Travel Insurance

Travel Insurance offered secure you against any unforeseen events that may occur while you are travelling abroad.It will secure you from any loss/damage incurred, which would create a financial burden otherwise. It will essentially secure you and provide you cover under the following circumstances:

• Medical Expenses
• Personal Accident
• Loss of Passport
• Loss of Checked-in Baggage
• Theft/Loss of Personal Belongings
• Trip Cancellation & Curtailment

How to Buy Best Travel Insurance

While you are planning your next trip, ensure that you buy a comprehensive trip insurance policy, which will provide you with compensation in case of any unfortunate accidents/mishap occurred during the journey. Troubles on foreign soil do not sound exciting. Besides, when it comes to uncertainties there is surely no end to it. Right from any natural calamity, man-made calamity to any malevolent act, a traveller can witness any of it at any point of time. In case you encounter such risky situations, it can drain you financially, physically and emotionally unless you have a trip insurance policy.

Key Features of Travel Insurance Policies in India

A travel policy is designed to cater to the needs of every traveller whether flying domestically or internationally and safeguard them against any financial loss in case of unforeseen event/mishap. Today, having so many alternatives available in the market, let us have a look at the key features of a travel insurance policy provided by insurance companies in India:

• Emergency Hospitalization & Medical Treatment – Nobody can rule out the possibility of a medical emergency while travelling. By insuring your journey, you can stay assured as all your hospitalization and treatment expenses will be taken care of by your insurer.
• Compensation for Flight-Related Adversities – Facing any adversities related to your flight is very common and chances of facing it increase if you are travelling abroad. Whether there has been a flight delay leading to a missed connecting flight or your check-in baggage has been lost or delayed by your airline, your insurer will compensate for the losses you have incurred.
• Cashless Hospitalization Facility – If you get hospitalized or are availing medical treatment at an empanelled hospital of your insurer, you can receive cashless service in which all your medical bills will be settled directly by your insurer. You would not have to pay up the hospital for any covered treatment.
• Customized Policies for Senior Citizens – While travelling, the needs of senior citizens are way different from the needs of other kinds of travellers. Taking cognizance of this fact, most insurance companies offer customized trip insurance policies for elderly people who are travelling within India or abroad
• Available for Frequent Flyers – Buying an insurance policy for each journey can turn out to be pretty expensive for people who travel frequently or multiple times in a year. To ensure that such frequent flyers enjoy the perks of trip insurance plans on each journey without spending a fortune, insurance providers offer multi-trip policies with a year-long validity.

Types of Travel Insurance Plans in India

While buying a trip insurance policy is important to ensure a hassle-free journey, it is more crucial to understand the various types of insurance policies offerred to travellers in India. They have been designed to cater to the need of its every citizen right from a child, adult, student, to a senior citizen, etc.

Let us take you through the different types of travel insurance policies available in India:

On the Basis of Geographical Border:

• Domestic Travel Insurance

  This type of insurance plan is meant for people travelling within the geographical borders of India. It protects individuals as well as families travelling within the Indian states from unforeseen financial emergencies. It provides coverage including medical cover, loss of baggage and personal accident cover amongst others.

• International Travel Insurance

  This type of insurance plan covers individuals and families travelling overseas. It provides a wide range of coverage including medical expenses, dental expenses, financial cash assistance, flight delays, loss of passport, personal liability, loss or delay check-in baggage and hijack distress allowance. Several insurers also offer home insurance to the traveller house back in India as a part of this insurance plan.

• Schengen Travel Insurance

  It is a customized insurance that covers people travelling to one or more than one Schengen countries. It protects the insured travellers from any unforeseen emergencies that may lead to incurring financial losses. Some of the most common coverage provided under this type of trip insurance includes medical cover, loss of passport, delay in check-in baggage arrival, loss of check-in baggage, personal liability, personal accident cover and accidental death & dismemberment (common carrier.

  On the Basis of Type of Travellers:

• Family Travel Insurance

  This type of insurance plan is designed especially for families travelling overseas together. It usually covers the policyholder, his/ her spouse and his dependent children. The sum insured is mostly available in both individual and family floater basis. All insured members of a family can avail covers including medical expenses, loss of passport, personal liability, loss or delay of check-in baggage and many more.

• Senior Citizen Travel Insurance

  This type of insurance plan has been tailor-made, especially, for the elderly people. Most travel insurance companies cover travellers above the ages of 60 under such policies. It protects such travellers from unpredictable financial emergencies including medical expenses, dental expenses, repatriation of mortal remains, loss or delay of check-in baggage, etc.

