RBC Insurance Travel Insurance Review 2024

RBC Insurance is the brand name for the operating entities of Royal Bank of Canada—Canada’s biggest bank. RBC Insurance offers a range of insurance options, including life, health, home, auto and travel to individual, business and group clients.

RBC Insurance is underwritten by RBC Insurance Company of Canada.

Here are the key types of travel insurance coverage offered in RBC Insurance travel insurance plans:

• Emergency medical insurance: If you get ill or are injured on your trip, travel medical insurance can pay for emergency medical expenses, up to the coverage limits in your plan. These expenses can include doctor and hospital bills, medication and lab work.
• Trip cancellation insurance: If you cancel a trip for a reason listed in your travel policy, such as you or your travelling companion becoming ill, weather conditions causing a massive delay or you losing your job,  trip cancellation insurance can reimburse you for prepaid, non-refundable costs.
• Travel interruption or delay insurance: Trip interruption insurance can pay for a last-minute flight home in an emergency and reimburse money that you lose by cutting a trip short, such as non-refundable activities and hotel stays. If your flight is delayed, your insurance can cover the cost of incidentals, such as meals or accommodations, after a specified period of time, such as 10 or 12 hours.
• Baggage insurance: Baggage travel insurance can compensate you up to your policy limits if your luggage is lost or stolen. It will reimburse the depreciated value of your suitcases and what you packed. If your bags are delayed, it can reimburse you for the cost of the necessities you’ll have to buy to tide you over. It also extends to your personal belongings, if anything is lost, damaged or stolen.
• Travel accident insurance. This coverage offers compensation in the event of accidental death or catastrophic injury from an accident during your trip. Flight Accident Insurance covers injury while you’re on a commercial plane, during a connection or in an airport. Travel Accident Insurance covers death or dismemberment, including the loss of limbs or eyesight, while on your trip.

RBC Insurance Travel Insurance offers three packaged plans for travelling outside of Canada:

Deluxe Package: This is the most comprehensive plan offered by RBC Insurance. It includes coverage for unforeseen medical emergencies, trip cancellation and interruption, flight and travel accidents, and baggage loss, damage and delay.

Emergency medical treatment includes:

• Hospital accommodation in a semi-private room
• Services of a legally licensed physician, surgeon, anaesthetist or nurse
• Private duty nursing
• Ground or air ambulance
• Rental or purchase of a hospital bed, wheelchair, brace, crutch or any other medical appliance
• Diagnostic tests
• Prescription drugs and medication
• Paramedical services, such as care from a chiropractor, osteopath, physiotherapist, chiropodist or podiatrist, up to $300 per profession
• Ambulance transportation
• Emergency dental due to a blow to the face (emergency expenses covered during your trip, plus $1,500 when you return home)
• Emergency dental due to pain, up to $300

Medical benefits also include coverage to bring someone to your bedside, expenses for meals, hotel accommodations and associated expenses if a medical delay prevents you from returning home, repatriation expenses, return of your remains if you die and a hospital allowance for expenses such as parking and TV rental.

Non-Medical Package: If you have medical coverage elsewhere, such as a RBC travel credit card, this covers trip cancellation and trip interruption, flight and travel accidents, and baggage loss, damage and delay.

TravelCare Package: For travellers over age 75, this package includes coverage for unlimited emergency medical, trip cancellation and interruption, baggage loss, damage and delay, and flight and travel accidents. Pre-existing conditions may also be covered depending on your answers to a medical questionnaire and the TravelCare category for which you qualify. There are three TravelCare categories: Gold, Silver and Bronze. Travellers with a score of zero on the questionnaire will be assigned to the Gold category that stipulates a 90-day stability period for pre-existing conditions. Travellers with median scores (between 5 and 35) will be assigned to the Silver category that requires a 180-day stability period, while travellers with the highest scores (40 and over) will be assigned to the Bronze category that requires a 365 day stability period. Here are some examples of questions and the related scores:

• Have you ever, in your lifetime, been diagnosed with any heart conditions? (No= 0, Yes = 20)
• In the last 12 months have you received or has your physician recommended chemotherapy or radiation therapy for any cancer condition? (No = 0, Yes = 5)
• In the past 12 months, have you used or been prescribed oxygen? (No = 0, Yes = 40)

Family plan pricing is available for both the Deluxe Package and Non-Medical Package.

