India Overseas Travel insurance Online

It may be surprising to note that insurance is not as costly a product as it is perceived to be. (For example for a 35 year old traveller to Asia for a period of 5 days, the insurance premium across 10 products from 5 insurance companies ranges from ₹334 to ₹491 for the whole trip – this is cost of a cup of coffee/burger at the International Airport. And this is for an average coverage of USD $25,000 which is around ₹17,00,000 for Accident & Sickness). While longer duration travel to more developed nations like USA, Europe, UK will have higher premiums, these premiums are related to the cost of medical treatment in those respective countries and they can be very costly for an Indian traveller given the relative weakness of the Indian Rupee ₹. Even for Students going abroad for their studies, the Indian insurers do offer competitively priced insurance plans with comprehensive benefits at a much cheaper premium than what the student will end up shelling out at the University for a similar coverage. Hence it is strongly recommended that every traveller buys an insurance policy before leaving India.

It is not fair to state that any insurance plan is better or worse than another plan. What is important to note that each insurance plan comes with a different set of benefits at varying sum insureds and it is important for the insured to compare the options available before making a decision. There are two aspects to travel insurance. One is the set of benefits/coverages under the plan. Hence the insured must consider the following while deciding on the insurance plan and company – Duration of Travel, Destination of Travel, Age of the Traveller, Coverage required. A younger traveller can opt for a lesser coverage while an older traveller should take a more comprehensive cover with higher benefits . Second and more importantly the insured should consider the Assistance and Claims support available in the foreign location. It is better to partner with an insurance company who has a strong Assistance partner and a large network of hospitals abroad. This will ensure seamless cashless treatment and prompt travel and claims assistance should the need arise.

The traveller must consider the following while deciding on the insurance plan and company – Duration of Travel, Destination of Travel, Age of the Traveller, Coverage required. EIndia actually does this comparison work for the traveller. Once this information is provided, EIndia will collate all the information and present in a tabular form the insurance plans/premiums offering the required coverages and this process makes it easier for the traveller to make an informed decision. Once should not assume that the cheapest insurance premium policy has the least coverages or vice versa. The traveller should have the comparison and then decide based on the coverage and premium and reputation of the insurance company. There are many strong travel insurance providers who have been offering travel insurance solutions for many years and have been settling claims promptly and these providers should be evaluated before finally choosing your insurance partner.

Cheapest insurance often represents the insurance plan which offers the least premium to the traveller. These plans normally come with lesser sum insureds and coverages for the traveller and hence it is prudent for the traveller to not only look at the premium but also compare the benefits of the plans available before making an informed choice. Given that the traveller is already spending reasonably large monies for their tickets and hotels, there is a tendency to cut corners on the insurance policy and buy the one with the least premium. By spending a little more effort and a slightly higher premium outlay, the traveller could end up buying a relatively more comprehensive insurance plan that just the cheapest insurance policy which if the best way to proceed. A cheaper premium plan could also mean that the deductible (insured’s contribution to a claim) is higher which may result in the insured shelling out a higher part of the claim incurred later during the trip. Hence it is advisable that the traveller compares like products (apples with apples) before arriving at the optimum plan.

Ideally the traveller must buy travel insurance once they have finalise their travel plans and booked their air tickets and hotels/tour packages. The specific reason for booking the insurance at this stage is that for any unforeseen yet covered reasons if the traveller’s trip is cancelled and they have a Trip Cancellation benefit in their insurance plan, then they can make a claim for the non refundable part of the Air Tickets/Hotel & Tour Bookings even before their trip would’ve started. Covered cancellation reasons include:

• Death or diagnosis of Critical illness of the Insured or following immediate family members-Spouse, Children, Parents, Brother, Sister, Grand Parent, Grand Children, Parent In Law.
• A booked common carrier outside India being delayed for at least 24 hours due to Strike, industrial action, riot, civil commotion, severe weather condition, natural disaster, hijack or mechanical breakdown of public common carrier.
• Serious Damage to Your residence in India arising from fire, flood, earthquakes and riots.

Let’s look at an example:

• Passenger A had booked an International Holiday on 10th February 2019 for travel from 25th May 2019 onwards for 1 month. It is recommended that he book his insurance policy with Trip Cancellation benefit immediately on 10th February 2019. Here’s why…
• The cost of the Airfare was ₹50,000, Hotel ₹15,000 and Tour Package ₹20,000 totalling ₹85,000. As is normally the case in all these bookings, there will be a cancellation clause attached to them.
• Unfortunately Passenger’s A immediate family member was diagnosed with a critical illness and unfortunately passed away in March 2019 due to which Passenger A was forced to cancel his trip.
• Without insurance in place and assuming that the airline, hotel and tour package company had a 50% cancellation clause, then Passenger A would receive a refund of ₹42,500 and forfeit the other 50%. With an insurance policy covering Trip Cancellation in place, he can file a claim with the insurance company for the remaining ₹42, 500 giving the reason for cancelling the travel and the insurer would’ve reimbursed the non refundable expenses.
• Without Insurance in place, Passenger A’s loss would’ve been ₹42,500. With Insurance in place, Passenger A’s loss would’ve been ₹0

