Travel insurance is something that is often overlooked when planning a vacation or even heading across the border for a quick shopping or ski trip.  Usually a news story about some person that got injured on vacation facing massive medical bills draws attention to the need to buy insurance.  Some people have coverage through their work extended benefits plans but if you don’t, travel insurance is inexpensive and even cheaper if you don’t need coverage in the US.

I get my travel insurance from Canadian Direct (Travel Underwriters).  You can get a quote and pay all online.  I’ve had a claim before and they air ambulanced me to Ottawa from the US and covered my dad to travel to the US hospital.  If I actually read through my policy, I would’ve known that they covered rentals of both a phone and TV at the hospital.

Here are some quick online quotes from Canadian Direct.  I have added the option for zero deductible which is a 15% surcharge which ends up being very minor.

• Annual, multi-trip, 5 days, US coverage, $0 deductible – $68
• Single trip, 14 days, no US, $0 deductible – $30
• Single trip, 14 days, US coverage, $0 deductible – $42

You can pay for annual and add a single trip if it exceeds your policy’s number of days.

If you get into a car accident in the US, this is covered under ICBC’s Basic Insurance.