What is travel insurance?
A kind of insurance that secures one’s trip against any travel emergency- be it a weekend trip or a long vacation.
Why is it important for people to travel abroad?
When one travels abroad, they plan everything to the last detail- booking flights, hotel reservations, mode of transport in the new country, the places to visit, etc. But one never plans for things to go wrong. It is important to plan for any eventuality, and travel insurance allows us to do just that.
Read: Delhi to travel
What is covered under travel insurance?
These days, people often book their trips in advance. But sometimes unavoidable circumstances could lead to trip cancellations, which are covered by insurance. Similarly, coverages for up to 27 unplanned situations are available in which one could incur a lot of loss, such as passport loss, baggage loss, medical emergency, etc.
What is NOT covered by travel insurance?
Travel insurance is generally an emergency product. Planned medical interventions are not covered. For e.g. if someone is traveling for medical treatment, the same will not be covered in travel insurance. Although pre-existing medical conditions are not covered in most medical travel insurances, few insurance companies do provide them, sometimes as an exclusion waiver. Also, events subject to prior information are not covered. For e.g. If there is civil unrest or bad weather at the destination prior to travel, indicating one has prior knowledge of the cancellation of the flight is not covered. Few specific exclusions such as adventure activities, pre-existing diseases, drug abuse, etc. are not covered.
Does travel insurance cover loss of cash?
Loss of cash during a trip is not covered, though if one loses their credit card and any fraudulent transactions are made, the losses from those are covered. A special feature is an emergency cash advance. It is an advance one can take from the company in local currency in case one loses their wallet.
Are different travel insurance plans available for different scenarios?
Single-trip travel plans and annual multi-trip travel plans are available. While the former covers one only for that trip for which it is taken, annual multi-trip travel insurance covers every single trip undertaken for the entire year. Besides, there are insurance plans to cater to a specific group of people like family, student, and senior-citizen travel insurance plans.
What are the things you should look out for while purchasing travel insurance?
Travel insurance is a unique product. Though there are so many situations covered under it, there is a catch to it. The same insurance provided by the same insurer with different variances will give one different coverage. For e.g. a silver variant may not have a flight delay, while the gold variant would cover the same. Hence, comparison among different plans helps one immensely.
Read: India Travel Tip
Is it a hassle to buy travel insurance?
Travel insurance is easy to buy for anyone up to 85 years of age. No health check-up is required. One just needs to visit the website of the insurer and purchase a plan by themselves. Assistance over call, chat, and social media is readily available by the service providers.
While buying travel insurance, one must make sure that it covers one for the entire duration of the trip- right from the point they start to coming back home. Good travel insurance assures hassle-free travel.
Read our latest article about: 15 Essential International Travel Packing Checklist