• Student Travel Insurance

  It is a student-friendly insurance plan that has been customized for Indians travelling abroad to study. It comes with an extended validity of up to 2 years. Apart from the basic coverage of overseas insurance, it also provides the students with covers including sponsor protection, study interruption, two-way compassionate visit and bail bond amongst others.

• Corporate Travel Insurance

  This type of insurance plan has been designed to cater to the needs of corporates travelling for business purposes. It usually has a validity of up to 1 year that allows the insured traveller to undertake several journeys. It includes covers such as flight delay, medical expenses, loss of baggage, missed connecting flight, etc.

• Group Travel Insurance

  It is a comprehensive insurance plan meant for people travelling together in groups. It is usually opted by people organizing tour groups, industrial training, official tours or pilgrimage tours. Many insurance providers offer such policies to people travelling within India as well as abroad. It usually provides personal accident and baggage cover. However, the exact extent of coverage depends on the insurer.

• Medical Travel Insurance

  It refers to the insurance plan that provides extensive medical coverage to insured travellers during their journey. It offers financial assistance in case a medical emergency occurs while travelling international and may lead to hospitalization. Such policies mostly cover hospitalization expenses, daycare expenses, dental expenses, medical evacuation expenses and cost of repatriation of mortal remains amongst others.

  On the Basis of Insurance Policy Validity

• Multi-Trip Travel Insurance

  This type of insurance plan is meant for people who undertake multiple overseas journeys in a year. It offers the same level of benefits on every trip without the need of buying a new policy before each journey. Thus, a traveller ends up saving large sums of money by buying a multi-trip insurance policy. It is mostly purchased by people who go abroad frequently for business purposes.

• Single Trip Travel Insurance

  This type of insurance plan provides protection to the insured traveller only for one single journey. Its validity begins with the start of the journey and ends with its culmination on returning home. It comes with a host of coverage that consists of medical cover as well as non-medical covers such as delay or loss of check-in baggage, personal liability, etc.

  Other Types of Travel Insurance Plans:

• Baggage Insurance

  Baggage Insurance comes into picture when you lose your baggage during your journey due to theft or any other mishap. The losses incurred due to such mishaps might put you in some really big troubles and ruin your trip. In order to get compensated for the damage or loss to your luggage while travelling, you can always rely on baggage insurance.

• Flight Insurance

  It is a custom-made insurance plan that covers an insured traveller from any unforeseen flight-related emergencies faced while travelling. It protects him from any adversity caused during the flight or due to the fault of the airline or their staff. It provides comprehensive coverage of both health insurance and baggage insurance, which includes flight delay, medical cover, accidental death & dismemberment cover, delay or loss of check-in baggage, flight cancellation, flight hijack and missed connection flight.

Eligibility Criteria for Travel Insurance Plans

With a plethora of alternatives available in the market, it is essential to understand that insurance companies in India have a criterion for which you need to be eligible before buying insurance.

In the below grid are the basic eligibility criteria for different types of travel policies offered by insurance companies in India:

*The eligibility criteria may vary from one insurance provider to another.

Why Should You Buy Travel Insurance Policy

In recent times, there has been a paradigm shift in the perception of travelling. People no longer wait for their summer or winter vacation to go for an outstation journey. They instead try to undertake multiple vacations in a year with an aim to explore new places. For the salaried class, travelling is an escape from their everyday stressful and monotonous life. This makes insuring your journey even more prudent to protect yourself from any unfortunate incident that has the potential of spoiling it or causing losses. If you still weighing your options, take a look at why buying the best travel insurance online is a wonderful idea.

• Emergency Medical Expenses – The cost of medical treatment abroad is not the same as in India. In fact, countries like the USA are famous for skyrocketing medical services. But if you have insured your journey, all your medical expenses will be covered be taken care of in case of hospitalization due to an illness or accident abroad. They will also arrange an emergency evacuation to a hospital if required. Moreover, being admitted to a network hospital can help you avail of cashless medical services.
• Mandatory Requirement – Several countries around the world have made it mandatory to possess valid trip insurance in order to apply for a visa for that country. For instance, you need to insure your journey if you want to apply for the Schengen visa. So if you want to visit any such country, you will have to buy one of the best travel insurance policies available in India.
• Helping Hand in Remote Areas – Insuring your journey can turn out to be useful even if you are travelling to remote parts of India or abroad. In case you need emergency medical services in areas with poor medical facilities, your insurer can evacuate you to the nearest city or country and help you get medical treatment on time.
• Stress-Free Trip – An outstation journey can come with its share of uncertainties and cause a lot of stress to the travellers if an unforeseen incident occurs. But if you have your journey insured, all your emergencies can be taken care of by your insurer and you wouldn’t have to worry about a thing.
• Dental Expenses – If you have your journey insured, your insurer will cover the expenses incurred on your dental treatment while travelling.
• Flight-related Complicacies – A lot of times you get stuck by flight or airline-related issues that shake your trip itinerary. Whether there has been a flight delay, check-in baggage loss/ delay, missed connecting flight or flight hijack, you will be adequately compensated if you have insured your journey.
• Protects the Entire Family – A family insurance not only offers protection to you but to each member of your family while travelling. Most insurance providers allow you to choose the sum insured on individual and family floater basis.
• Replacement of Lost or Stolen Baggage – In case your baggage or your belongings get stolen or lost while travelling overseas, your insurer will compensate you for your loss.
• Pays for Personal Liability – In case an unfortunate incident abroad result in a legal liability being imposed on you, your insurer will pay off your liabilities and cover any legal court expenses that you may incur.
• Emergency Cash Assistance – In case you get robbed of your money during your stay abroad, your insurer will come to your rescue and arrange emergency cash for you.

