Travel Insurance is the Need of the Hour

End-of-year travel plans are afoot. That said, the peculiarity this season is the number of existing or anticipated geopolitical conflicts across the world.

Neither is the threat too small to ignore nor too big to disrupt plans. This reinforces the need for travel insurance more. The all-in-one insurance addresses issues ranging from flight cancellations to baggage losses and medical emergencies and even pets at home. International travelers should invest in a travel policy, and even the seasoned ones should be abreast of latest additions made in travel insurance. Priced in a range of ₹1,300 (no-frills policy from HDFC Ergo) to ₹2,000 for a week’s trip to most countries, the cost of being uninsured will be higher than the premiums of an insurance policy.

Medical cover

The foremost is the medical cover for travel. The policies offer medical covers of varying amounts, but policyholders should purchase a minimum cover of $500,000 considering the prohibitive cost of healthcare in developed countries without an insurance backup. The medical cover in travel insurance will be limited to an emergency care for the policyholder so as to travel back to host country for a comprehensive care. A small deductible is a common feature in travel insurance for any cover; for medical cover, it will be from $50-100. Similarly, dental cover of $500-1,000 is also available.

Tata AIG Travel Guard plan also offers compassionate travel of up to $3,500. This is useful when a companion will be required to travel to the destination when the policyholder needs medical or other emergency care. Reliance’s Travel Care plan also offers a personal accident cover of $30,000 for cases when accidental death or disability happens during the trip. Plans also offer a daily cash allowance of $25 for 7 days in the Reliance plan to accommodate policyholders during medical emergencies.

Trip and baggage covers

Trip cancellation is covered with $600-1,000 reimbursement which allows for recouping costs towards non-refundable advances paid. But the reason for cancellation should be of an unavoidable nature, and not simple cancellation. This is relevant in today’s circumstances when geographies in Europe and West Asia are in the midst of a conflict which could spread to other regions leading to event cancellations.

Similarly, trips which are to be curtailed or ended at a short notice are also covered for a reimbursement of up to $1,000 which is offered under the TATA AIG plan. Most policies also offer emergency extension of trip when the policy is extended up to 15-30 days for medical or other emergencies while on the trip. The policies also cover missed connections (again unavoidable misses) with a $500-750 compensation and flight cancellations with $150 compensation to arrange for accommodations.

The most frequent but damaging perils of travel can be loss of baggage while on a trip which travel insurance can guard against. Upon loss or delay of baggage in a connecting flight or otherwise, a reimbursement is offered. The Reliance plan, for instance, offers $1,500 for loss of baggage compared to $300 which is common among policies. These policies also cover for loss of passport with a $300-500 reimbursement to accommodate a replacement. This cover also includes a personal liability insurance which ranges from $100,000 to $200,000. A litigious counterparty can drain financial savings of Indians in a trip. This can be useful when road travel is involved in the trip.

In addition to medical, trip and baggage related covers, travel insurance policies guard against theft at home while on the trip which is included in the base policy itself for up to ₹3,00,000. TATA AIG policy also covers fraudulent charges while on a trip for two instances with a cover of $1,000 each.

A critical aspect of travel insurance, even if bought online, is the third-party administrators or TPAs. The contact details of the TPA, especially in a multi-destination policy, must be ensured before take off; with list of network hospitals in the destination or even the travel mandates applicable to each zone, TPAs ​​may be helpful. Also, claim process becomes smoother with a TPA.