Travel Insurance for international and domestic trips is somewhat seen like an unnecessary expense by the Indian travellers. It is generally presumed that nothing unfortunate would happen, often undermining the significance of why every traveller should get his trip insured.
In actuality, eventualities can knock anytime. And buying travel insurance for your trip, mainly abroad, is a significant aspect of a trip, which should be taken seriously. If you have the right travel insurance policy, it can save you a fortune given exorbitant medical fees overseas in the event of an emergency.
Answering the Why: Life is unpredictable and so can be your travel plans. For both domestic and international travel, it’s important to buy a travel insurance policy, to cover any unforeseen circumstances - like medical/ health emergencies, lost baggage, missed flights, loss of passport/documents, personal liabilities, also hijack and repatriation.
It also covers non-refundable things in case you fall sick before your trip, demise of someone close or even natural calamities. There are multiple plans and the coverage amount varies too. So, what you can do is compare travel insurance policies online, from at least 2-3 insurance companies and decide which one will best suit your needs.
The trick lies in purchasing a foolproof travel insurance that offers timely compensation in case of an emergency situation. The eternal question, whoever remains: How to compare and finalized the right travel insurance plan that meets most of your requirements.
A number of factors that need to be considered while buying travel insurance online are as follows:
- 1. Comparison - Evaluate what you need and do some research about a few other insurance companies, their background, records, and customer reviews. After analyzing the benefits and suitability, you can figure out, which one better secures your travel needs.
- 2. Types of Insurance - There are different insurance plans for international travel, domestic travel, family travel, student travel insurance and senior citizen. For those who are 65 and above, can choose a senior citizen plan allowing coverage for prior illness in certain conditions and also fortuitous death.
- 3. Duration of the Stay/Travel - The longer your journey the larger the premium and vice versa. If you fly frequently for business purposes, then you can choose from yearly travel insurance premiums also. People you travel for leisure can take an insurance policy during that time as well.
- 4. Age limit - Obviously risk cover varies with age limit. If someone is of 20-25 years of age, then that person might get less insurance cover as compared to someone who is 50 years and above. The severity of illness varies with age and also the medical travel insurance plans.
- 5. Medical Exclusions - Your insurer should know about your current medical conditions, so that, they can inform you about suitable travel insurance policy accordingly. Some insurance companies may agree to cover your medical conditions. Sometimes, they might even take some extra premium or just disagree to include certain conditions.
- 6. Destination - In India, travel insurance is comparatively less expensive as compared to other countries. So, in this case, if you are travelling to the United States or Thailand, the premium will vary. That is why it is important to choose your travel insurance plan as per the country, you are travelling to or are planning to go.
- 7. If You Are Doing Any Adventurous Sports - If you love adventure and are planning to take up some extreme adventure sports like skydiving or scuba diving, then you can buy a specific travel insurance that covers adventure sports.
Based on your priorities, you can compare travel insurance policies online and choose the one which will give you maximum coverage. Do not fall in the trap of a cheap or very economical policy; make sure it gives you enough health insurance cover, in case of a mishap.
A good travel insurance policy protects you from pitfalls such as trip delay or cancellation, loss of passport and baggage. If your travel itinerary is long and your air-ticket is also non-, it is wise to have travel insurance cover.
And if you travel on regular basis, it is advisable to buy an annual plan as it will be a more convenient and cheaper option for you. It will cover you for a year during both personal and business travel.
It comes in handy when there is a medical emergency or your meet with an accident during your trip. Moreover, with the cashless facility, you can save yourself from shelling out hundreds of dollars in an unknown country.
