Personal Insurance in Canada has under it different types of insurance for your personal items and belongings, as well as for your healthcare and wellness and travel plans. Life insurance, home insurance, health insurance, travel insurance, disability insurance as well as automobile insurance can be categorized as personal insurance.
Why you may need home insurance.
You must procure home insurance if you wish to safeguard your home as well as your belongings in case there is a theft, loss or damage to your house or property from inside or outside. It is recommended to also get coverage for living expenses if and when you are not able to live in your home temporarily. Living in a hotel or renting a house can be counted as additional living expenses.
Coverage Provided by Home Insurance.
Listed below are the things commonly covered by a home insurance policy.
- Any damage or loss to your house.
- Damage to your personal belongings or their theft or loss.
- Your personal belongings’ theft from inside of your vehicle.
- Injury or damage others incurred when they visited your house or property.
- Damage to someone else’s property or belongings by you due to an accident.
Home insurance is also referred to as property and casualty insurance by insurance companies. This includes car insurance, business insurance and disaster insurance.
When home insurance will protect you.
Here are some cases where having home insurance will prove highly beneficial.
- If someone slips and falls on your property or gets any personal damage on your property and claims against you to cover the expenses of the loss or damage caused by the injury.
- If an accidental fire causes damage to your house as well as your neighbour’s house.
What is critical illness insurance?
Advancements in the field of medicine have increased rates even for people with critical illnesses like cancer, stroke or heart disease. However, recovery from critical illness has hefty financial costs that can impact you as well as your family members. Critical insurance often gives you financial help to cover the costs of life-altering diseases. These insurances often also have a waiting period.
When Critical Illness Insurance will protect you.
Here are some ways in which critical illness insurance would be of help to you.
- Having critical illness insurance can help you reduce your medical debt and other financial costs while you cope with your sickness.
- It can help you replace your and your spouse’s lost money when you or your spouse take time off work to take care of the illness.
- It can prove to be extra help for your closed ones and you.
- It gives you ye option to consider new treatments and medical procedures for getting better without having to worry about coverage from your Provincial Government’s healthcare plans.
Long term care insurance
If you are unable to take care of yourself in the future and need a caregiver or assistance with your day to day activities, a long term care insurance will give your coverage for that. This is not just for senior citizens, but also if, due to some reason, you are in need of a caregiver or medical help for daily activities for a short period of time. Long-term care insurance will provide coverage for the fee of a care facility or an in-house caregiver after an accident or illness.
Some long-term care facilities receive public funding along with home-care service centers. But they charge you to make co-payments. For any additional services, services, you will have to pay an extra fee as they are not covered by long term care insurances. To qualify for the benefits of this insurance, policies state that you must be incapable of performing at least 2 daily activities on your own like bathing, dressing or eating.
You can receive your payments in two ways. Either you can receive money on the day the expense is incurred and be reimbursed for it, provided the expense is eligible to be covered, or you can receive a fixed amount of money every month. The waiting period for this insurance is determined to be 30-90 days after the illness has occurred.
Supplementary or Extended Health Insurance
Your provincial or territorial medical insurance plan generally covers all of your basic health needs. So, you must be aware of what coverage your provincial healthcare plan provides and determine if you need private health insurance or not. Here are some additional medical needs that supplementary health insurance can cover.
- It will pay for certain medical services that are not covered by your Provincial healthcare program. These can be nursing services, ambulance charges, wheelchair costs and costs of other durable medical equipment.
- They will financially take care of your medical needs if you become while you are travelling.
Before you buy your private health insurance, make sure you do not pay for coverage of services that are already covered by your Provincial healthcare plans. Here are some things you must keep in mind about your policy while buying your healthcare insurance.
- Check if there is a deductible. A deductible can be defined as the amount you will pay just before your insurance provider will pay the amount required.
- The amount your insurance provider will pay is often a percentage of your claim.
- The among you receive from your insurance has an annual maximum.
You must also be aware of who is covered under your policy. You receive coverage if the policy is in your name. Your spouse as well as your children below 19 years of age are covered. Children above the age of 19 who are still full-time students or disable in any way can also benefit from your medical policy.
Travel medical insurance
If you have plans to travel outside Canada, it will be beneficial to get travel medical insurance to have coverage for any medical treatment you may require while you are living in another country. Your current policy or may not cover certain medical conditions or treatment procedures or pre-existing conditions.
If you are travelling to another province or territory in Canada, there is an agreement between the different provinces of Canada that provides you with medical coverage from either your existing Provincial plan or from the healthcare program of the province you travel to.
Quebec only covers the hospital fee in this agreement. Quebec residents are advised to check their healthcare policies before planning their travel to avoid unpleasant surprises.
Before you purchase any medical insurance policy, carefully read it and understand what is covered and what is not covered including pre-existing conditions. Because health insurance is very complex, you may seek the consultation of an insurance advisor.
Tips for Buying Personal Insurance in Canada.
Here is a list of things you can keep in mind or do before buying any Personal Insurance in Canada.
- Shop around and compare the coverage and prices of many policies. Some policies can be costly but you will receive the same level of service or coverage similar to a cheaper one.
- Be sure you get enough coverage from the Personal Insurance in Canada. When deciding on the factor that how much coverage would you require, keep the fact in mind that you know the value of the item you are planning to insure as well as the financial impact of the event you are insuring it against.
- Don’t buy what is not required by you. Check to ensure if you are not already covered by your group plan, credit card, home insurance, etc.
- Decide how high you can pay for the deductible. A higher deductible may reduce your premiums, but you will also have to pay the full deductible amount if and when you make a claim on your insurance.
- Read the policy terms carefully and do not hesitate to query about anything which is difficult for you to understand. Ensure that you know of what is covered and left by your policy.