Do you really need Travel Insurance for India

Introduction:

Travel insurance gives a comprehensive package against things that are likely to spoil your trip. It covers your medical cost and other risks so that you can enjoy your travel hassle-free. A visit insurance policy is a popular choice among people traveling on vacations, business trips, or studies. While traveling to India, this guide will help to know about do you really need travel insurance for India. Buying a comprehensive trip insurance policy will shield you from any loss/damage incurred, which would generate a financial burden otherwise.

What are the effectively protect you and provide coverage?

• Medical Expenses
• Personal Accident
• Medical Evacuation
• Loss of Passport
• Loss of Checked-in Baggage
• Theft/Loss of Personal Belongings
• Trip Cancellation & Curtailment
• Trip Delays

1. When living overseas, you surely would want to come back home with a bucket of good memories. Right from your first plane to the stay and the return journey, you can guarantee a comfortable and hassle-free trip with a travel insurance package that comes to your rescue under any adversity.
2. When you plan your next vacation, make sure you buy a comprehensive trip insurance policy, which will provide you with coverage in case of any unfortunate accident/mishap spoiled your travel itinerary. Adversity on foreign soil does not sound exciting. Besides, when it comes to uncertainties, there is indeed no end to it. Right from any natural calamity, human-made calamity, to any vicious act, a traveler can witness any of it at any point in time. In case you experience such risky circumstances, it will drain you economically, physically, and emotionally unless you have a travel insurance policy.
3. India is such a dynamic and colorful country. With so much to see, do, and experience. You can go trekking in the Himalayan Mountains; you can go hiking, visit Buddhist monasteries, walk around markets and bustling towns, take selfies at famous sights and eat some delicious food. Not to mention riding a camel in the desert, doing yoga with a renowned guru, roaming around national parks looking for tigers, exploring ancient palaces, and taking in the temples.

What are the Main Features of Travel Insurance Policies in India?

A travel policy is intended to meet each traveler’s needs, whether traveling domestically or internationally and to shield them from any financial loss in the event of an unexpected event/mishap. Let’s take a look at the important features of a travel insurance policy offered by general insurance companies in India, with so many options available on the market.

Compensation for Flight-Related Adversities: 

It is prevalent to face your flight’s adversities is very common, and chances of meeting it increase if you are flying overseas. Whether there has been an airplane delay leading to a missed connecting flight or a delay or loss of luggage by your airline, your insurer will compensate for the losses you have suffered.

Emergency Hospitalization & Medical Attention: 

When traveling, nobody can rule out the possibility of a medical emergency. You can remain confident by insuring your trip, as all your Hospitalization and recovery costs would be taken care of by your insurer. 

Cashless Hospitalization Facility: 

Whether you are injured or are undergoing medical care in your insurer’s impaneled hospital, you may receive cashless service under your international travel insurance plan under which your insurer will directly settle all your medical bills. You would not have to pay for any covered care at the clinic. 

Trip-Related Adversities: 

No one knows when your travel plans will be hindered by an emergency that may cause you to postpone or cancel your trip. Trip insurance includes coverage for unexpected delays in trips or cancellation of trips. 

Available for frequent flyers: 

For people who travel regularly or many times a year, purchasing an insurance policy for each trip can turn out to be very costly. Insurance providers have multi-trip packages with a year-long duration to ensure that such frequent flyers reap the benefits of trip insurance plans for each trip without costing a lot.

Customized Senior Citizen Policies: 

The needs of senior citizens are somewhat different from other categories of travelers’ needs while traveling. Knowing this reality, most insurance companies provide personalized travel insurance plans for older people traveling within outside India. 

What is the Types of Travel Insurance Plans in India?

While buying a trip insurance policy is essential to ensure a hassle-free journey, it is crucial to understand the various types of insurance policies offered to travelers in India. They have been designed to cater to every citizen’s need right from a child, adult, student, to a senior citizen, etc.

Schengen Travel – Insurance:

It is customized foreign travel insurance that covers people traveling to one or more than one Schengen country. It protects the insured travelers from any unforeseen emergency that may lead to incurring a financial loss. Some of the most ordinary coverage provided under this type of loss of passport, trip insurance includes medical cover, delay in check-in baggage arrival, loss of check-in baggage, personal accident cover, personal liability, and accidental death & dismemberment.

Foreign Travel – Insurance:

This insurance plan covers individuals and families traveling overseas. It provides a wide range of coverage, dental expenses, financial cash assistance, including medical expenses, flight delays, trip cancellation, personal liability, loss or delay of check-in baggage, loss of passport, and hijack distress allowance.

Domestic Travel Insurance:

This kind of insurance scheme is intended for individuals traveling inside India’s geographical boundaries. It protects people from unexpected financial crises as well as families traveling throughout the Indian states. It offers coverage, including medical protection, luggage loss, and cover for personal injuries, among others.

Senior citizen travel Insurance:

In particular, for senior citizens, this form of insurance scheme has been tailor-made. Under such plans, most travel insurance providers protect passengers over 60, much like health insurance. Like an international travel insurance scheme, it covers those passengers from unpredictable financial emergencies, including medical costs, dental expenses, repatriation of mortal remains, loss or delay of check-in luggage, medical evacuation, etc.

