We read your policy before you buy.
The Coverage That Actually Pays.
We structure travel insurance the way a claims examiner will read it later. Multi-carrier panel — TuGo, Pacific Blue Cross, Travelance. Named senior advisor accountable. Punjabi- and Hindi-speaking claims advocacy when something goes wrong. We pre-screen your medical timeline before you pay a premium, not after the carrier denies the claim.
If we can't place you safely with any carrier on our panel, we tell you — before you've paid anything.
We would rather decline the file than place the wrong policy.
Different carriers, different medical questionnaires, different stability rules
from Super Visa and Visitors-to-Canada coverage. If your trip is 90+ days, this page will mislead you — see the snowbird section below.
Send: destination · dates · ages · any medication changes in last 6 months.
Flying within 30 days? Same-day pre-screen during business hours; after-hours messages are handled the next business day. No obligation. Walk-ins welcome at 150-8888 152A St, Surrey.
Sponsoring a parent's Super Visa? Super Visa insurance for parents visiting Canada. Insuring a visitor coming to Canada? Visitors to Canada insurance. Both products use different carriers, different medical questionnaires, different stability rules, different pricing.
Who this emergency medical page is for.
If you live in BC and you're travelling abroad — vacation, business, family visit to India, family trip to Mexico or Disneyland — this page is for you. Emergency medical only. Not trip cancellation. Not baggage. Not all-inclusive bundles. We separate the products because bundling hides which part is actually expensive.
If you're a snowbird heading to Arizona, Florida, or Palm Springs for the season, this page mentions you briefly and stops. A dedicated snowbird page is coming. For now, call 604-582-0557 — the math and the pre-existing rules work differently for 90-to-180-day trips, and we'd rather walk you through it than send you to a page that almost fits.
Three things most BC travellers get wrong before they leave.
1. The credit card myth.
Premium Canadian credit cards do include some travel medical insurance. The trouble is what they leave out.
Most cards cap coverage at 14 to 21 consecutive days for travellers under 65 — and drop to 3 to 4 days at age 65 and over. CIBC Aventura Visa Infinite: 15 days under 64, 3 days at 65+. TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite: 21 days under 64, drops to 4 days if you or your spouse is 65 or older. Wealthsimple Visa Infinite: 14 days, age 65 cap. (Card details verified May 2026 — certificates update; we re-verify at every binding.)
All of them exclude pre-existing conditions that weren't stable for the carrier's Lookback Window — usually 90 to 180 days, though some run shorter and others extend to a full year. Many require 75% of your trip cost to be charged to the card to activate at all.
Card insurers adjudicate strictly on certificate wording, not intent. Most card certificates include a "material misrepresentation" clause — if your stability declaration was incomplete at the time the card travel coverage activated, the carrier can void the policy retroactively, even for a claim unrelated to the missed disclosure. This is the harshest pattern in card travel-medical denials.
Denial letters cite "failure to disclose a material change in health in the 90-day stability period before the effective date" — and the effective date is departure, not booking. Most card claims denied were technically excluded before departure, even though the traveller believed they were covered.
Check your card. Find the "age cliff" and the "Lookback Window" in your certificate, then send us a photo on WhatsApp. We'll tell you in 10 minutes whether it covers your trip.
2. The MSP myth.
BC MSP is great for Surrey Memorial. It stops at the airport gate.
For emergency hospital care outside Canada, MSP pays a maximum of $75 CDN per day. A US ICU regularly bills $10,000 USD per day. MSP pays what it would have paid in BC; a BC hospital doesn't charge US rates. The difference is yours.
A two-night stay in a Phoenix hospital: MSP covers $150. The invoice we've processed for a Surrey client: materially larger.
Pull your work benefits booklet. Look for "out-of-country emergency maximum" and "pre-existing condition exclusion lookback." Bring it in. We'll wait.
3. The employer benefits myth.
Many BC workers have extended health through their employer, and many of those plans include some out-of-country emergency coverage. The trouble is the limits. Most group plans cap at $1 million to $2 million lifetime, exclude pre-existing conditions if any medication changed in 90 days, and apply trip-day limits (often 30 to 90 days per trip) most employees don't realize exist.
Send us a photo of your group plan booklet — we'll read the out-of-country section with you in 5 minutes and tell you whether you need a top-up policy.
What changes if your claim is denied.
Direct sellers route you to one product. We compare a panel.
BCAA sells BCAA's policy. Costco sells Manulife. Manulife Direct sells Manulife. TuGo Direct sells TuGo. None of them is wrong — and BCAA's $10 million coverage and member discount are real. But none of them puts a panel against your specific health, age, destination, and trip duration before you buy. That's what a multi-carrier brokerage does — different carriers have different stability rules, different age caps, different cancellation windows, and we map your file against the panel before you bind.
