Seven Myths Of Travel Insurance

This is not uncommon among the Indian Traveller…Just visiting your ancestral home, Taking time off with your family at your favourite Hill Station…Exploring Rural India, just to get away from the hustle and bustle of the Urban chaos, Driving your 4X4 on your favourite National Highway to one of India’s National Parks…Sounds familiar? We’re in India, why buy Insurance? It isn’t that travel insurance is needed only when you travel abroad. Even while you plan on a domestic holiday, travel insurance must be part of your agenda. Most of the challenges that can come up while you set out on a domestic trip are quite similar to the ones you potentially face while you travel abroad. Any why let a few Rupees come between you and a worry free holiday?

In India almost 80% of medical expenses during hospital admission is paid from the life time savings of the family…so why should the same rules not apply when you travel abroad? In case of unfortunate event of being hospitalised, one has to spend a minimal amount for treatment is a myth…Medical Costs abroad, especially in developed countries across the Americas, Europe and even some countries in Asia can be prohibitively expensive…without insurance, the treatment costs can set you back by lacs of your hard earned money…Travel insurance is ideal for covering such exigencies, it covers you for the costs of treatment that you might incur during the holiday; be it an accident or illness, inpatient or outpatient. Policy coverages of various insurers, but all of them have cover for Medical Treatment, Medical Evacuation and Repatriation.

Some travellers feel that since they are already covered through domestic health insurance, insurance protection through credit cards, Home Owners Insurance etc they don’t have to buy insurance for their domestic or international travel… Again, this feeling is misplaced… these policies may not fully cover you in case of outpatient medical emergency while travelling in India, they don’t offer coverage for your baggage delay or loss, nor do they reimburse the advance cost paid against your air/hotel/taxi bookings if unfortunately you have to cancel your trip…and they certainly do not offer any coverage when you are abroad…except for and Accident cover on your credit card…Travel insurance will come to your rescue when you are faced with any of these emergencies while in travelling in India or abroad.

Travellers have always been of the opinion that insurance companies are there only to collect premium and then are unavailable when its time to pay a claim…this is certainly not the case…Travel Insurance policies provide coverage against unforeseen loss (medical or non medical) and seek to make good such loss to the insured…Insurers have worked overtime on simplifying the claims reimbursement process through simpler documentation and transparent and timely reimbursements, they provide TPA services for inpatient hospitalisation both in India and abroad…Infact there are some insurance companies which offer direct settlements (indemnity) for certain benefits under the policy without any documentation requirements. As an insured, if you submit complete documentation to the insurance company, you can expect settlement within 10-14 days.

As Indian Travellers, we try and pack as much activities as possible into every trip of ours…we love to extract every ounce for the money we are investing in the trip…So while we may not include Bungee Jumping or River Rafting or Scuba Diving in our itinerary, we may end up doing regular activities like taking a Cable Car ride or riding in a 4X4 on a Desert Safari or take a trip into a Wildlife Sanctuary…These activities also come with their own set of risks… So, even if you don’t plan to get bold and adventurous this holiday, it’s possible you might face minor hiccups during your trip that can derail your plans. Thus, it’s a myth that travel insurance is only for people who want to challenge their limits and set out on adventurous trips. But for the record, today some insurance companies do offer and Adventure Sports cover, if you really want to take to the sky.

You may always wonder, what would travellers do without the proverbial “last minute”…because everytime, everything seems to happen in that minute…so even if one does want to buy travel insurance (which is generally the last tick off item on your travel itinerary), how long does it really take to buy a policy? In days gone by, buying travel insurance meant going to the insurance company office, filling out a long form, undergoing a medical test, and then getting your 4-5 page insurance document…Nowadays, it happens at a click of a few buttons…One can walk into an agent’s (travel or general insurance) office, or simply log onto to the numerous websites offering Travel Insurance online…it takes hardly 2-3 minutes to quickly fill in an online application form, choose the best suited plan, pay through the payment gateway and receive your certificate in real time…before your coffee gets cold…You could actually but it at the airport / railway station as you await your departure call.