Clarify All Doubts Related To Travel Insurance
Financial contingencies might strike anyone and at any time. Even when you are taking a break from the monotony of daily life and going on a trip, an emergency might strike when you are travelling. Such emergencies not only cause inconveniences, they incur a financial loss too. A travel insurance policy comes to your rescue by providing you compensation for the financial loss suffered. The policy covers your travel related emergencies and gives you financial aid.
Travel insurance protectsyou against financial risks and losses that might occur during a trip abroad. This financial protection is provided to cover all your costs and losses arising from minor to significant issues during travel like delay in transit or loss of checked-in baggage, lost passport and other personal belongings, flights delays and cancellations, hotel booking cancellations etc. It also benefits you by providing access to services during medical emergencies like transportation to hospitals and cashless treatment in case of accidents, emergency dental expenses, compensation in case of accidental deaths and permanent disablements, medical and body repatriation etc.
Following are some of the benefits of buying a travel insurance for your overseas trip.
- Compensation for accidental bodily injuries, permanent disablements or even death during trip
- Reimbursement of expenses incurred during transportation to hospitals and medical treatments
- Emergency dental care expenses are covered
- Daily allowance in case of hospitalisation
- Compensation for non-refundable trip cancellations
- Cost of emergency accommodation during calamities like fire, flood, earthquakes etc.
- Covers loss of passport and other personal documents
- Distress allowance in case of hijack of flights
- Legal expenses arising in case of claims towards third party damages or death
Buyingtravel Insurance online is a simple and easy process. Just fill in details about your trip to generate a quick quote, select your plan according to your needs and the premium that suits you, proceed to buy and pay online through net banking, credit and debit card.Your overseas travel insurance policy would be generated instantly and a confirmation mail would be sentto your registered email address. Details such as your name, policy number, coverage and deductible information and toll-free number to address your claims would be included in the policy schedule.
There are a lot of travel insurance companies that offer attractive plans to secure your trip. If you want to choose the best travel insurance provider, the following points should be considered –
- The company should offer a range of travel insurance plans which should cover the destination you are travelling to
- The travel insurance plans of the company should allow a comprehensive scope of coverage
- The premium rates should be affordable and competitive
- The claim settlement procedure of the company should be simple and quick. Moreover, the company should allow the intimation of travel insurance claim online
- The company should have a wide network of service providers throughout the world for easy claim settlements.
In case you have cancelled your trip, you have to submit proof in form of passport copy to show that you did not undertake the journey. A request for cancellation of policy is generally considered within 14 days after commencement of policy or as give in the policy schedule. A nominal fee would be charged for cancellation of the policy.
A travel insurance premium is calculated based on the following factors:
- Age – One of the major factors affecting the premium of a policy is age of the members travelling. Senior citizens have to pay higher premiums for the same trip.
- Duration of the stay. The longer the duration, higher is the premium outgo
- Sum insured – It is the maximum amount of coverage allowed under the insurance plan for various benefits. Higher sum insured leads to higher premium
- Deductibles – It is the share of the expense that is borne by the insured person. Having high deductibles in the policy can bring down the premium
- Destination – Your travel insurance premium depends on how high are the medical costs in the country you are travelling to. For example, in Asia region, Japan will have higher treatment costs compared to other countries and hence may command a higher premium
Travel insurance plans come in different variants depending on the trip taken, the destination, the type of trip, etc. Here are the different types of travel insurance policies available in the market –
- International travel insurance plans These policies cover international trips taken for business or holiday. The policies can be offered as destination specific plans also like Schengen plans, worldwide including USA and Canada, worldwide excluding USA and Canada, Asia plans, etc.
- Domestic travel insurance plans These policies cover trips taken within India for business or holiday.
- Senior citizen travel insurance plans These travel insurance plans cover individuals who are aged 60 years and above, i.e. senior citizens, going on a trip.
- Student travel insurance plans These policies are designed for students who travel abroad for higher education. The policy covers students for the risks they face when studying in a foreign country.
- Single trip policies These travel insurance policies are offered for a single trip taken by an individual.
- Annual multi-trip policies These policies are designed for individuals who travel frequently for business purposes. These policies are offered for one year and cover unlimited number of trips taken within the year.
Deductible is a portion of the expense which has to be borne by the insured. This gets deducted from the claim amount by the insurance company while settling claims.Deductibles are applicable for claims under emergency medical treatments, dental expenses, hospital cash allowance, loss of baggage and personal documents, flight delays etc.