The premium is the same either way. The pre-screen and the post-claim accountability are not.
Kul Shergill — Senior Advisor at Prime, B.Sc., Cert Ed., licensed in life insurance in British Columbia since 1988 — and twelve licensed advisors on staff. English at the counter. Punjabi and Hindi at the counter. Seven days a week, including Sundays and stat holidays.
If a claims examiner would flag it later, we flag it before you buy.
Claims help in Punjabi and Hindi.
Most travel-medical brokers offer a Punjabi-speaking salesperson. We staff a Punjabi- and Hindi-speaking claims advocate — the same person stays on your file when the claim hits friction, when an Indian hospital sends a discharge summary in a mix of English and Hindi, when an adjuster wants documents translated, when a denial letter needs an appeal in language the family understands.
Manulife Direct offers translation services. We offer the same advocate who reviewed your file, speaking your language, calling the adjuster directly, submitting translated discharge summaries under your policy number.
The buyer can speak for the parent. You don't need to put your mom or dad on the phone first. Adult-child-booking-for-parents is the most common Surrey pattern, and the process is built around it.
Check your pre-existing conditions before you buy.
Claims examiners assess coverage based on your medical timeline, not how you feel on departure. Carrier adjusters define stability by the absence of diagnostic activity, not just the absence of pain.
What does the carrier mean by "stable"?
Stable means no change in medication (dose increase, decrease, discontinuation, or substitution), no new diagnosis, no new symptom documented in chart notes, no specialist referral, no test ordered (even if results were normal), and no investigations pending results — for the carrier's stability period before your departure date, not your purchase date. Lookback windows are most often 90 to 180 days, though some carriers use shorter windows and others extend to a full year. Each carrier defines it slightly differently; we map yours against the panel before you bind.
What counts as a medical change?
A dose increase from 10mg to 20mg. A new prescription, even for the same condition. A medication substitution (statin A swapped for statin B at the same dose). A new symptom you mentioned to your family doctor — even one you and your doctor dismissed. A referral to a specialist. A test ordered, even if results were normal. Any of these can break the stability period for some carriers — and they appear in your physician's chart notes, which is what the adjuster will request after a claim.
Stable in your mind and stable in the carrier's policy wording are different things. That gap is where most travel-medical claims die.
Every answer on the medical questionnaire is binding. Carriers reserve the right to void coverage retroactively for any answer determined to be incomplete or inaccurate — even if the inaccuracy was unrelated to the condition behind the claim. This is "material misrepresentation," and it is why we run the pre-screen.
How the 5-question pre-screen works.
We run a dated 5-point stability screen covering your carrier's Lookback Window. Answers are recorded under your file before any premium is bound. Three minutes. No obligation.
See the five questions before you start
- Any medication dose adjustment in the last 6 months — including increase, decrease, discontinuation, or substitution?
- Any new prescription, even for the same condition?
- Any new symptom reported to a physician — even one that was never diagnosed?
- Any hospitalization, ER visit, or specialist referral?
- Any test or investigation ordered or pending results?
Want to know which carriers accept recent medication changes and which deny — before you buy? Call us at 604-582-0557. We’ll walk you through each carrier’s stability rule for your specific medications — no form to read, just a straight answer.
Has any traveller had a medication change, new diagnosis, or hospitalization in the last 6 months?
You're not committing to a policy here — you're committing to finding out whether one should be issued at all.
If no carrier on our panel fits your timeline, we tell you before a policy is issued. No shopping you to a different broker, no leaving you to figure it out, no policy that won't pay.
Single trip or annual multi-trip — which one fits.
A single-trip policy covers one departure and one return. Pricing scales with age, destination, and trip length.
An annual multi-trip policy covers unlimited trips in a 12-month window, with each trip capped at a chosen day-limit (commonly 4, 10, 17, or 30 days). The cap is absolute unless you extend the policy before reaching the limit: if you didn't extend in time, a 17-day annual plan provides no coverage on day 18 of a 21-day trip. No pro-rating. No automatic upgrade. We match the per-trip cap to how you actually travel, not how you wish you travelled.
If you've flown twice this year → annual is almost always the cheaper math.
If you haven't → single-trip wins.
If this is you.
Vacation traveller, 1 to 2 weeks abroad.
Mexico, Hawaii, Europe, Asia. You booked flights last week and your spouse asked about the credit card. Read the credit card myth above — most likely your card doesn't carry the whole trip.
