More than one quarter of Canadians have made a travel insurance claim, including flight delays and visits to a physician while travelling, emphasizing the need for travellers to ensure they have the right coverage before leaving home, according to a new survey released by RBC Insurance.

“Travel is a wonderful, educational experience and it's great to see that Canadians are exploring the world outside their own province or country so frequently,” said Stacey Hughes-Brooks, head of travel, RBC Insurance. “However, given the data from the survey, a quarter of Canadians have needed to make an insurance claim so it's best to make sure not only that you have coverage, but that you have enough.”

Canadians travel frequently

Canadians are often on the move, travelling outside of their home province by air roughly once every six to seven months, says the survey.

But along with such frequent travel comes a greater opportunity for mishaps to occur that could result in expensive bills. Some 26% of Canadians have made an insurance claim as a result of something that happened to them while travelling. One-third (33%) of those claims were related to visits to a doctor, hospital or clinic, while flight delays accounted for one-quarter (24%) of claims.

Making a claim is sometimes too much of a hassle

Of those Canadians who have never made a travel insurance claim, 79% have been lucky enough to say they have never been in a situation where they needed to make one. However, the remaining 21% said they needed to file a claim but did not or were unable to do so. The top reasons for not making a claim include that it was too much of a hassle, they were underinsured, they incorrectly assumed they were covered by their insurance policy or their credit card or they didn’t know where to go.

“With so many credit cards offering travel insurance many Canadians may assume that they are covered if something happens while travelling,” said Hughes-Brooks. “It’s important that Canadians do their homework to understand their coverage otherwise they could find themselves out-of-pocket for minor or major expenses.”