Canada IEC 2013 Health Insurance

Hey,

Does anyone know what insurance company to go with? I'm currently on my first year visa in Canada which expires in August and need to renew my insurance for the next two years. I asked go4less but they said they they can only do insurance for a total of 2 years ( I already booked my first year through them) and other insurance companys seem to be only for people who haven't left Ireland yet. We already booked flights home in Feb for just over 3 weeks as well, and most insurance companys will only cover you if you leave for 2 weeks!!! This is stressing me out and I thought applying for the visa was stressful!

Any help will be much appreciated

Thanks

Actually have just answered my own question.... With Backpackers, you only have to be resident in Ireland fr three months. Phew! well, i shall have to go with that so!

Does anyone know is skiiing and snowboarding included as standard in the go4less 2 year Canada insurance? I looked at the list of what is automatically included and cant see skiiing. It doesnt seem to be on the other extra activities either?

jillybear wrote: »

Hi,I've been speaking to someone in the irish canadian immigration centre in toronto about insurance. She was adamant that I need to get both travel insurance AND health insurance and that it was clear on the IEC website. Now nothing is clear to me on the IEC website and neither are their responses.
IEC website: "What type of insurance must I subscribe to before leaving for Canada?

You must have and maintain insurance for the entire duration of your stay in Canada. Your insurance policy must cover you for:

Health care, hospitalization and repatriation;
The Canadian territory (the policy should specify North America, Canada/USA or worldwide);
The entire duration of your stay in Canada
You must be able to provide proof of this insurance to the Immigration Officer upon your entry to Canada."

My question is: is health care not covered by travel insurance? Or do I actually need health insurance too? And I have to organise it from Ireland?
On other sites it explains I need to get health care insurance for the 3 months for the public health insurance to kick in / while I am not covered by this.

*confused and without money to waste*

I just got the travel insurance (backpackers). The policy covers repatriation, emergency medical expenses/admittance to hospital, emergency dental treatment..

I assume that this is enough, it means you have to pay for general medical expenses/dental etc. That's all I have anyway.

You're welcome!

i got backpackers with "go4less", they allow a total of 4 visits home of 2 weeks duration on the policy, but backpackers with "backpackers travel" only allowed 1 week home of 7 days. Otherwise the policy becomes invalid!

so just check the policy before you buy!

only about 20-30 in difference, I think. Goforless was 340 incl w/sports. cant remember what backpackers was, it was cheaper, but not by much.

ah well, check the policy documents just to see what you are entitled to anyway. sure if it's a problem and you think you will be home more than they allow, cancel. There should be a cooling off period? Think I had a week or 2 with mine.


(oh yeah, I think backpackers allow 1 period home of 14 days over 2 years...I said 7 days in a dif post )

Can residents of Northern Ireland apply for go4less backpacker insurance? It says you need to be a resident in Ireland for 6 months. If not, what have Northerners been going with?? Thanks

Can anyone find a company that gives 24 months insurance?
I've looked at backpacker and ace, but when I go to pay it, it's saying 366 days is the limit.

Hi all,
Will the following insurance cover me entering Canada for the 2 year IEC Visa, I have to stay with VHI I just hope this insurance will cover me.
https://www.vhi.ie/international/index.jsp
Will i also have to get backpackers insurance along with Vhi International Health Insurance.

Thanks

RootsCanada wrote: »

Can anyone find a company that gives 24 months insurance?
I've looked at backpacker and ace, but when I go to pay it, it's saying 366 days is the limit.

goforless have 24 months insurance for canada. that's what I have.

lovemytea wrote: »

I got the goforless insurance. Wasn't asked for proof, but it has everything needed by IEC anyway so there shouldn't be any problems

Cool, thanks a mil!

I was just worried because it says they want health insurance and Go4Less is technically travel insurance, but I think i'll just go for it!

Has anyone gone with STA travel insurance?

Cheers

skbehan wrote: »

Hey guys I'm in Canada on a one year visa - about to renew for another two But I'm having trouble finding an insurance company that will cover me for a full two years! Any suggestions?

Hi

I used BIIS Bridges International Insurance Services, they a company based in vancouver, I got the full two years, more expensive then irish insurance but they won't cover us so these were the cheapest I found in Canada and they have been looking after irish people on the new two year visa. If you email info@biis.ca and give them all your details they will give you a quote.

Good luck

has any1 gone on the iec and not got insurance??

The following information applies to British Columbia (BC). I cannot say whether it applies to all provinces in Canada, maybe it does, but I am speaking from personal experience having moved to BC in May this year. I found out some very interesting and NEW information relating to the health insurance. I read boards.ie daily before I moved here and this was not mentioned.

So like you all, I read stories of people not even being asked to show the health insurance they got at the airport when they arrived and were getting their visas issued. But we didn't want to take the risk right? Our visa stated we had to health cover for the two years. So I got the Go4less insurance via a link on Boards.ie.This cover was the cheapest and essentially glorified travel insurance, but the policy also had medical cover so we hoped it would be accepted. I also read threads that in BC, the goverment offers free health insurance. SO I applied the week I arrived. People it is not free! I got a massive bill for me and my boyfriend (it is $125month for us as common law partners), backdated from when we applied. The billing department said that as we were not Canadians or permanent residents we did not apply for tax relief/low income relief on our bill. I didn't know what he meant until he clearly explained that the condition of our visa was to have health cover as, albeit temporary, our visas make us residents of BC. By law everyone residing in BC (Canadians, permanent residents, temporary working visas i.e. us) must have health cover. It is mandatory. It is not a condition of our visa specifically. He said I cannot just cancel the MSP application either as health insurance is mandatory by law. So I explained I had private health cover (ahem, the Go4less). He said that is great- the health cover does not have to be MSP (this is just cheaper as its through the government), it can be private BUT the cover must be equivalent to the basic MSP. Incidentally, if I can prove the cover is the same, they will waive my bill and leave me alone. But the GO4 less is crap cover and not the same. e.g. I paid $125 to go to the doctor. Msp would have made it free, GO4less let you claim back 30eur or something and I am not bothered making claims from here. Many employers even pay for your MSP.

My advice is a quote I have taken from my employers website (it is a government run agency)

If you are a new or returning resident coming to BC from outside Canada, you should arrange for private coverage during the period you are waiting for MSP to become effective. Normally, the waiting period consists of the balance of the month of your arrival, plus two months.

SO unless you want to take both the risk of breaking the BC law of having no health insurance and then also in the event of needing health cover being stuck with the bill, all you need is three months cover max, once you apply for MSP when you arrive. It is up to you what you opt for but I wish I had this info before hand. The Go4Less is useless cover, the same cost would have paid for 5months of MSP. My new employer actually pays for it but I am stuck with the bill from before that!