The above example illustrates why the traveller should buy their insurance policy (with a coverage for Trip Cancellation) when they book their tickets/hotels/tour packages.
If for whatever reason the traveller does not purchase their insurance policy immediately, they should definitely buy the same prior to their departure from India. No insurance policy can be purchased once they have left India and their trip has commenced.
Also, in the case of Schengen countries where insurance is required for obtaining a visa, the insurance policy will need to be purchased upfront.

Single Trip Insurance policies do not have a free look period. However an Annual Multi Trip period has a free look period of 15 days from the date of receipt of the Policy document to review the terms and conditions of this Policy provided no trip has been commenced. If the insured has any objections to any of the terms and conditions, the insured has the option of cancelling the Policy stating the reasons for cancellation and he/she will be refunded the premium paid for the policy, after adjusting the amounts spent on stamp duty charges and proportionate risk premium. The insured can cancel the policy only if the insured has not made any claims under the Policy.

It is important for all travellers to note that the Travel Insurance policies are not just coverage for Medical Expenses, both Accident and Sickness…there are many important non medical covearges, most of which are listed below:

• Baggage Delay - Compensation for reasonable expenses incurred, whilst overseas, for purchase of emergency personal effects like toiletries, clothing, medication etc. due to late arrival of checked in baggage on account delay or misdirection by the common carrier
• Baggage Loss – This benefit will reimburse the insured for loss of checked in baggage in the custody of the common carrier subject to the policy limits in the chosen plan
• Loss of Passport – This benefit will reimburse reasonable expenses incurred by the insured to obtain a duplicate passport from the Indian embassy abroad.
• Personal Liability - If due to an act of negligence or otherwise, any property damage caused by you to a third party resulting in the said party filing a suit against you, the said claim is payable under the Personal Liability section of the policy. Similarly, if as a result of an accident any bodily injury caused to a third party, resulting in a law suit, then the medical expenses incurred by the third party is paid for by the policy under the Personal Liability section, upto the policy limits specified in the policy.
• Hijack Distress Allowance - If the common carrier in which the insured person aboard is hijacked, the company agrees to pay to a Distress Allowance in excess of the deductible.
• Flight/Trip Delay – The insured will be reimbursed reasonable expenses (subject to the maximum shown in the policy schedule), if your Trip is delayed for more than 6-12 (deductible) hours due to 1) delay of a Common Carrier caused by Inclement Weather; or 2) delay due to a strike or other job action by employees of the Common Carrier or 3) delay caused by Equipment Failure
• Trip Cancellation – The Insurer will pay loss of deposits/advances (unused, non-refundable cancellation portion ) already paid to the hotel/airline/cruise etc if prior to the departure date, your trip is cancelled and you are prevented from taking the trip due to a sickness, injury or death to: you; your traveling companion; your immediate family member; or your traveling companion's immediate family member
• Trip Curtailment – If your trip has already commenced and you have to return to your country/city of residence due to 1) the aircraft which you boarded as a passenger is hijacked or 2) due to unexpected death of your immediate family member or 3) due to natural disaster (in the destination country/city) or 4) due to unexpected strike, riot or civil commotion beyond your control or 5) due to a serious sickness, serious injury or death to you; your traveling companion; your immediate family member; or your traveling companion's immediate family member, the insurer will reimburse the deposits/advances (unused, non-refundable cancellation portion ) already paid to the hotel/airline/cruise on account of the curtailment (shortening and/or alteration)
• Missed Departure/Connection – the insured will be reimbursed reasonable expenses due to Missed Connections/Departure by airline/train, on your return journey, during the course of an insured trip. The delay needs to be on account of 1) inclement weather or 2) strike by employees of a common carrier or 3) equipment failure of the common carrier.
• Bounced Booking of Hotel/Airline – The Insurance company will reimburse the insured the hotel booking / airline ticket difference if the same is bounced due to over booking. Wait listed booking will not be compensated.
  • For hotel overbooking, the overbooked portion of the hotel stay must include the first night stay; the overbooking must happen at check-in. The insurer will reimburse the difference between the original booking amount and the new booking amount less any refund/compensation given by the hotel for the number of nights that are overbooked. There will be no reimbursement for nights on the original booking that were not overbooked.
  • For airline overbooking, an option of a free replacement flight within 6 hours from the departure of the original overbooked original flight must not be available to the insured and you must cancel your originally booked flight and purchase a new flight at the same class of service. The insured will be reimbursed the difference between the original airfare amount and the reasonable new airfare amount, less any refund/compensation given by the airline.