Travel insurance comes with many features these days and is used by traveller’s world over. Even if you are not a frequent traveller, you should not take travel insurance lightly as you may never know when you may encounter an emergency. For example, let’s say you travel to a remote destination for a holiday and experience an illness. In the absence of travel insurance, you would need to pay for your treatment but if you have availed of travel insurance, then you need not worry. Travel insurance also takes care of incidents of delay or lost baggage or if you manage to lose your passport. Most insurers provide cashless facilities these days in case of medical emergencies.
Travel insurance is not complicated and you can easily buy a policy online. Minimum time period for issuance is seven days in case of most banks so even if you are travelling for three days, you will need to take the policy for a minimum period of seven days. Some airlines offer travel insurance along with the tickets which are less expensive than buying a policy separately so check with your travel agent before you book your next flight ticket. Premium costs are also considerably lower than traditional policy and you can get yourself insured for as little as Rs. 500.
Protection in case of hospitalisation
Most insurance providers these days have TPA’s (Third Party Administrators) in almost all foreign locations. You can contact such a TPA in case you require hospitalisation while on a foreign visit. Cashless service is provided so you need not shell a huge amount for treatment while away from home. Remember that treatment in some countries is often very expensive and after factoring in currency conversion, you may end up paying a much higher amount. Many banks offer family plans which are considerably cheaper. There is no medical check up for issuing policies and pre existing illnesses are also covered in case of life threatening situations.
Protection in case of theft, loss or delay of baggage
In case your baggage is delayed by more than 24 hours, you can get a reimbursement for emergency items purchased while waiting for the baggage. If the baggage is lost by the airline, you can get a refund after filing a claim for the same. Some policies even provide reimbursements in case of flight delay, flight cancellation etc. What’s more, many banks today offer protection even if the flight is hijacked or in the event of a natural calamity.
Tenure
Unlike traditional insurance policies, travel insurance can be issued for even shorter durations but most banks have a minimum tenure (in most cases, seven days). If you are frequent traveller, you can take a policy for six months or a year depending on how much you travel. Premium costs are often lower for longer tenure durations. Children from the age of six months to adults up till 70 years are covered for in travel insurance.