Following coverages are included in an overseas travel insurance policy
- Financial emergency assistance – In case of robbery or theft, emergency cash would be provided
- Hotel accommodation –hotel accommodation expenses would be covered in cases of an extended stay due to emergencies
- Flight delays – additional expenses arising due to flight delays are covered
- Hijack distress allowance – compensation in case of hijacks
- Third party liability – liabilities for any third party damages or injuries caused in accidents are covered
- Loss or delay of checked-in baggage – in case your checked-in bags are lost in transit or delayed, expenses for essential purchases are reimbursed
- Loss of passport and personal documents – in case of loss of theft, expenses for getting a duplicate passport are reimbursed
- Emergency medical and dental expenses – cashless treatment facility in case of medical emergencies
- Medical evacuation – assistance in emergency evacuation to nearest hospital in case of distress situations
- Accidental death or permanent disablement – lumpsum compensation to family in case of unfortunate events
- Repatriation of mortal remains – covers expenses of taking insured person’s remains to the home country in case of death
Claims arising out of following expenses are not covered in a travel insurance:
- Expenses incurred in hospitalisation due to self-inflicted injuries
- Injuries caused due to participation in adventure sports
- Any cosmetics or obesity treatment costs
- Hospitalisation costs due to pre-existing ailments
- Travelling abroad against advice of a physician
- Accidental injuries under the influence or alcohol or drugs
- War or nuclear threats in the destination country
- Expenses due to theft or loss of passports when not reported to local police authorities
Insurance company would pay actual expenses incurred to obtain a duplicate or fresh passport or obtain the stolen documents belonging to the insured.
This benefit will reimburse the insured person cost for the purchase of necessary personal effects like toiletries, clothing, medication etc. while the delay of checked baggage has occurred.
No, there are no check-ups required for buying travel insurance. All such pre-existing medical conditions need to be declared at the time of purchasing insurance. And any claim arising out of treatments for such ailments will not be covered during the trip.
Emergency medical evacuation refers to assistance provided for transportation of the insured member to the nearest hospital. Whereas medical repatriation means assistance given for transportation of the insured person to home country in case of emergency.
In case of a claim in your travel insurance policy you have to follow a travel insurance claim process. The process depends on the type of claim that you face. The common steps, however, are as follows:
- Inform the insurance company immediately of the claim. The company has a partnered service provider who can help you with claims. Call up the service provider of the company for claim assistance
- For cashless medical claims, the service provider would inform you of the steps to be taken. The hospital should also be informed of your hospitalisation and cashless treatments
- In case of baggage claims a claim form should be filled detailing the loss suffered.
- For passport loss, personal accident or third party liability, the police should be informed and a FIR should be filed
For a successful travel insurance claim settlement, the following documents should be submitted to the insurance company and/or the service provider –
- Claim form, duly filled and signed by the policyholder
- Police FIR, wherever applicable
- Medical reports, discharge summary, original hospital and medical bills in case of medical claims
- A report issued by the common carrier in case loss or delay of baggage
- A statement of expenses showing the costs incurred in case of loss of baggage or passport
- Death certificate, disability certificate, post mortem report, etc. in case of accidental claims
- Any other document which the insurance company might need
A travel insurance policy covers different types of contingencies which might occur on the trip. As such, there are different types of claims depending on the contingency suffered. Some of the common types of travel insurance claims are as follows –
- Medical claims A travel insurance policy covers medical emergencies which you might face due to illness or injury when you are travelling. If any medical complication arises, it is classified as a medical claim.
- Baggage claims Travel insurance policies also cover delay or loss of your checked-in-baggage. So, if you lose your checked-in-baggage or if the baggage is delayed, you face a baggage claim.
- Passport claim If you lose your passport when you are on an international trip, you would get coverage against such loss and the claim would be a passport loss claim
- Personal accident claim If, while travelling, there is an accidental death or accidental permanent disability, a personal accident claim would arise in the travel insurance policy
- Personal liability claim If you injure any third party or damage any property belonging to a third party you face a legal liability. You need to compensate the third party for the loss caused and this is called a personal liability claim
- Trip cancellation/interruption/curtailment claim If your trip is cancelled, cut short or interrupted, you can make a travel insurance claim for the financial loss suffered on flights and hotel accommodations.
- Other claims Depending on the coverage benefits under the travel insurance policy that you buy, you can also get claims for instances like missed flight connection, hijack allowance, dental treatments, emergency cash advance, etc.
Though a travel insurance policy provides an all-round coverage, there are instances when the claim can be rejected. These instances are as follows –
- If a claim is made for an excluded cover
- If the individual facing the claim is not insured under the policy
- If the claim occurs after the completion of the trip
- If the proper claim process is not followed
- If the relevant documents are not submitted