Family Travel Insurance:

This form of insurance plan is mainly intended for families traveling together overseas. The policyholder, his/her spouse, and his minor children are generally protected. The insured amounts are often available based on both individual and family floaters. Covers, including medical costs, passport loss, personal responsibility, loss or delay of check-in luggage, and many more, can be used by all covered members of a family.

Corporate travel insurance:

This type of insurance plan is intended to meet the needs of businesses that travel for business reasons. It is usually valid for up to 1 year, enabling the insured visitor to undertake several trips. This includes coverage such as delay of plane, medical costs, luggage loss, missing connecting flight, etc.

Student travel insurance:

For Indians traveling abroad to study, it is a student-friendly insurance scheme that has been personalized. It comes with a limit of 2 years of extended validity. It also provides the students with coverage, which includes sponsor security, study disruption, medical evacuation, bail bond, two-way compassion visit for the insured and the family member, and many others and the standard coverage of the overseas travel insurance scheme.

Medical travel insurance:

It refers to an insurance plan that provides covered passengers with extensive medical coverage throughout their journey. It offers financial aid in the event of a medical emergency while traveling abroad, leading to hospitalization. These measures primarily cover, among others, hospitalization costs, daycare expenses, dental expenses, medical evacuation expenditure, and repatriation costs of mortal remains.

Group travel insurance:

It is a comprehensive insurance scheme designed for individuals in communities traveling together. People who organize tour groups, industrial training, official visits, or pilgrimage tours are usually selected. Many insurance companies sell such plans to individuals traveling both within and outside India. It usually offers personal injury and luggage protection. However, the exact degree of coverage depends on the insurer.

Single trip travel insurance:

This form of insurance scheme only provides the insured traveler with cover for one single trip. Its validity starts at the beginning of the journey and finishes on returning home with its conclusion. This international travel policy provides a host of health insurance benefits and non-medical coverage, such as delay or loss of check-in luggage, personal liability, etc.

Multi-trip travel insurance:

This form of insurance scheme is intended for individuals who make several trips abroad in one year. Without the need to buy a new policy before each flight, the same degree of advantage is given for every trip. Thus by purchasing a multi-trip insurance policy, a traveler ends up saving substantial amounts of money. It is often bought for business purposes by individuals who go abroad regularly.

Flight insurance:

It is a customized insurance plan covering an insured traveler from any unforeseen flight-related emergencies faced while traveling. It protects him from any trouble caused during the plane or due to the airline’s fault or their staff. It provides comprehensive coverage of health insurance and baggage insurance, including flight delay, medical cover, accidental death & dismemberment cover, delay or loss of check-in baggage, flight cancellation, flight hijack, and missed connection flight.

Baggage insurance:

Baggage Insurance comes into view when you lose your baggage due to robbery or some other accident during your ride. The losses caused by such mishaps could put you in some vast trouble and destroy your journey. You can still rely on baggage insurance to get coverage for the harm or loss of your luggage while traveling.

Why should I buy this travel insurance policy?

In recent years, a paradigm change in the understanding of travel has taken place. People are no longer waiting to go on an outstation tour for their summers or winter break. Instead, they try to take multiple holidays in a year to visit new locations. Traveling is an escape from their daily exhausting and monotonous life for the salaried class. This makes it much more prudent to ensure your path to protect yourself from any unforeseen event that could ruin it or cause losses. Look at why buying the right travel insurance online is a smart idea if you are still considering your choices. This makes it much more prudent to ensure your path to protect yourself from any unforeseen event that could ruin it or cause losses. Look at why buying the right travel insurance online is a smart idea if you are still considering your choices.

Mandatory requirement: 

To apply for a visa to another nation, many countries worldwide have made it compulsory to have valid travel insurance. For starters, if you want to apply for a Schengen visa, you need to secure your travel. But you’ll have to purchase one of the best travel insurance policies available in India if you’d like to visit either of these countries.

Emergency Medical Costs: 

The cost of overseas medical care is not the same as in India. Countries such as the United States are popular for skyrocketing medical care. But if you have insured your travel, all your medical costs will be covered in case of hospitalization due to an illness or injury abroad up to the amount insured cap. If required, they will also arrange for an emergency medical ejection to a hospital.

Stress-Free Trip: 

An outstation trip will come with its share of uncertainties and trigger a lot of stress to the travelers if an unforeseen incident occurs. Because if you have your travel covered, your insurance will take care of all your emergencies, and you don’t have to think about anything.

Helping Hand in Remote Areas: 

Even if you are traveling to rural parts of India or abroad, ensuring your trip will turn out to be helpful. Your insurer will ejection you to the nearest state or country if you need emergency medical care in areas with inadequate medical facilities and help you get medical attention on time.

Flight-related complications: 

You get stuck several times with flight or airline-related problems that shake your journey’s itinerary. If you have insured your trip, there has been a flight delay, checked-in luggage loss/ missed connecting flight, or flight hijack.

