What is Travel Insurance Plan?
Everybody makes a lot of planning to have a hassle-free and comfortable journey. But, if you want to make your journey an enjoyable one, getting a travel insurance is a must. A travel insurance policy helps you make your trip without the hassles and worries. Whether you lose the passport, baggage, personal documents, or need any medical assistance, a travel insurance will help you get out of worries. You may not need it all the time, but it would be an imprudent choice to go without a travel insurance.
What kinds of Travel Insurance Plans can I opt from?
Travel insurance can be categorized on the basis of Destination, Frequency and Purpose of Travel.
1. Basis the Destination of Travel
Domestic Travel Insurance
This travel insurance plan provides cover against checked-in lost/stolen baggage, emergency cash and personal liability, medical emergencies, permanent disability & death, and travel delay/cancellation. Any Indian resident or NRI want to travel in India can buy this insurance. This travel insurance plan remains valid only when travelling in India.
International Travel Insurance
This travel insurance plan is exclusively offered to customers travelling overseas. International travel insurance provides a complete cover against medical expenses incurred overseas, baggage & travel delays, loss of travel documents, hijack, and repatriation expenses.
2. Basis the Purpose of Travel
Corporate Travel Insurance
Corporate Travel Insurance plan is available for employees of an organization and can avail coverage for both domestic and international trips when going for business purposes. Corporate Travel Insurance provides cover for personal belongings, illness/injury, cancelled flights, and cancel/cut short your trip.
Student Travel Insurance
Student Travel Insurance covers expenses against loss of baggage, medical treatment, study interruptions, and other incidental expenses.
3. Basis the Number of Insured
Individual Travel Insurance
Individual Travel Insurance policy is for a single person protecting him/her against the travel related medical and non medical emergencies like trip cancellation, loss of baggage and passport, etc.
Family Travel Insurance
Family Travel Insurance plan covers the family of the insured during travel against the travel related contingencies. A family travel insurance plan provides cover for flight delay, baggage loss, accident, hospitalization, other incidental expenses, etc.
Senior Citizen Travel Insurance
This travel insurance plan provides coverage against the cashless hospitalization and dental treatments, in addition to the benefits available with a typical travel insurance plan. This insurance plan is for people between the age group of 61 to 70 years.
4. Basis the Frequency of Travel
Single-Trip Travel Insurance
Single Trip travel insurance plan provides coverage against the standard risks covered in a policy for a single trip. Single-trip insurance policy offers protection from travel-related contingencies such as loss of baggage, loss of passport, flight delay, medical emergencies, etc.
Multi-Trip Travel Insurance
Multi Trip travel insurance plan offers coverage up to one year of time span. With the multi-trip travel insurance, travelers don’t need to buy the insurance plan every time they go on travelling abroad and thus can save considerable time and money.
What are the Benefits of Buying a Travel Insurance Plan?
Having a travel insurance is one of the key decisions when you have undertaken while planning a travel. Following are the top benefits of buying a Travel Insurance:
Covers Medical Expenses
Getting medical treatment in a foreign country is quite expensive that could burn a hole in your wallet. Anyone may have to face medical attention, so in order to avert from huge medical expenses, it’s better to buy a right travel insurance plan that provides a comprehensive medical cover.
Covers Trip Cancellation and Delay Expenses
Last minute personal/ medical emergency, or any mishap in the family could lead to trip cancellation. This may cause losses in case your travel ticket bookings are non-refundable. You may go for a travel insurance plan that provides cancellation coverage, as it pays you against the financial losses that occur due to cancellation of the trip. Travel Insurance Plans also provide reimbursement for additional hotel and/or meal expenses, when a trip is delayed as covered under the policy.
Protection for Loss of Personal Belongings
If you lose your baggage in transit, your insurer will compensate you against the losses incurred up to the maximum of the sum insured as provided under your insurance policy. Your Insurance Company under this situation will also help you track and recover the baggage. Losing your passport in a foreign country is quite stressful. In this situation, you only need to call to an emergency number provided by your insurer and one of its representatives will not help you get a duplicate passport, but they will also take care of the related expenses incurred.
Provide Medical Cover
You never know what could happen to your health during travel. You may experience severe health injuries that require an urgent medical attention. Moreover, Healthcare expenses may put a setback to your finances and thus, you should get a right travel plan that provides medical coverage against emergency medical assistance.
Facilitate Emergency Evacuation
A catastrophe such as Tsunamis, volcanic ash clouds, or terrorist attacks may strike at any time during the travel. The emergency evacuation becomes a necessity at the occurrence of these sorts of cataclysm. If you are fortunate enough to have a travel insurance cover, it becomes the insurer’s responsibility to evacuate you back to the homeland and provide medical assistance, if required.
24x7 Support
When stuck in a foreign country in an unknown location, having access round the clock support will be quite helpful to get directions in such a tough time. When travelling abroad, it is thus recommended to always carry a copy of the travel insurance document.