Desjardins Travel Insurance review

Plans Desjardins offers

Desjardins Insurance builds its travel policies from 5 coverages: Emergency Health Care, Trip Cancellation or Modification, Baggage, Accident and Emergency Return Trip. You choose one or more per person, on a single-trip or multi-trip annual plan. Quattra Advantage is an annual plan for ages 61 to 80, and Visitors to Canada Insurance covers visitors, newcomers awaiting provincial coverage, foreign workers and international students. There’s no standalone student plan for Canadians.

Desjardins Insurance refers to Desjardins Financial Security Life Assurance Company. In some provinces outside Quebec, certain coverages are offered by The Personal Insurance Company.

Emergency health care and trip length

Desjardins lists an overall maximum of $5,000,000 per insured person, per trip, including up to $200 per day and $2,000 in total for living expenses. Visitors to Canada Insurance offers amounts of $100,000, $150,000 or $300,000.

Trip length options:

• Single trip: one trip of 1 to 365 days
• Multi-trip annual: unlimited trips over 12 months, with per-trip options of 8, 15, 23, 30, 45, 60, 90, 120 or 182 days
• Extra days can be added to an annual policy for a specific trip, and the contract renews automatically each year
• Visitors to Canada: a stay of no longer than 365 days

Pre-existing conditions and stability periods

Desjardins excludes an injury or medical condition that isn’t stable in the 90- or 182-day period before you leave. On a single trip, the period is 90 days if you’re under 55 or bought the Stable for 3 months option, and 182 days if you’re 55 or older without it. On the annual plan, it’s 90 days under 55 and 182 days at 55 or older.

Desjardins says this exclusion applies even if you told it about the condition in the medical questionnaire, or if a doctor said you could travel. Pre-existing condition terms for Visitors to Canada weren’t stated on the product page.

Age limits and health questions

The buyer must be at least 18, and insured persons at least 15 days old. The annual plan requires you to be under 81. If you’re 81 or older on the renewal date, you can no longer stay on the annual contract but can apply for one trip at a time. No maximum age is stated for single trips. On Quattra Advantage, health answers are valid for 4 years, and health changes during that time don’t affect eligibility. Visitors to Canada is for people 84 or younger. Answer every medical question accurately.

Buying, claims and advisory notes

You can buy online. A deductible is optional and applies per insured, per trip, but the amounts aren’t stated. Call the Assistance Service before going to a hospital, or you may pay 30% of eligible expenses, up to $3,000. Trip Cancellation or Modification covers 18 recognized causes, including quarantine of you or a travel companion by health authorities for a contagious disease, though not quarantine required on return to Canada.

We found no COVID-19-specific wording. Emergency Health Care excludes destinations or trip types under an avoid all travel advisory issued before you left. If one is issued after you leave, you must return home within 14 days.