Types of Indian travel insurance basis

Review Indian travel medical insurance coverage

All travel insurance plans have two sections or two types of coverage. One is Medical coverages which include Accident & Sickness Expense Coverage, Dental Coverage, Medical Evacuation, Personal Accident etc. Accident & Sickness cover is most important for the traveller given the cost of healthcare treatments in all countries abroad. The traveller should ensure they are adequately covered given their age, duration of travel and destination of travel. Most insurance plans also have sub limits for Accident & Sickness for the higher age categories, so the insured should review the coverages carefully before finalising on the plan. There are varying sum insureds for each benefit depending on the insurance plan most suited to the traveller’s requirement. The traveller should ensure:

• They have adequate Accident & Sickness (A&S) Expense coverage. For example if the traveller is bound to The Americas (including USA), Europe, UK etc, it is important that they opt for an insurance plan which has a minimum of $250,000 as A&S coverage. If they are bound to South East Asia (SEA) or any of India’s neighbouring countries, they can opt for a lower Sum insured between $50,000 and $100,000

Review Indian travel non-medical insurance coverage

The second section pertains to Non Medical coverages like Loss of Passport, Baggage Delay/Loss, Trip Cancellation/Curtailment, Personal Liability, Bounced Hotel, Missed Connection/Departures, Flight Delay etc. These are equally important coverages because if the traveller is stranded in a foreign country without insurance, all expenses relating to these exigencies will have to be borne by the insured. One is the financial cost, the other is that with an insurance policy in place, their Assistance Partner abroad will support the traveller in such exigencies, which is really beneficial. They must opt for a plan which has a Trip Cancellation cover in case of any unforeseen emergency due to which they have to cancel their trip. This coverage helps them against a financial loss if they do not get a full reimbursement from the Airline, Hotel or Tour/Cruise company.

• They should ideally have coverage for Passport and Baggage Loss, Baggage Delay and Personal Liability which are relevant coverages for today’s travellers

There are many types of travel insurance plans which cater to the requirements of all categories of travellers. At a broad level, there are insurance plans which cover travellers bound to The Americas (North & South American continents including USA & Canada) as well as other countries in the world other than North & South American, which is known as Excluding Americas plans. Most companies offer a specific plan for Asia, which covers their travel to any Asian destination or a Schengen Plan which covers travel to any of the 26 Schengen countries in Europe. A few insurers also offer a Domestic Insurance plan for travel within India. All these are Single Trip plans which cover the individual traveller for a specific trip.

Almost all insurance companies also offer a Multitrip travel Insurance policy, which is specifically suited for the frequent flier. This is an annual plan which covers the insured traveller for any number of trips during that year.