Adult child booking for parents travelling to India.
Your mom or dad is going to Punjab for a wedding, a funeral, or an annual visit. They have controlled hypertension or diabetes. India-bound claims are scrutinized more closely against stability rules — the dose change two months ago that your doctor called "minor" can still break the window. You're worried about pre-existing denial in a Delhi hospital. The pre-screen matters more than the quote here, and we want to run it with you in your parent's language if that helps.
Multi-trip business traveller, 4 or more trips a year.
US, Asia, Europe rotation. Tired of buying a fresh policy every booking. We'll match a multi-trip annual to your actual travel pattern — and we'll check the per-trip day cap against your longest trip before recommending anything, because a 17-day cap on a 21-day trip means zero coverage from day 18.
Family vacation, parents plus kids.
Mexico all-inclusive, Disneyland, Hawaii. You want one policy for the whole household. Many carriers cover dependent children free when one or both parents buy — we'll match the carrier that fits your family structure. If your trip is to Mexico or the Caribbean, US-exclusion can lower the premium materially — we'll show you the difference at quote time.
What our Claims Advocacy Package actually does.
Included with every policy we place. There is no version of a Prime travel medical policy without this — it's built into how we place coverage. A documented process with a published SLA.
What happens if you need us from Delhi at 2am. You call the carrier's emergency assistance line on the policy card — they authorize treatment, that's their job, 24/7. Then you call our claims line. We communicate with the adjuster assigned to your file, not a call centre queue.
If treatment occurs in India or any country with non-English medical documentation, our Punjabi- or Hindi-speaking advocate contacts the carrier adjuster, requests the claim file, and submits translated discharge summaries under your policy number. If denied, the advocate pulls the adjuster's notes, physician records, and stability worksheet — and reopens claims that meet the carrier's published appeal criteria.
ICBC renewal while you're travelling? Make sure it doesn't lapse while you're out of the country — we can review your file from a phone call.
Three things we won't do.
Talk to an advisor before you buy.
WhatsApp first — Punjabi- or Hindi-speaking advisor available. Pick the option that fits where you are in your planning.
Replies come from a named advisor during open hours, never an auto-bot. Outside hours, the next-business-day reply names the advisor handling your file.
Or call 604-582-0557 — Punjabi or Hindi advisor available.
Or start a quote if you'd rather see an indicative range first.
Most Surrey households we help with travel also ask us about…
Each of these is a 5-minute check. None is an upsell — each is something a Surrey client might genuinely want a 2-minute answer on while their file is open.
Is your ICBC Autoplan renewal within the next 90 days?
Surrey rates are the same everywhere; how it's handled is not.
Own a Surrey condo?
Condo loss-assessment gaps we spot on audit — most policies we review have the limit set too low for the strata's current deductible.
BC homeowner travelling for more than three weeks?
See how vacancy clauses work during long trips — most home policies trigger at about 30 days of unoccupied residence. Worth knowing where yours sits.
Travelling parents in their 60s or 70s?
The conversation often raises broader protection questions. Worth a separate life insurance conversation with the same advisor.
If a parent is staying longer than 6 months, that's Super Visa territory — different product, different page, different process.
Snowbirds — where this page stops.
If you're heading to the Sun Belt for 90 days or more, you need a different conversation. Snowbird policies use different stability rules, different rate bands, different age caps, and a different claims pattern. A dedicated snowbird page is launching shortly.
Until it's live: call 604-582-0557 and ask for a snowbird review. The senior advisor handling it will be the same person whose name will be on the page when it goes up.
Frequently asked questions.
I have diabetes (or hypertension, or heart history). Can I still get covered?
Yes — if your condition fits the carrier's stability rule. We pre-screen against the panel before recommending a policy. If a carrier won't accept your file, we tell you which one will — and if none of them will, we tell you that before you buy.
What is a stability period?
A defined window (most often 90 to 180 days before departure — sometimes shorter, sometimes up to a full year) during which your medical condition can't have changed — no new medication, no dose changes, no new symptoms, no new tests, no hospitalizations. Each carrier defines it slightly differently. The dose change you didn't think mattered can be what breaks the period. Note: the period ends on your departure date, not your purchase date — buying earlier does not shorten the lookback.
Does BC MSP cover emergencies abroad?
Barely. MSP pays a maximum of $75 CDN per day for emergency inpatient hospital care outside Canada, plus physician services at BC fee schedule rates. A US emergency room visit can exceed $10,000 in a single afternoon. The gap is yours.
Will my credit card travel insurance be enough?
