Travel insurance is an insurance plan that you obtain to protect yourself from travel hazards. The plan is meant to be bought for a scheduled journey to safeguard your financial interest in case of fiscal hazards and losses. The loss could be minor such as delayed luggage or major like an overseas medical emergency or cancellation of a paid non-refundable trip. Besides covering you up financially, the insurance also provides you access to assistance services in every corner of the globe. Many insurance companies help the insured with the arrangement of emergency medical treatment, monitored care, interpretations, replacement of lost passports, and many other facilities. The insurance policy could be bought for self and family and can also be purchased for multiple trips within a scheduled period. Different travel insurance plans cover different levels of services and so it is mandatory to understand your needs, travel plans, and budget, and order travel insurance accordingly.

Travel insurance doesn’t give 360-degree protection. It only offers services covered under a plan and under predefined conditions. So, it is essential to know what things are covered in your desired plan and make the purchase accordingly.

Travel insurance just covers unforeseeable conditions. Hence, things that are expected and within your control are not covered. For example, if you know that you have a heart condition and should refrain from travel and still go to a travel destination and has a heart attack, then your treatment plan won’t be covered.

Benefits of Availing Travel Insurance

Travel insurance provides numerous benefits to ensure financial safety and security during your travel.

• Provides financial loss cover: If you suffer a financial loss during travel and file a claim, then after reviewing and finding the claim to be genuine, the claim would be approved and you will get a reimbursement on your losses. Many insurance companies offer you telephonic or online services to file the claim. For example, if you had purchased a plan that includes trip cancellation benefits and just before your planned European cruise you fall sick with dengue, then you would have to cancel the trip. Unfortunately, the cruise company won’t refund your trip money due to the lateness of the hour. In this case, you can benefit from your travel insurance which would reimburse your prepaid travel expense as your sickness would fall under a valid reason for trip cancellation. The reimbursement can also be directly deposited in your debit card.
• Upfront payment for covered travel delay: Under a few plan options, you are eligible to receive upfront payments for covered baggage delay or covered travel delay. You may also receive upfront payments for emergency transportation or medical treatment in covered foreign trips. New travel insurances are also covering epidemics like COVID-19 so that if you get infected with the pandemic during overseas travel, then you would receive immediate help. However, all covers have a maximum-limit cap and you would only receive benefits till that limit and not beyond that.

Documents Needed to Buy the Travel Insurance

• Medical sheets: Your medical record showing your current health status.
• Itinerary report: The detailed itinerary of the trip starting from the first day of the travel to the last day when you get back home.
• Personal information: All your personal details.

Documents Needed During the Trip

To ensure that you get all the benefits of travel insurance the moment you need them, you are required to carry some essential papers. The insurance companies typically provide you two documents after you buy their policy. They are ‘Policy Terms and Conditions’ and ‘Confirmation of Coverage’.

You must carry the Confirmation of Coverage documents at all times during your travel. The document comprises of four to five pages and contains three vital pieces which would aid you in the event of an emergency-

• The benefits and coverage associated with the policy.
• Policy number (it is needed to refer with the insurance company in times of need to get the necessary help and also for an insurance claim).
• Emergency phone numbers of the insurance company (the insurance company would provide you emergency phone numbers of all the countries which are part of your itinerary).

The Policy Terms and Conditions document comprises of detailed policy information like the things which are excluded and the things which are covered in your insurance plan. It also contains policy definitions and procedures. The document occupies a huge volume of pages and usually has 20 or more pages. This document is not needed to carry along on the trip, but you do need to familiarize yourself to know about your benefits and the extent to which you can avail these benefits.

What is Covered in Travel Insurance?

Different travel insurances provide different lists of coverage. Generally, the things covered under travel insurance include emergency cash benefit, hijack cover, personal liability, passport loss, baggage delay, emergency medical relief, evacuation and repatriation, personal accident, and medical expenses.

What is Not Covered in Travel Insurance?

Travel insurance does not cover expected expenses like routine health check-up in the absence of any illness or injury. It does not cover medical expenses beyond the purchased duration of the policy. If a person is undertaking a journey without the doctor’s permission, then the insurance does not cover the emergency medical bills. Besides, there is no cover for HIV related death, loss, or illness, attempted suicide or suicide, traveling for medical treatment, participation in dangerous sports in absence of a trained supervisor, medical issues which erupted prior to investment in policy, accident due to driving a car in a foreign country without a license, and others.

Premium Payments

Travel insurance is usually paid on a yearly basis. Different factors that impact the premium amounts are travel destination(s), the age of the traveler, number of people in the trip, duration of travel, type of coverage, frequency of trip, sum insured, and add-on covers.

Tax Benefits

You can avail tax benefits on the travel insurance only if the travel is business-related. For self-employed persons, all business-associated expenses could be used as tax deductibles. If the trip involves both business and pleasure, you need to show the business part of the trip and would get compensation only on that part and not the entire trip. Travel-related trip includes course training, educational training, business convention, conference, seminar, or visiting a client.

How to Choose a Travel Insurance Plan

You must choose a plan that matches your need, travel duration, and budget. The insurance companies usually provide you with plans and quotes once you enter details like travel destination, travel expense, dates of travel, and age. You can compare the plans and invest in a suitable insurance scheme. The insurance must be purchased immediately after you have made the arrangements for the trip. An early purchase offers you a bigger coverage. Carefully go through the coverage documents prior to taking the trip. In case you are unsatisfied with certain aspects of the insurance policy, then you can opt for a refund within a fortnight of ordering the plan. However, once you begin your scheduled journey, the premium gets non-refundable.