The pandemic caused unprecedented change and pressure in the travel insurance industry. Manulife saw tens of thousands of customers affected by COVID-19; requiring them to either change their destinations or adjust their plans. Amidst the challenging times, Manulife demonstrated that customer health and safety remained the top priority by adapting its practices according to the evolving stages of the pandemic. Manulife continues to protect customers while also ensuring they receive the support they need.

“During these unprecedented times, we are managing a much higher volume of claims. Triaging questions, sending communications to partners and customers, dealing with unique situations, managing industry-wide notices, and clarifying product and policy wording are just some of the many actions that have been taken,” explains Wally Thompson, Head of Affinity Distribution, Manulife.

“We’ve had lots of good-news stories and testimonials from customers. We’ve made some very customer-centric decisions, especially during the early days of the pandemic”, says Alex Lucas, Head of Individual Insurance Canada, Manulife.

Manulife was the first company to announce it would provide protection for customers abroad until the end of June, to make sure they would get home safely.

In addition, Manulife provided an additional 90 days on annual plans with no additional premium charges. This benefits customers who already had an Annual Travel Insurance Policy from Manulife (applicable to Annual Medical Policies, Annual All-Inclusive Policies and Annual Non-Medical Policies) with a starting date between May 2019 and March 13, 2020, by giving them an additional 90 days in which to use their coverage.

“We have great frontline teams that really care about their customers, working long hours (sometimes on weekends) to try to help Canadians who were traveling during this time,” adds Alex Lucas.

Manulife recently received some feedback on the support they’re providing customers during the COVID-19 situation:

“My wife Sandra and I would like to express our utmost appreciation for the service you provided in having her travel insurance extended in a seamless way. You facilitated a three-way call to enable me to get connected from Ottawa with my wife in Manila. Throughout the entire process, you were thorough, friendly and patient in explaining every detail in an easy-to-understand way regarding the new insurance coverage as well as responding in a knowledgeable way to our questions for clarifications. We certainly look forward to having Manulife again for our travel insurance needs in the future. It has been such a great pleasure for us to have been served by you.”

“Yours was a most welcome call on Friday and I thank you for facilitating the approved policy. It is a great relief for me. You were thorough, clear and patient when I did not catch some words. I’m grateful that Manulife developed this new policy and has formed a team to reach out by phone to hundreds. Impressive.”