What Does Travel Insurance Cover?

Travel insurance policy takes care of all travel-related odds. A travel insurance policy offers coverage for trip cancellation/ curtailment, delay/loss of checked-in baggage, loss of passport, any medical emergencies, etc. that might occur while you are on your trip.

The travel insurance policy provides a safety net from any unwanted expenses that would otherwise ruin your trip.

Take a look below to understand the following benefits of travel insurance policy coverage:

• Cover for a Cancelled Trip: A trip cancellation coverage will shield you from any prepaid or non-refundable expenses in case your journey is cancelled due to the following circumstances:
  • Any major illness/injury or demise within the family or of your journey companion
  • Bad atmospheric/weather conditions, which act as a barrier for you to reach the destination
  • A terrorist attack at the destination where you are travelling

• Cover for Trip Delay: If in case your flight gets delayed or you miss your connecting flight because of a reason, which is beyond your control, such as a mechanical breakdown of the flight, bad weather condition, and so on then having this cover will secure you for the incurred expenses.
  Moreover, this cover will also compensate for the meals and accommodation-related expenses as per the delay-period.
• Repatriation of Mortal Remains: Envision a scenario, wherein the insured person dies in the middle of his trip. Such demise could be heartbreaking for the family and bringing back the mortal remains of the demised person could be a challenging task and financially draining as well. Besides, completing the formalities in regards to the same will also become a task.
  However, a cover for repatriation of mortal remains will take care of this and the mortal remains will be brought to the country completing all the formalities associated with it and provide a cover for the expenses incurred towards the same.
• Cover for Delayed/ Loss of Luggage: This is an insurance coverage, which should be taken by every traveller, as it will protect you in case of loss of any of your items or delayed luggage.
  Having this benefit will not cover the actual price of the lost items that are delayed. In case of complete loss/damage of the luggage, you will be reimbursed to replace the items lost. These may vary from insurer to insurer in India.
• Cover for any Medical-related Emergency: There is a possibility that you might get sick or injured while you are enjoying your vacation at a foreign location. Having a medical-related emergency coverage will secure you from any cost incurred on any treatment or hospitalization while travelling.
  Having this coverage essentially includes any ambulance related services, physician or medical consultant services, diagnosis charges, hospital charges, and so on.
• Medical Emergency Evacuation: This coverage helps you when you need immediate assistance/ attention, wherein a transport arrangement is made for a nearby hospital under a medical emergency and if required sending the insured to the native country on the medical grounds as per the discretion of the doctors.
• Hijack Distress Allowance: On the off chance, having this insurance coverage will provide you cover in case your flight gets hijacked, which will cause distress then compensation in regards to the same is provided.
• Compassionate Visit: In case, if the insured person falls ill/sick and is hospitalized and an immediate family member is required at the foreign location as per the medical practitioners, then having this cover will cover the expenses incurred towards the transportation and accommodation for the immediate family member travelling.
• Accidental Death and Disability: If under any unfortunate circumstances, the insured passes away or suffers a disablement whether permanent or fractional, having this coverage will provide compensation to the family or the person for the loss.

Does Travel Insurance Cover Coronavirus (COVID -19) Disease in India?

The novel coronavirus disease or COVID-19 is a new strain of viral infection that has infected 1,73,344 people across 152 countries or territories across the world and has claimed 7,019 lives (as of 17 March 2020). The disease, first, originated in Wuhan City of China’s Hubei province in late December 2019. On 11th March 2020, the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared coronavirus disease as a pandemic. India has recorded 137 confirmed cases of COVID-19, out of which there have been three fatalities (as of 17 March 2020).

Governments across the globe have put travel restrictions and are discouraging its citizens from making any non-essential travel abroad, especially to a coronavirus-affected country, unless the situation comes under control. Amidst this grave situation, many people are wondering whether travel insurance would come to their rescue financially if they cancel their overseas travel plan or they get infected with the virus or are put under quarantine, will your travel policy cover the charges?