Dental Expenses: 

If you have your journey insured, your insurance will cover the expenses incurred on your dental care treatment while you’re traveling.

Lost or stolen luggage replacement:

The insurer will compensate you for your loss in the Event of loss of luggage or theft of your belongings from your luggage while traveling abroad.

Payment for Personal Liability:

In the case of the Tragic Incentive overseas, you are subject to civil responsibility, e-pay your obligations and offset all legal costs that you might have accrued.

Emergency cash support:

If your money is taken during your stay overseas, your insurer will come to your rescue and arrange for you to collect emergency cash.

How to Buy the Best Online Travel Policy?

Insurance is one friend you can always rely on in the event of adversity. The challenge is to select the best travel insurance offered in India by the various travel insurance providers. Opt for an insurance policy that gives you full coverage for the risks you can face when traveling. If you purchase the insurance policy online, it is easier as it is a quicker, more convenient, and hassle-free option.

What Does Travel Insurance Cover for?

Travel insurance provides coverage for any of a person’s primary travel issues, such as medical situations, cancellation of journeys, loss of checked luggage, delays in journeys, loss of travel documents, etc. It provides travelers with detailed coverage of any incident that may lead to financial losses before or during the journey. The travel insurance policy gives a safety net against any unnecessary expenditure that would otherwise destroy your trip.

Cover for a Canceled Journey:

In case your trip has been canceled based on the following conditions, trip cancellation coverage would protect you from any prepaid or non-refundable expenditures:

• Some serious illness/injury or death within the family or your travel partner
• Bad weather/atmospheric conditions that serve as an obstacle to reaching your destination
• A terrorist attack at the location where you are traveling

Trip Delay cover:

If your plane was delayed or miss your connecting plane due to a cause beyond your control, such as a technical flight failure, poor weather conditions, and so on, getting this cover will guarantee you the costs incurred. Besides, this cover will also pay for the meals and accommodation-related expenditures as per the delay.

Loss of passport:

There might be a case where your bag containing your travel documents is stolen when traveling abroad. This policy would cover all costs incurred to the insured amount cap to acquire new or duplicate travel documents.

Mortal Remains Repatriation:

Imagine a situation in which an insured individual dies in the middle of his journey. Such a death could be painful for the family, and it could be a daunting challenge and financially exhausting to get back the mortal remains of the deceased individual. Besides, it will also become a challenge to complete the formalities in the same respect.

Cover for any other medical-related emergency:

There is a risk that while you love your holiday in a foreign nation, you might get ill or injured. Getting a medical-related emergency plan will shield you from any expenses incurred when going for any care or hospitalization. This coverage covers virtually any ambulance-related facilities, doctor or medical specialist services, diagnosis fees, hospital fees, and so on, much like health insurance.

Emergency Medical Evacuation:

This coverage allows you when you require urgent assistance/care. A travel arrangement is made for a local hospital under a medical issue and sends the insured to the native nation for medical purposes as per the doctors’ discretion.

Hijack Distress Allowance:

Having this insurance policy will provide you with protection if your flight/ common carrier gets kidnapped, which will cause discomfort, then compensation is given for the same.

Compassionate Visit:

If the insured becomes ill/sick and is hospitalized. An immediate family member is needed at the overseas venue as per the healthcare professionals. Getting this cover would cover the costs incurred by the immediate family member traveling for transportation and lodging.

Accidental Death and Disability:

Any unfortunate situation, the insured passes, dies, or experiences a disablement, whether permanent or fractional, getting this coverage would provide compensation up to the amount insured for the damage to the family or the individual.

Home Burglary:

If your house is burgled when you are going on vacation outside the area, the insurance can pay for the loss or damages caused due to the theft up to the amount insured limit.

Does the Corona-virus (COVID -19) disease cover travel insurance in India?

• The novel corona-virus disease or COVID-19 is a viral infectious disease that has affected 1,73,344 people across 152 nations or territories worldwide and has claimed 7,019 lives (17 March 2020). Firstly, the infection originated in late December 2019 in Wuhan City, Hubei Province of People’s Republic Of China.
• Governments worldwide have implemented travel restrictions and are prohibiting their nationals from making any non-essential trips abroad, especially to corona-virus affected nations, unless the condition comes under control. Amidst this serious situation, many people wonder whether travel insurance will come to their rescue financially if they cancel their travel insurance policy or get infected with the virus, or are put in isolation. Will the costs be protected by the travel policy?
• The answer is YES and NO. The foreign travel insurance scheme covers corona-virus infection but under some circumstances only.

Emergency Medical Treatment:

Insurance firms in India will cover any emergency medical costs incurred by the insured on his treatment for corona-virus infection in a hassle-free manner. Peoples who had purchased their individual, family, or senior citizen travel insurance policy before the travel restrictions were placed in effect would continue to be covered for the urgent medical costs incurred on the disease’s treatment. For international and domestic travel, this cover is available.

Conclusion:

Do you really need travel insurance for India? Surely you need like most insurance plans, travel insurance can be extended/renewed online or offline, depending on the criteria. Renewing your policy online is the most recommended technique, whereas the offline method is considered a conventional one. Both approaches have their own share of incentives.