Canadians willing to risk not being covered by travel insurance: survey

Even though Canadians are facing higher cost pressures every day, they have no plans to slow down on vacations. But the budget cuts they are making might put them at risk during their trip, a new survey by TD Insurance finds. 

A full 68% of Canadians are still planning to vacation in the next 12 months, but one-third are not planning to buy travel insurance for the trip, says the survey, conducted by Maru Public Opinion. 

Nearly 30% of Canadians say they are struggling to meet the financial needs of their trip; and they are not budgeting for unexpected costs.  

“It’s easy to understand why skipping travel insurance is tempting for those looking to find ways to cut costs, but that could pose risks,” says Annie Campoli, TD Insurance’s president of distribution, life and health.  

“If you have the right policy in place to meet your needs, travel insurance can help financially should the unforeseen happen — from emergency medical bills to expenses like travel interruptions and cancellations due to an unexpected event that’s covered by your policy.” 

Take, for example, Hurricane Helene, which made landfall in the southern U.S. as a Category 4 storm, killing more than 100 people and causing an estimated  US$6 billion in insured damage. The storm caused extensive damage in multiple states, including the popular tourist destination of Florida, . 

Anyone with a planned tropical vacation would benefit from trip cancellation and interruption coverage in case of a storm intensifying (although it’s only available if policyholders purchased before the storm was named). 

However, only 32% of Canadians who are planning to travel intend to purchase both emergency travel medical and trip cancellation and interruption insurance, the survey says. 

A further 40% don’t feel they have the financial means to cover unexpected out-of-pocket costs. Fifteen percent of Canadians say they can only manage to cover up to $300 of out-of-pocket expenses, while 25% report they would not be able to manage any unanticipated expenses without assistance.  

Although Canadians are still prioritizing vacations, many are finding ways to cut costs other than forgoing insurance. A full 63% say they’re forgoing dining out or buying new clothes, for example. 

And yet, the risk of travel disruption is real.

Many young Canadians say they’re experienced a situation in which their trip has been disrupted, shortened, ot cancelled. Or they have had to contend with a serious injury while on the trip. That’s 58% of Gen Z’s and 38% of Millennials. 

Thirty-two percent of those surveyed say the travel disruptions they’ve experienced cost them more than $2,600. 

Feature image by iStock/Prathaan