When you go through the quote process, RBC Insurance also offers prices for basic Cancellation and Interruption Insurance and Classic Medical insurance.

We’ve highlighted key benefits of RBC Insurance Travel Insurance for the single trip plans to help you identify which coverage is the best fit for you.

The price of a RBC Insurance travel insurance plan depends on factors such as the cost of your trip, your age and the amount of coverage you choose.

Here are some examples of the cost for RBC Insurance travel insurance single trip plans for healthy travellers based in Ontario.

CAA Travel

Emergency medical: $5 million
Cancel For Any Reason: Yes, 50% to 75%
Baggage insurance (maximum): $1,500

Related: CAA Travel Insurance Review

TD Insurance

Emergency medical: $5 million
Cancel For Any Reason: No
Baggage insurance (maximum): $1,000

Related: TD Insurance Travel Insurance Review

Manulife Financial

Emergency medical: $10 million
Cancel For Any Reason: No
Baggage insurance (maximum): $1,000

Related: Manulife Financial CoverMe Travel Insurance

RBC Insurance offers a Package Upgrade Rider that can be purchased in conjunction with any of the packaged single trip or multi-trip options. It can not be purchased on its own. Here are the main benefit upgrades offered by this add-on:

No.

Yes. You can buy multi-trip annual insurance if you travel more than once a year for multiple individual trips. RBC Insurance offers the Deluxe Package and the TravelCare Package for nine, 16 or 30 days. There is no multi-trip option for the Non-Medical Package. If you stay longer than the number of days you purchased, you can purchase a top-up.

Here’s how the prices between single-trip and multi-trip insurance for 16 days compare:

Worldwide emergency medical assistance is available 24/7 by calling RBC’s claims and assistance partner Allianz Global Assistance. When you have a medical emergency, the following support may be available:

• Referral to a recommended medical service provider near you
• Transportation to a suitable facility for medical treatment to stabllize or treat your medical condition
• Confirmation of coverage and direct payment of fees to the recommended medical service provider
• Consultation with your attending physician to monitor your care
• Monitoring of the appropriateness, necessity and reasonableness of care to ensure expenses will be covered

If you don’t call Allianz Global Assistance first, your benefits may be reduced and your coverage may be limited to 70% of your medical expenses under your insurance plan, meaning you’ll be financially responsible for 30% out of pocket.

No.

No.

RBC Insurance will not pay any medical expenses related to a medical condition that is not stable for a set period of time before your coverage takes effect, either 90, 180 or 365 days depending on your answers to a medical questionnaire that will assign you to one of three TravelCare categories: Gold, Silver or Bronze.

According to RBC Insurance, a medical condition is considered stable when all of the following are true:

• There has been no new treatment prescribed or recommended or any change in existing treatment, including a stoppage
• There has not been any change in medication, or any recommendation for or starting of a new prescription drug
• The medical condition has not become worse
• There has not been any new, more frequent or more severe symptoms
• There has been no hospitalization or referral to a specialist
• There have not been any tests, investigation or treatment recommended but not yet complete, nor any outstanding test results
• There is no planned or pending treatment

In addition, RBC Insurance will not cover:

• Any heart condition that is not stable in the 90, 180 or 365 days before your trip
• Any heart condition for which you’ve had to take nitroglycerin for angina pain in the 90, 180 or 365 days before your departure date
• Any lung condition that is not stable in the 90, 180 or 365 days before your trip
• Any lung condition for which you’ve been treated with or prescribed home oxygen, prednisone or prednisolone in the 90, 180 or 365 days before your departure date

