Sending employees on business travel may be critical for you company in order to participate in conferences to keep up on the latest trends, meet with clients to establish and maintain relationships or to source supplies or equipment.

Do you offer travel insurance to your employees? Some companies do, and some don’t. The next time your employees take a business trip out of province or out of the country, remind them to take the time to check if the coverage you offer is adequate – especially if your employee plans to add extra days away to the necessary business travel making their time away ‘bliesure’ time.

41% of business travelers want to add on personal travel to their work trip

According to the SAP Concur White Paper for Canadian Business Travelers employees expect flexibility with their business travel, from support with their work-life balance to ensuring they are using sustainable travel options.

Strikingly, over 40% do want to experience ‘bliesure’ travel – taking the opportunity to spend some personal vacation or workcation time at their destination.

For Canadian business travelers, health and safety remain top of mind

Staying healthy and safe while traveling for business is a top concern for travelers—and that need continues in the time before or after the business conference or meetings are scheduled.

When your employee travels out of the country, or outside of their home province, many emergency medical expenses are not covered by their provincial health insurance plan. That can be a significant financial risk – costing hundreds or thousands of dollars in medical expenses if an accident or unexpected illness strikes.

That’s why its important to plan ahead with adequate travel insurance. What does adequate mean? The emergency medical coverage must cover the entire duration of their trip.

If your employees is planning a business trip extension, do they know what the duration of their travel coverage is that is built into their health benefit. Its usually limited to a certain number of days. Do they have individual health insurance plans? Then coverage can range from 5 to 30 days.

If their existing emergency medical travel coverage doesn’t cover the duration of their entire trip, they should ‘top up’ to extend their protection. A top-up plan can help cover travel days that are over and above the existing annual plan at a daily rate and can be purchased ahead of their travels.

What if they decide to stay after their business trip is already underway? Share this information on top-up coverage to ensure your employee stays protected.

There are other threats to travel that should be covered too

There are many travel insurance options available to cover other travel risks coverage for rental cars, business equipment, and travel delays.

Trip delay and interruption coverage

If your employee must miss a portion of their trip or it is cut short because of a late flight, mandatory evacuation at their destination, their host dies or is hospitalized their costs can be protected by trip interruption coverage. This coverage is not included in a travel emergency health plan but can help ensure that the financial cost of the unused trip isn’t completely lost.

Baggage loss coverage

This coverage helps to pay for lost, damaged, destroyed, or stolen baggage and personal effects, anywhere in the world, on water, land or in the air. Your employee would also be covered for stolen currency due to theft and payment for personal necessities if your baggage is delayed.

You can help employees plan ahead for travel insurance

You could send employees a reminder about the importance of travel insurance when you get notice that they intend to extend their business trip. Buying travel insurance online at SBIS lets your employee take care of that important detail from the comfort of their own home, at any time of the day or night. To take advantage of the convenience of buying travel insurance online, they will need to purchase the coverage before they leave the province. For trip cancellation, interruption, or baggage protection, they must apply coverage as soon as they book their trip.

If your employees take frequent business trips out of the province or out of country and often choose to extend their stay, multi-trip insurance can cover them for all of their trips within a twelve-month period.

SBIS provides expert guidance your employees can trust

Just like our small business health insurance options, SBIS is proud to partner with some of the most recognizable names in the emergency medical travel insurance industry to offer comprehensive coverage at competitive rates. Each of the carriers we work with has different types of coverage available for your travel insurance needs. SBIS can be a dependable guide to help choose the right insurance carrier.

If you or your employees require any assistance at any time in the travel insurance purchase process, call us at 1-800-667-0429 during our regular business hours, or email us at general@sbis.ca for prompt service at any time.