Travel Insurance is insurance that is intended to cover medical expenses and financial (such as money
invested in nonrefundable pre-payments) and other losses incurred while traveling, either within one's own
country, or internationally. Temporary travel insurance can usually be arranged at the time of the booking of a
trip to cover exactly the duration of that trip, or a more extensive, continuous insurance can be purchased
from travel insurance companies, travel agents or directly from travel suppliers such as cruise lines or tour
operators. However, travel insurance purchased from travel suppliers tends to be less inclusive than insurance
offered by insurance companies. Travel insurance often offers coverage for a variety of travelers. Student
travel, business travel, leisure travel, adventure travel, cruise travel, and international travel are all various
options that can be insured.
We all love to travel to different locales. However, it is important to be safe from traveling risks. You should
always ensure that you have travel insurance, especially when you are going to a new place or to a place for
the first time.
There are many different types of travel insurance that you can get from your travel agent. Find out a package
that best suits your needs. It might be possible also to make tailored travel insurance if you cannot find one
that is suited for your kind of trip or vacation.
Types of Travel insurance:
- Single trip travel insurance is for you and your family when you a planning just a single trip or a
holiday. It will give your basic cover for trip cancellation along with medical insurance for the duration
of your trip. At times, it is quite possible to include some additional coverage at an elevated price.
- Multi Trip Travel Insurance is for frequent fliers and travelers. Some insurance companies specify
the number of trips that can be covered by the insurance. This insurance offers a good discount and
you include additional coverage like winter holidaying or golf.
- Long stay travel insurance is for duration of 3 to 18 months and is ideal for those who like to take
long trips. This is especially suited for holidays when you are visiting your relatives or friends.
- Medical Travel Insurance covers all health related issues that might occur during a holiday.
However, you have to declare all pre-existing medical conditions and you might have to take a special
coverage for those.
Then there are other types of insurance that will cover you when you go on a cruise, business travel or a
group travel. You should find one that best suits your traveling needs and if you cannot get it from your travel
agent, contact your insurance company.
Inclusions & Exclusions:
Coverage types
The most common risks that are covered by travel insurance are:
Medical expenses
Emergency evacuation/repatriation
Cashless Hospitalization
Dental Treatment
Repatriation of remains
Trip cancellation/interruption
Accidental death, injury or disablement benefit
Delayed departure
Loss, theft or damage to personal possessions and money (including travel documents)
Delayed baggage (and emergency replacement of essential items)
Legal assistance
Personal liability and Personal Accident
Hijack Distress
Missed connection
Optional coverage
Some travel policies will also provide cover for additional costs, although these vary widely between providers.
In addition, often separate insurance can be purchased for some extreme cases, which comes at a specific
cost:
Pre-existing conditions (e.g. asthma, diabetes)
Sports with an element of risk (e.g. skiing, scuba-diving)
Travel to high risk countries (e.g. due to war or natural disasters or acts of terrorism)
Additional AD&D coverage(Accidental death and dismemberment insurance)
Kidnap and ransom insurance
Common exclusions:
Pre-existing medical conditions
War or nuclear perils or terrorism - but some plans may cover this risk
Injury or illness caused by alcohol or drug use or carelessness
Medical expenses towards treatment of any pre-existing illness (unless of life threatening nature),
pregnancy or complications related to the same (unless of life threatening nature), suicide, self inflicted
injury or illness, mental disorder, anxiety, stress or depression, venereal disease, alcohol/drug abuse,
dangerous sports, HIV/AIDS etc will not be payable.
No claim will be paid if you or any of your family members. Is travelling against the advice of a
Physician. Is receiving or on a waiting list for specified medical treatment declared in the Physician's
report or certificate? Is travelling for the purpose of obtaining treatment. Has received a terminal
prognosis for a medical condition.
Theft or loss of passport when left unattended or not informed to Police authorities.
In case of loss of checked baggage, no partial loss or damage shall become payable.
Usually, the insurers cover pregnancy related expenses, if the travel occurs within the first trimester. After
that, insurance coverage varies from insurer to insurer.
Travel insurance can also provide helpful services, often 24 hours a day, 7 days a week that can include
concierge services and emergency travel assistance.
Major Travel Insurers in India:
Reliance General
Cholamandalam General
Royal Sundaram
ICICI Lombard
Star Health
Bajaj Allianz General
Apollo Munich
Tata AIG General
Making the Choice:
It can be difficult to purchase travel insurance for just one trip. A lot of the time you can only purchase
insurance per year which if you are a jet setter isn't a problem but for the average joy blogs is a waste of
money. I find that I can only go abroad once a year and it seems a waste of money to purchase travel
insurance for the whole year. I wouldn't bother with the hassle of changing to single trip insurance if there
wasn't a huge difference in price.
