Travelling

The university does not have a specific travel insurance policy, however we do have a range of policies and/or benefits that provide very similar coverage to our employees.

There are a few components to most travel insurance type policies:

• Cancellation and interruption insurance: The university does not provide insurance in the case of trips being cancelled or disrupted. Travellers can receive assistance from Corporate Traveler if they need to change or rebook flights (all travel beyond Canada/the USA should be booked through Corporate Traveller). Additional costs incurred from travel delays or cancellations (e.g. non-refundable portions of travel costs) may be paid by the university on a discretionary basis according to the travel expense policy.
• Emergency medical insurance: The university provides emergency out of country coverage to all staff through Manulife. Benefits vary by staff group. Employees should check their coverage before travelling. Employees covered by the emergency travel assistance program should carry their Manulife card when travelling and use the emergency numbers provided if in need of help when abroad.
• Travel/flight accident insurance: The university provides accidental death and dismemberment (AD&D) insurance through Manulife. Benefits vary by staff group. This type of policy generally only pays out in the case of very serious injury or death.

While the TRU travel policy states that trip interruption policies should not be purchased by TRU employees, in some instances travel related insurance should be purchased and the expense reimbursed by the university. For example, insurance should be purchased and the expense reclaimed when renting a car for university business outside of BC.

TRU also purchases a special risk terrorism/war excess travel policy. This policy covers employees on business travel who experience war or terrorism related incidents that might otherwise be excluded from the normal emergency travel assistance program. In order to be covered by this policy, trips must be pre-approved by the president, appropriate vice-president or, for TRU World business, only the AVP TRU World. Information about this policy can be obtained from the Risk Management Office at [email protected].