Help finding cheapest long term travel insurance to Canada.

Brodel

Hi,

I'm off to Canada next week with a 2 year work/holiday visa. I need to prove that I have insurance for 2 years when I arrive, otherwise they will not issue me with a 2 year visa.

However, this time I will be only staying 1 week and returning to the UK for a few months as I still have things in the UK that I need to sort out.

The problem is that all of the long term insurance policies become void if you leave the country for longer than 21 days. So, I am looking for the cheapest possible insurance to show customs that I am insured for 2 years. Alpha Insurance seem to be the cheapest at £310 but if anyone has any other suggestions I'd really appreciated it because at the moment I'll be paying £310 for what is effectively 1 weeks use of insurance.

Thanks for any help.

huckster

Brodel wrote: »

Hi,

I'm off to Canada next week with a 2 year work/holiday visa. I need to prove that I have insurance for 2 years when I arrive, otherwise they will not issue me with a 2 year visa.

However, this time I will be only staying 1 week and returning to the UK for a few months as I still have things in the UK that I need to sort out.

The problem is that all of the long term insurance policies become void if you leave the country for longer than 21 days. So, I am looking for the cheapest possible insurance to show customs that I am insured for 2 years. Alpha Insurance seem to be the cheapest at £310 but if anyone has any other suggestions I'd really appreciated it because at the moment I'll be paying £310 for what is effectively 1 weeks use of insurance.

Thanks for any help.

If you are doing it via long term travel cover, just get two policies. First policy, a single trip for the week and a second policy covering you from x date to y date when you are there for longer.

The other possibility, is that you take out relevant health and accident type insurances in Canada for the longer stay there. It obviously means you are treated in Canada and there is no repatriation to the UK. The benefit of the Travel option is repatriation to the UK if needed.

agrinnall

I don't know who Alpha Insurance is or what they offer but I doubt if travel insurance will cover you if you are going with the intention of working. As Huckster suggests taking out local insurance is probably what you'll need to do, although how that works with trying to get a 2 year visa I don't know.

Brodel

Thanks for the replies. I already have the visa as such, it just won't be 'approved' for any longer than the time I can show that I have insurance for when I arrive at Immigration and ask them to authorize it. I know that people have used Alpha Travel Insurance in the past for this and they mention that it covers working holidays so I'm pretty confident it will be accepted.

That's a good idea about getting 1 week and then having the 2 year one starting at a later date. I'll have to call Alpha Insurance up to confirm that this is possible. I'm not sure what the small print says if the policy starts on say the 21st and I don't enter the country again for another 6 months.

Browntoa

backpacker do up to 2 years


https://www.essentialtravel.co.uk/travelinsurance/backpacker-insurance/


or these specifically for Canada


https://www.truetraveller.com/iec-travel-insurance.aspx


If you’re going to Canada on an IEC Visa, you’ll need travel insurance which satisfies the requirements of the Canadian Immigrations authorities, and which you can extend as well if you need to. True Traveller Insurance has many benefits over some other policies, including:

• Medical and Repatriation cover of up to £10m
• Cover available for up to 2 years
• You can claim whilst you’re still in Canada; no need to wait to return home
• You can extend your policy without returning home first
• No return ticket is needed
• Free Home visits allowed
• 90 activities covered as standard
• 40 optional activities in the Adventure Pack
• You can get insurance even after you’ve arrived

Brodel

Thanks for the links. I've had a look and they seem to be more expensive than the Alpha Insurance.

I have checked with a few people who have been through the immigration process before and they seem to think that the only way to be issued the visa is to arrive with a 2 year insurance policy which starts from the date of arrival. They don't think getting 1 week for the time I'm there and then 2 years starting the date I leave would work. They said that the only workaround might be to take out a policy for two years that I can cancel on my return.
It seems like a bit of a backhanded way of doing things, but if it saves me £300 then I might try. My only concern is that most policies that I've looked at offer a 14 day cooling off period that lets you cancel if you haven't made a claim or have not travelled. How do they know if you have or have not travelled abroad? Or is it just down to me telling them?

huckster

Speak to Alpha Insurance about this, to see what they recommend.

It seems odd the Canadians want to see 2 years Insurance when you first go there, when you will then return to the UK for months, before going back to Canada.

Brodel

I called them yesterday and they said there was no problem issuing that policy but they couldn't say what immigration might think.

I agree that it makes no sense either. I didn't intend to cancel either policy but given the input from members on the immigration forum that I also posted on, it seems like the safest option is to take out just the 2 year one and try to cancel.

Maz945

Alpha let you have 2 return trips for up to 21 days from memory. If you are coming home for more than 21 days your policy expires. And that's that.

Likewise, once your policy has started, then it's non-refundable. So you can't roll up to a CBSA Officer, show your insurance and then get your money back.

The only ones who allow unlimited home visits are World Nomads, or the aforementioned True Traveler. This question comes up all the time on the IEC Facebook groups.

Brodel

Maz945 wrote: »

Alpha let you have 2 return trips for up to 21 days from memory. If you are coming home for more than 21 days your policy expires. And that's that.

Likewise, once your policy has started, then it's non-refundable. So you can't roll up to a CBSA Officer, show your insurance and then get your money back.

The only ones who allow unlimited home visits are World Nomads, or the aforementioned True Traveler. This question comes up all the time on the IEC Facebook groups.

Yea, I understand that part. That's why I asked them if I could get a 1 week policy and then a 2 year policy that would start the day I return to the UK, so that I could be covered for the entire time my visa is issued for. They told me that's fine and that I could enter Canada at any time I liked without it becoming void, only once I have entered Canada will the 21 day stipulation void the insurance. I wasn't planning on cancelling either policy at any time.

Thanks for the advice about True Traveler, I'll check them out.

Maz945

To be honest you'd be running a heck of a risk with the CBSA officer. They want to see a 2 year policy from your date of entry to the end of your IEC. There's been a whole lot of people who have had their IEC's cut down and even cancelled as the Provinces are getting fed up of paying medical bills for temporary residents and they're putting pressure on CIC to sort things out.

I would get an e-mail from the insurance company when they tell you stuff on the phone which is contrary to their ts&cs, as in the event of a big claim they'll dump you so fast if they can, and without an e-mail (and sometimes even with one) the FoS will throw a case out.