By searching online you can appreciate how much money you are likely to spend on your insurance and then
determine which company gives the best value for money. Searching online doesn't have to be difficult, you
can search at your leisure and there is no need to search for hours from one site to another. The best way to
search for the best deal is on comparison sites. This not only enables you to view reviews from previous
customers whether they are positive or negative but you are instantly given the top best companies. The
combination of this means that you can determine which company not only is the most reliable but offers the
best service at the best price.
Next time you are looking to go away bear in mind that you could save money on your insurance by
purchasing one trip travel insurance.
So enjoy your holiday and the extra money you've saved will buy you some tasty meals out once you're in the
sun!
Often, you will want to take a single, short trip and need travel insurance. Buying long term travel insurance
isn't necessary and will often cost more, so you may find that purchasing single trip travel insurance is a better
option.
In general, annual trip insurance, while it covers more than one vacation or business trip, covers just the
basics. With a single trip travel insurance policy, you can easily set up your own specifications, depending on
the travel insurance provider. Various options are provided and you can mix and match them quite easily with
a single trip travel insurance policy.
The ideal candidates for single trip travel insurance are elderly couples heading out on a cruise, the
honeymoon couple taking a break from their jobs to celebrate their union in Hawaii and teens doing a missions
trip in Africa, just to name a few. Basically, if you know this is going to be a once in a blue moon thing, leaving
the country, you will want to make sure that you only purchase travel insurance for one trip. This saves you
cash that you can easily spend while on your vacation.
Yet, there are many different types of travel insurance that you can get from your travel agent. Find out a
package that best suits your needs. It might be possible also to make tailored travel insurance if you cannot
find one that is suited for your kind of trip or vacation.
Benefits of choosing a single trip travel insurance policy.
Pricing: Single trip travel insurance will be cheaper than multi trip travel insurance. For anyone who has no
plans to take more trips in a year, going with the single trip travel insurance is the best choice.
Trip Cancellation: Your trip may be canceled for any number of reasons, including bad weather, riots, death in
the family or any other issue that arises and forces you to cancel. This could be disastrous if you don't have
travel insurance. Single trip travel insurance can cover this problem and you won't have to lose all your money
on tickets that were canceled. Check with your travel insurance provider to help you understand all your
options in this area.
Medical Evacuation: If you suddenly become ill while on a cruise or traveling elsewhere, you can be evacuated
to the nearest competent hospital if needed. For those who are traveling outside of their home country, this
can be very useful since hospitals in other countries may not be up to our medical standards. With single trip
travel insurance, this should be covered for you, but check with your travel insurance provider, of course, to
get all the details.
Lost or Stolen Luggage: Unfortunately, it's all too common to arrive at your destination and discover that your
suitcase has gone to Timbuktu. Rather than losing everything, make sure to purchase a single trip travel
insurance that will cover the loss of luggage and make sure that you can replace valuable items like your
laptop or iPod.
Lost or Stolen Passport: As you can imagine, it can be pretty bad to lose your documents, such as a passport,
overseas. Your single trip travel insurance will help cover the costs involved with getting a new passport,
particularly if it has to be a rush job or a temp passport due to travel timing. This way you won`t have to
stress out as much about the cost of new documents.
Single trip travel insurance is ideal for anyone who doesn't leave home more than once a year. If you are just
heading out for a week or so, taking a cruise, attending a business convention elsewhere, etc. you can save
quite a bit of money and customize your insurance options with single trip travel insurance.
Benefits of choosing a Long stay travel insurance policy:
Although most of the benefits are common to both, the pricing and the wide scope of coverage, possesses the
ability of differentiation.
Since nothing is explicitly mentioned about the period of visit other than the word Summer, we can also
assume that she might need a long term policy of 3 months or more.
Documents required:
1. Name, address proof & ages of persons to be insured: Children cover those less than 14 years of age.
Often the premium charged for children is half the adult equivalent.
2. The countries being visited: the rating of the risk is directly related to this factor. E.g. Northern Europe
presents less of a risk than Africa. On the other hand, medical costs in USA are on a significantly higher
scale and this is represented in the premium levels.
3. The length of the holiday or journey: much of this business is written as a scheme business and so
various combinations of package arrangements have been developed by different issuers and scheme
operators. A number of these offer prices in bands which cater for different groups of holiday periods.