MISSISSAUGA, April 14, 2004 — Sixty-five per cent of Canadians who travelled within Canada but outside of their home province in the past three years say they never purchase travel insurance for these trips, according to an RBC Insurance/Ipsos-Reid study.
“It does not matter how close to home you are, injuries, accidents and lost luggage can happen regardless of your destination,” said Stan Seggie, president and CEO of the travel insurance division of RBC Insurance. “Also, provincial government and employee health plans are not designed to cover everything and may limit reimbursement for expenses such as air ambulance service, prescription drugs and X-rays. Canadians should definitely be aware of the coverage provided by their provincial and employee health plans when planning a trip anywhere outside their home province or territory.”
An April 2004 study from the Conference Board of Canada indicated that nearly 7 in 10 Canadians planning a trip this summer will travel in Canada. Statistics Canada data shows that 79.7 per cent of all trips in Canada in the third quarter of 2003 were made by Canadians.
According to the RBC Insurance survey, more than half (51 per cent) of all Canadians believe their provincial and/or employee health insurance plans cover 100 per cent of medical expenses while travelling within Canada. Additionally, those between the ages of 35 and 54 years (56 per cent) are more likely than those between 18 and 34 years (46 per cent) to believe that all medical expenses would be covered by provincial health plans when travelling within Canada.
“It’s easy to overlook insurance when travelling to another province because there is a sense of familiarity,” said David Redekop, principal research associate with the Conference Board of Canada. “However, many of the same risks apply wherever you are – even when you travel within the country – and travellers need to be aware of that.”
These are the findings of an RBC Insurance/Ipsos-Reid survey conducted between August 26 and August 28, 2003. The poll was based on a randomly selected sample of 1,000 adult Canadians. With a sample of this size, the results are considered accurate to within �3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, of what they would have been had the entire adult Canadian population been polled. The margin of error will be larger within regions and for other sub-groupings of the survey population. The data was statistically weighted to ensure the sample’s regional and age/sex composition reflects that of the actual Canadian population according to the 2001 Census data.
About RBC Insurance
RBC Insurance, through its operating entities, including RBC Travel Insurance Company, Assured Assistance Inc. and The Liberty Marketing Corporation, provides a wide range of creditor, life, health, travel, home, auto and reinsurance products to more than five million North American customers. RBC Insurance is the leading provider of travel insurance and emergency assistance services in Canada and has recently expanded into the U.S. travel insurance market. Its travel insurance operations draw on more than 35 years of professional experience and provide a wide range of products and services through a network of over 4,000 travel agencies, as well as over the Internet and through bank channels, to more than three million individual and corporate customers annually. For more information, please visit www.rbcinsurance.com.
About RBC Financial Group
Royal Bank of Canada (RY: TSX, NYSE) uses the initials RBC as a prefix for its businesses and operating subsidiaries, which operate under the master brand name of RBC Financial Group. Royal Bank of Canada is Canada’s largest financial institution as measured by market capitalization and assets, and is one of North America’s leading diversified financial services companies. It provides personal and commercial banking, wealth management services, insurance, corporate and investment banking, and transaction processing services on a global basis. The company employs 60,000 people who serve more than 12 million personal, business and public sector clients through offices in North America and some 30 countries around the world. For more information, please visit www.rbc.com.