There are a number of scenarios not covered by travel insurance and it’s critical to know what not to do before you make a claim only to be told you’re on the hook for all associated costs. The following are some of the most common issues not covered by travel insurance:

• A claim against an unstable pre-existing medical condition
• The continued treatment of a medical condition on once the emergency period has ended
• Your self-inflicted injury, suicide or attempted suicide
• Any claim related to a criminal offence or illegal act
• Any medical condition arising from the abuse of drugs, alcohol or other intoxicants, or withdrawal from drugs, alcohol or other intoxicants
• Any medical condition that is the result of you not following prescribed treatment
• Any claims related to non-emergency, experimental or elective treatment, such as cosmetic surgery, chronic care or rehabilitation
• Your participation in a sport as a professional athlete
• Your participation in rock climbing or mountain climbing
• Your participation in a motorized race or speed contest
• A trip made for the purpose of obtaining a diagnosis, treatment, surgery, investigation, palliative care, or any alternative therapy
• Any claim related to pre-natal or post-natal care
• Any claim related to a child born on the trip, or any claim related to pregnancy, delivery or complications of either arising nine weeks before or after your expected due date
• Any claim which would have caused a prudent person to seek medical treatment in the 90 days before your effective date
• Any claim incurred after a physician advised you not to travel
• Any claim related to a government travel advisory for “Avoid all non-essential travel” or “Avoid all travel”
• Any expenses from orbital space flights, sub-orbital space flights and space tourism

To be eligible for RBC Insurance travel insurance coverage, the following must apply:

• You must be a Canadian resident
• You must be under 60 years of age and travel for 183 days or less
• You must be 60 years of age or older and under 75 years of age and travel for 60 days or less
• Have correctly completed the medical questionnaire if the non-refundable portion of your trip costs exceed $15,000
• Be covered under your government health insurance plan, or your insurance maxes out at $20,000 in coverage

You can file a claim by visiting the RBC Insurance travel insurance website where you can obtain an emergency medical or cancellation and interruption claim form. You can complete the document(s) digitally and then submit it and all required documentation through the online claim submission page.

If you are making an emergency medical claim, documentation may include:

• Original of all bills, invoices and receipts
• Proof of payment by your government health insurance plan and payment from any other insurer or benefit plan
• A complete diagnosis from the physicians and/or hospitals who provided the treatment including verification that the treatment was medically necessary
• For accidental dental expenses, proof of the accident

For a trip cancellation and trip interruption claim, you may be asked to provide:

• A medical document stating why travel was not possible
• Written evidence of the covered reason that caused the cancellation, interruption or delay
• Tour operator terms and conditions
• Complete original unused transportation tickets, vouchers, cruise shore excursion or special ticket events
• Receipts for the prepaid land arrangements and/or out of pocket expenses
• Original passenger receipts for new tickets
• Reports from the police or local authorities documenting the cause of a missed connection
• Detailed invoices and/or receipts from the service provider(s)

If you are making a baggage loss, damage and delay insurance claim, you will need to provide:

• Proof of loss/damage (copies of reports made to the authorities), proof of ownership and receipts for the items claimed in the event of loss or damage
• Proof of delay and receipt for purchases or necessary toiletries and clothing in the event of a delay

If you are making a flight and travel accident insurance claim:

• Police reports, medical records, death certificate, autopsy report or coroner’s report

You must file a claim within 90 days of return to your departure point.

When evaluating travel insurance plans, the Forbes Advisor Canada editorial team factors in an exhaustive list of criteria, including but not limited to coverage maximums, types of coverage offered, deductible, cost, optional add-ons, discounts, traveller assistance, age restrictions and other benefits and features. Keep in mind that the coverage that might be best for some people might not be right for you. It’s important to conduct informed research before deciding which travel insurance plan will meet your needs.