The Ivory Actuary
Mar 31, 08, 4:53 pm
Just got a letter from DC in the mail today. Looks like they are switching administrators from World Access Canada to World Travel Protection. Whoop-de-do.
The major change though is the replacement of the $300,000 Air Travel Accident Insurance with a Worldwide $300,000 Travel Accident Insurance. As far as I understand it, whereas DC used to only cover airplane travel, it now covers any common carrier, be it bus, ferry or train. Yay!
However, some of the benefits for this insurance have changed for the worse. For non-lethal injuries (like losing your feet, or sight, or elbows) a proportion of the $300,000 face value is payable. Some of these proportions have been downgraded. Here is a summary of the changes only:
Firstly, the references to Arm, Leg, Hand and Foot have been replaced by "Member" which is defined to be either the foot below the ankle, or 4 fingers above the knuckle of the same hand...so while losing an Arm used to be worth more than losing a Hand, they seem now to be equivalent.
Old values in italics, new values bold
Loss of: one member (Arm or Leg) 75%, (Hand or Foot) 67%, 50%
Loss of: sight in one eye, speech, or hearing 67%, 50%
Loss of: thumb and index of same hand 33%, 25%
The old insurance made a distinction between "Accidental Loss of" (amounts above) and "Loss of Use of". "Loss of Use of" (which paid a higher benefit) is no longer mentioned in the new insurance.
Also, the new insurance no longer covers any loss due to "emotional trauma [or] mental illness". Also excluded are losses suffered while the cardholder is engaged in "commutation" - defined as travel between the insured's permanent residence and regular place of employment (although really, unless you fly to work, this isn't a new exception).
If any underwriters want to clarify or correct me, please feel free! (I'm not a health actuary :P)
The major change though is the replacement of the $300,000 Air Travel Accident Insurance with a Worldwide $300,000 Travel Accident Insurance. As far as I understand it, whereas DC used to only cover airplane travel, it now covers any common carrier, be it bus, ferry or train. Yay!
However, some of the benefits for this insurance have changed for the worse. For non-lethal injuries (like losing your feet, or sight, or elbows) a proportion of the $300,000 face value is payable. Some of these proportions have been downgraded. Here is a summary of the changes only:
Firstly, the references to Arm, Leg, Hand and Foot have been replaced by "Member" which is defined to be either the foot below the ankle, or 4 fingers above the knuckle of the same hand...so while losing an Arm used to be worth more than losing a Hand, they seem now to be equivalent.
Old values in italics, new values bold
Loss of: one member (Arm or Leg) 75%, (Hand or Foot) 67%, 50%
Loss of: sight in one eye, speech, or hearing 67%, 50%
Loss of: thumb and index of same hand 33%, 25%
The old insurance made a distinction between "Accidental Loss of" (amounts above) and "Loss of Use of". "Loss of Use of" (which paid a higher benefit) is no longer mentioned in the new insurance.
Also, the new insurance no longer covers any loss due to "emotional trauma [or] mental illness". Also excluded are losses suffered while the cardholder is engaged in "commutation" - defined as travel between the insured's permanent residence and regular place of employment (although really, unless you fly to work, this isn't a new exception).
If any underwriters want to clarify or correct me, please feel free! (I'm not a health actuary :P)