
Ed.: There is no problem if you already have a Canadian insurance policy and you simply want to extend it with the same company. Medipac does this all the time. What we cannot do is sell you a new policy when you are already in the U.S. or elsewhere. The second part of your question – “Were we Covered?” – is a little more complex. Several companies have waiting periods in their policy wording for sales outside of Canada, often seven days. This means that when you buy that policy or an extension, you are not covered until seven days later. This is a “Read Your Policy Carefully” situation and I recommend that you just buy the insurance before you leave; you can always change it later.
