Foreign Travel Restrictions When Buying Life Insurance

What types of foreign travel will cause problems when buying life insurance?

I have come across many examples of foreign travel by Canadians that has caused significant problems when applying to buy life insurance. The standard travel by the majority of Canadians never causes much of a problem to tourist destinations like Hawaii, cruises, the US or resorts in Mexico, Cuba, Dominican Republic, etc. However, as we have seen the world become a much smaller place, there are many types of travel that would either cause an outright decline when buying life insurance or there would be a significant additional premium attached to the policy.

Tourist Foreign Travel Inclusions and Restrictions

A tourist vacation to countries in Europe, North America, Australia, many parts of Asia and even tourist resorts in Latin America and the Caribbean are fair game for foreign travel. Because you are going as a tourist, and staying in a hotel or resort, it is assumed that you will be in a secure environment and have access to good medical facilities.

When filling out your application for life insurance be sure to describe the type of hotel/resort you stayed in, the places you visited and toured and your access to medical facilities (like having foreign travel medical insurance). This will help the underwriter know that you were only going to the proposed country to see the sights and experience the culture.

Restrictions to foreign travel while on vacation would include many “adventure” type vacations where tourists are climbing mountains, hiking through the jungle, visiting volcanoes, hang gliding off mountains, etc. These sorts of vacations, which are becoming much more popular, are definitely taboo for life insurance companies. Even going to Africa on Safari might be a problem unless you are staying in a professionally run game lodge and having guided and armed tours of the African bush veld.

Other restrictions would include foreign travel that keeps Canadians out of Canada for too many weeks or months per year. Even developing countries are stable and have a low crime rate are OK to visit so long as the trip is not too long. Many developing countries that have no wars or significant violence in them still have poor medical services and faulty infrastructure, and the longer you remain in those countries the more likely something could happen. A trip of about 5 weeks or less to a stable, developing country should be OK to still get a standard life insurance policy.

Certain countries are off limits when buying life insurance

There are many countries in the world that are definitely “off-limits” when buying life insurance from a Canadian life insurance company. There are the obvious conflict zones of the world, like Iraq and Afghanistan, but there are many other countrie or regions that pose significant threats that you might not think of. Many parts of Africa are politically unstable and security is a real concern. Nigeria would be an excluded country even though there are many Nigerian Canadians who want to travel home periodically to see family.

Even a country like Russia and India, which is generally safe still has a threat of terrorist violence in certain areas (like Chechen rebels) and travel to regions like Chechnya or Kashmir would be uninsurable travel.

A great resource to investigate what countries and regions of the world have travel warnings is the Government of Canada’s Travel Reports and Warnings, from the Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada website. Where the travel warning is posted as avoid all non-essential travel or avoid all travel you could expect a decline from a Canadian life insurance company if you are going into these areas.

Traveling for work and buying life insurance

Travel for work abroad is even more problematic than traveling as a tourist. Work situations can place Canadians in many remote parts of the world where access to medical care is limited and the risks are higher.

For example, many engineers, geologists and managers in the oil and gas or mining industries have to travel outside of Canada to parts of the world that would be considered dangerous. In fact Canadian mining companies are now the biggest player in Africa. Travel to little known African countries like Burkina Faso, where the standard of medical care and security is not even comparable to Canada, would be a real problem to buy a personal life insurance policy.

There are also many countries where kidnapping is a local industry. You can even buy a specialized insurance policy to pay kidnapping ransoms if you are taken in one of these countries (Columbia, Venezuela and Mexico are major kidnapping countries). A foreign business person in these countries would be a target for kidnapping as there is a higher likelihood of a ransom being paid.

So long as the Canadian worker is travelling to major urban centers, has specialized private medical insurance, including emergency evacuation services, and has adequate security provided, there is a chance that a life insurance policy might be issued.

No restrictions on foreign travel for work in European countries, America, Australia, business sectors of Asia and Africa where there are stable governments with control over their internal security. You will need to declare where you travelled to, how long you were there, how often, whether or not you travelled outside of urban areas, what sort of access to medical facilities you had, and special security arrangements you had, if any.

What to expect when applying for life insurance with foreign travel restrictions

If you are travelling to countries with concern to Canadian life insurance companies for your personal security and health, there are a few outcomes.

• If it is a very hazardous country your life insurance application will be declined
• If there are some risks but it is acceptable to the insurance company, you might be rated as a substandard risk and asked to pay more
• If your trip is a one-time occurrence, not expected to happen again, your life insurance application might be postponed until you have returned from the trip

If the foreign travel is for work, and in the future your need to travel there ends because of a change of job or the company ceases activities in the problematic country, you would be able to reapply for coverage (if you were declined) or have any ratings imposed because of travel taken off the policy.

Contact Life Guard Insurance for more on foreign travel and buying life insurance

We have a lot of experience with foreign travel restrictions and which insurance companies to apply to when buying life insurance. Please contact us and we will be sure to match you up with a local life insurance broker in your area who understands the complexities of foreign travel restrictions on life insurance.

The article was written by +Mitch Reynolds. If you found this article interesting or it made you think, please feel free to share your comments below. Liking us on Facebook, giving us a +1 on Google or Tweeting this article about foreign travel and buying life insurance would be very much appreciated.

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