The answer is YES and NO. Travel insurance covers coronavirus disease but under certain conditions only. Here is a list of situations where coronavirus pandemic is covered or excluded under a travel insurance policy:

Emergency Medical Treatment

Insurance companies in India will cover any emergency medical expenses incurred by the insured on his treatment for coronavirus disease. People who had purchased their policy before the travel restrictions were put in place will continue to be covered for the emergency medical expenses incurred on the treatment of the disease. This cover is available for both international as well as domestic travel. The claims will be made as per the terms and conditions of the policy at the time of its purchase.

Overseas Trip Delays/ Cancellations

Insurers will cover any trip delay or cancellation claim due to the outbreak of coronavirus disease if the policy was purchased before the travel ban had been imposed by the government. Similar to the medical expenses cover, claim amount for this cover will also be settled as per the terms and conditions of the policy at the time of buying.

However, trip delay/ cancellation cover is only available on existing travel policies and not on new policy purchase. People who plan to purchase travel insurance for their overseas trip to a coronavirus affected country, despite government advisory, will not be covered by their insurer. In fact, any claims related to coronavirus will be most likely be excluded from the policy.

Currently, Indians are have been strictly advised to avoid travelling to China, Italy, South Korea, Iran, Spain, France, Germany and Japan until 31 March 2020. Moreover, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has also banned foreigners and Indian citizens arriving from the United Kingdom, European Union and Turkey from entering the country with effect from 18 March 2020 to 31 March 2020.

Domestic Trip Delays & Baggage Loss

Domestic travel insurance policies will cover any trip delays for travel within India as a result of the outbreak of coronavirus disease. The terms and conditions of the policy will remain the same as it was at the time of its purchase.

Omitted/ Optional Covers in Most Schengen Travel Insurance Policies

Claims arising out of the following things are either optional or omitted in most Schengen Insurance policies available in India:

• Pre-existing ailments including asthma, cardiac problems, diabetes and hypertension
• Tailor-made riders can be opted by paying an extra premium amount
• Adventurous sports which pose a risk to life including water sports like scuba diving, mountaineering, fast biking, etc
• Travelling to countries that have been listed as high-risk nations due to natural calamities, war, and terrorist activities, etc
• Stern onset of pre-existing diseases even though the doctor assures it can stay under control

Exclusions of Travel Insurance Plans

Most trip insurance policies do not cover any claims arising out of the following reasons:

• Liquor, Drugs – Any claims arising due to dependency on intoxicants, including alcohol or drugs, will not be covered by your insurer. Even treatment expenses for injuries or illnesses caused while the insured was under the influence of alcohol will not be covered.
• War, Civil War or Terrorism – The insurer will not cover any claims arising due to war-like situations including a civil war in the country where the insured is visiting. It also does not cover any claims arising due to terrorist attacks in the destination country or city.
• HIV AIDS – Treatment expenses for HIV AIDS is usually not covered by most insurers in India.
• Alternative treatment – Most trip insurance does not cover alternative treatment expenses including Ayurveda and homeopathy.
• Cosmetic Treatment –Any claims arising out of the cosmetic surgery of the insured will not be covered by your insurer.
• Adventure Sports – Many insurers do not cover any claims arising out of the insured’s participation in adventure sports activities including scuba diving, mountaineering, bike race, etc.
• Suicide or Self-Inflicted Injury – Any claims arising out of an injury or treatment related to a self-inflicted injury, including suicide or attempt to suicide, would not be covered by your insurer.
• Pre-existing Diseases – Even the top insurance companies in India do not cover pre-existing diseases of the insured traveller under trip insurance.
• Loss of Passport When left Unattended – An insurance provider will not cover the expenses incurred in obtaining a new or duplicate passport if the insured loses his original passport abroad because of leaving it unattended.
• Travelling Against Medical Advice – If the insured is travelling outstation or abroad against the medical advice of the doctor, then any medical treatment expenses incurred while travelling will not be covered by the insurer.

Additional Coverage of Travel Insurance Plans

Many trip insurance policies offer add-on benefits if you opt for additional coverage. These benefits can be chosen for an extra precautionary layer of protection. These additional covers can be obtained by purchasing the best trip insurance online on payment of an extra premium amount to the insurance company.

Here are a few optional/ add-on coverage can be purchased at the time of insuring your journey:

• High-risk/adventure sports activities
• Coverage for visiting war-prone destinations
• Pre-existing illnesses/ conditions
• Enhanced Accidental Death and Dismemberment (AD&D) cover
• Third-party supplier insolvency

Source : policybazaar.com