Canada - Travel Insurance Purchase Difficulties for Canadians

My cousin runs our BC operation, and his travel arrangements are handled by our hometown head office agency here in QC. Since when is he told by some bumbling BC bureaucrat that he cannot buy his travel insurance thru the same travel agency that sold him his travel? Quebec's Autorite des Marches Financiers says he can, the QC agency is licensed by the OPC, etc. A representative of the Travel Health Association of Canada, an apologist for the travel insurance companies, tried to say it was for "the benefit of consumers" to buy travel insurance in their home provinces...anytime someone says "a benefit to consumers" I gag and say "BS!"...how so??? Make someone buy a product from 2 different sources? He called 3 local agencies in BC, nobody wanted to sell him a policy because he hadn't bought his travel from them...in fact, I have been shown a form from 1 insurer that says "we must approve of you to sell to someone who hasn't bought their travel from you"....hmmmm....but, of course, the travel insurance COMPANY will gladly sell Cuz a policy...saving itself paying a commission to an agency, but also not giving him any reduction in his premium....thereby adding an additional cozy profit by making my cousin waste his time and by taking money away from small businesses while their CEOs have 6 and 7-figure salaries and pension plans. Alex Jones on Genesis Radio is right -- the New World is upon us, and soon, this will be AmeriKa (or Kanada) with a K.
I am sure that many of us here may purchase our travel with whatever and whomever we please, and should NOT be told by a petty bureaucrat where we should be buying such, including our travel insurance. Canada ceased to be a Confederation on July 2, 1867....NAFTA and other free trade plans give us greater access to foreign lands than to our own citizens...and I highly doubt any financial services regulator would ever have the balls to try to actually stop a Quebec agency from selling an insurance policy underwritten by a national firm to a BC resident...for once, I would be on the side of the PQ and the Bloc to protest this affront on the province.

Actually, the way I understand it QC agents are not suppose to sell to pax in ON and BC unless they hold a TA permit in those provinces. So a QC OPC agent who doesn't have a TICO isn't suppose to sell insurance to an ON pax. The insurance companies themselves are trying to figure out this mess which has recently been highlighted.

What I was told by the Autorite des Marches Financiers and the OPC, was that QC companies were not to advertise in other jurisdictions, but were free to sell to somebody who contacted them. Our company is based in Montreal...and we're to be told by some pension-loving bureaucrat that we can't look after our employees in other provinces??? The insurance companies are happy to take the call directly, and not pay an agent commission but not give us any lowering of the premium...which strikes me as a conspiracy in and of its own.

My cousin runs our BC operation, and his travel arrangements are handled by our hometown head office agency here in QC. Since when is he told by some bumbling BC bureaucrat that he cannot buy his travel insurance thru the same travel agency that sold him his travel? Quebec's Autorite des Marches Financiers says he can, the QC agency is licensed by the OPC, etc. A representative of the Travel Health Association of Canada, an apologist for the travel insurance companies, tried to say it was for "the benefit of consumers" to buy travel insurance in their home provinces...anytime someone says "a benefit to consumers" I gag and say "BS!"...how so??? Make someone buy a product from 2 different sources? He called 3 local agencies in BC, nobody wanted to sell him a policy because he hadn't bought his travel from them...in fact, I have been shown a form from 1 insurer that says "we must approve of you to sell to someone who hasn't bought their travel from you"....hmmmm....but, of course, the travel insurance COMPANY will gladly sell Cuz a policy...saving itself paying a commission to an agency, but also not giving him any reduction in his premium....thereby adding an additional cozy profit by making my cousin waste his time and by taking money away from small businesses while their CEOs have 6 and 7-figure salaries and pension plans. Alex Jones on Genesis Radio is right -- the New World is upon us, and soon, this will be AmeriKa (or Kanada) with a K.
I am sure that many of us here may purchase our travel with whatever and whomever we please, and should NOT be told by a petty bureaucrat where we should be buying such, including our travel insurance. Canada ceased to be a Confederation on July 2, 1867....NAFTA and other free trade plans give us greater access to foreign lands than to our own citizens...and I highly doubt any financial services regulator would ever have the balls to try to actually stop a Quebec agency from selling an insurance policy underwritten by a national firm to a BC resident...for once, I would be on the side of the PQ and the Bloc to protest this affront on the province.

Ahhh, Quebec! The land of parity and equality...


Wait a minute...! :o

It is not Quebec telling their residents where they can buy products/services...and I highly doubt that any BC/AB/ON politician would ever have the cojones to try to go after anyone in QC who sold a product/service requested by 1 of his own constituents...wouldn't play well in his jurisdiction if the QC company didn't advertise but was being blocked -- QC politicians would be up in arms -- and the federal appeasers would be intervening to keep national peace. This isn't akin to the rationale of stock exchange regulation...we are talking about sales of a service whose policies average $100-$200...and are already underwritten with necessary protections by the insurance companies. The complaints that I see on blogs such as Chris Elliott...are not about the agencies selling the insurance, but about the insurance companies themselves. I can count about 650,000 other issues that these overpaid political hacks intent on abusing their authority can tackle...Vancouver's East Side or the 3 travel insurance policies issued to BC residents by QC travel agents...great job, Christy Clark!

insure my trip . ca

I have used it and I have also made a claim and it was paid quickly.

Insurance is provincially regulated in Canada, not federally, and Quebec insurance laws differ from ON or BC quite substantially. Better to buy a policy which actually covers you, legally, than one from a different jurisdiction that does not. You don't want to be subject to fighting something with a Quebec company, in BC, under Quebec laws - just painful! While health care is provincial, I can't see travel insurance changing either, many plans link to provincial healthcare provisions (ie for my ON travel insurance I had to say yes, I have OHIP for example).

The insurance underwriters are national firms with licenses in each province. It should matter not which travel agency sells a policy for 1 of these national firms since the agency has no control as to the legalese of the policy itself. The weight of performance on coverage and payment of claim is the underwriter's, not the travel agent's.

But travel agents can offer policies that work for their clients. Eg, the travel agent I use is based in BC, but he can sell me an ON policy (large multi province insurance company). I don't buy from him as I get a better deal buying my own policy direct from the insurance company. I've never found it cheaper to buy from a travel agent tbh.