Sometimes — for under-65 travellers on short trips with no health changes in the prior 90 days, premium-card coverage can be functional. Most cards cap at 14-21 days for under 65 and drop to 3-4 days at 65+. All exclude pre-existing conditions that weren't stable for the carrier's Lookback Window. Read your specific card's certificate, or bring it in — we'll read three lines with you in five minutes.
Can I buy a policy for my parents going to India?
Yes. You're the buyer; they're the insured. The buyer can speak for the parent — you don't need to put your mom or dad on the phone first. We'll need their date of birth, trip dates, destination city, and a health declaration. If a claim happens in India, our Punjabi- and Hindi-speaking advocate stays on the file with the carrier — that's the work most direct sellers can't replicate.
I'm 72. Can I buy online?
Not without advisor review. We don't issue instant policies for travellers 70 and older — too much rides on the medical questionnaire being filled out correctly. Call us; the review takes 5 minutes; the policy is the same product, just with the carrier matched correctly. The 5-minute delay prevents the 5-figure denial.
Are my kids covered free?
It depends on the carrier. Pacific Blue Cross covers dependent children of all families free when one parent buys travel medical. BCAA covers kids free with two paying adults under 59. Other carriers have different rules. We match the family structure to the carrier that fits.
How is Prime different from BCAA or Costco?
We're family-owned and we compare a multi-carrier panel — TuGo, Pacific Blue Cross, Travelance. BCAA sells BCAA's captive product. Costco sells Manulife only. Both are legitimate; neither matches a panel against your specific health, trip, and age before you buy. The premium ends up similar; the post-claim experience is the difference. BCAA can't move you to TuGo when BCAA's stability rules fail your file. We can and do.
Can I exclude the US to save money?
Yes. If your trip is to India, Europe, Mexico, or anywhere that doesn't involve US destinations, excluding US coverage can lower the premium materially. Most policies allow transit through the US for up to 5 days without losing the exclusion benefit, which covers most connection scenarios. We'll show you the exact dollar difference at quote time.
What if I have to extend my trip from overseas?
Carriers permit extension only when requested before expiry, with no claim incurred and no change in health since departure. WhatsApp or phone us from wherever you are — Punjabi- or Hindi-speaking advisor available during BC business hours, on-call senior advisor after.
Is there any coverage for trips within Canada?
MSP coordinates with most provinces for emergency care, but the coverage isn't complete — out-of-province ambulance, prescription drugs, and some specialist fees aren't fully covered. Multi-trip annual emergency medical plans often include trips within Canada at no extra premium, which is the cleanest way to handle it.
Does travel medical cover COVID-19?
Most carriers in 2026 treat COVID-19 like any other respiratory illness — covered if you didn't have active COVID symptoms at departure and you don't have a recent unstable diagnosis history. Worth confirming on your specific policy at quote time.
Is repatriation included?
Repatriation — medically-supervised transport back to a BC hospital, or return of remains — is included subject to the carrier's medical-necessity determination, not the family's preference. This is one of the most-disputed claim categories; we walk through what to expect at quote time.
What do I actually do if I have a claim while travelling?
Call the carrier's emergency assistance line before treatment if you can — number is on the policy card. Get a case number. Keep every receipt and discharge summary. Then call our claims line: 604-582-0557. Our Claims Advocacy Package puts a named advocate on the carrier file within 48 hours.
Can I cancel a policy after I buy it?
Yes — most carriers honour a 10-day "free look" window. Cancel within 10 days of purchase (and before departure) for a full refund minus the carrier's flat administration fee — we'll tell you the exact amount for your carrier before you buy. After your departure date, no refunds.
We write travel medical policies across Surrey and the Lower Mainland.
We're at 150-8888 152A St, Surrey, in the Fleetwood community. We write travel medical for clients across the Lower Mainland.
In Surrey: Newton families, Fleetwood retirees, Cloverdale snowbirds, Whalley/City Centre commuters, South Surrey families, Guildford, Fraser Heights, Panorama Ridge, Sullivan, Clayton.
Adjacent areas we serve: White Rock, North Delta, Tsawwassen, Langley, parts of Burnaby, Richmond, North Vancouver.
From Whalley/City Centre: ~12 minutes. From South Surrey: ~8 minutes. From Langley: ~15 minutes.
If you're booked to travel in the next 6 months and you haven't run the medical pre-screen, that's the call to make today.
Honest answer either way.
If we can find the right policy from the panel for your specific trip and medical timeline, we'll show you which carrier, why, and what the premium covers.
If the credit card or employer plan you already have is genuinely enough for your situation, we'll tell you that and thank you for coming in.
Credit card or employer plan may be enough — we'll tell you.