A Quick Guide to Read Before You Buy Travel Insurance Online

Travel, this word evokes a feeling of adventure, excitement, and happiness in most of us.

12:21 17 June 2021

From white sand beaches, bustling cities, and green forests to snow-clad mountains – the world is our canvas, and travelling is the paint.

 

However, as is the case with most things, travelling has an element of risk attached. This risk has the potential to ruin your entire vacation if not handled. This is where travel insurance enters the picture and offers security against that element of risk.

 

A proper travel insurance plan provides adequate security and compensation due to emergencies like missing belongings, medical issues, stolen property, etc. However, before you buy travel insurance online, it is important to understand what to look for in such a plan.

 

Guide to Buying Travel Insurance Online

• Understand the Types of Travel Insurance
  
  

There are numerous types of travel insurance plans that you can purchase. Let’s look at some of them:

 

• Family Travel Insurance: This type of plan provides coverage for the entire family when travelling abroad. It covers two adults and two children.

• Student Travel Insurance: This is meant for those students who are either going on a study trip abroad or moving abroad for their education. It is applicable for people in the age group of 12-40 years.

• Corporate Travel Insurance: This refers to the coverage provided to the employees of an organisation who are travelling abroad for work purposes.

• Group Travel Insurance: This is meant for people travelling to the same location in a large group.

• Single Trip Travel Insurance: This plan offers coverage only for a single trip, whether in India or internationally. Coverage in this plan is only valid for a fixed number of days.

• Multi-Trip Travel Insurance: This policy generally has duration of 12 months and it provides coverage to all trips undertaken in that period. It provides cover for medical and non-medical emergencies.

• Gauge the Coverage Amount

 

The coverage amount set in an insurance plan can often be the key difference. Before you buy travel insurance online, it is important to understand your trip requirements. This will help you in getting adequate coverage. The coverage depends on certain factors such as location, duration of the trip, number of people travelling, and activities planned.

• Understand the Plan Coverage

 

Before you decide to buy travel insurance online, you must know the coverage provided by the plan. A travel insurance policy should cover the following:

• Medical-related emergencies.
  
  
• Trip delay or cancellation, along with cover for an unplanned hotel stay. The travel insurance should also cover the additional amount spent for rescheduling or cancelling the hotel booking and flight tickets.
  
  
• Loss or theft of key documents like passport and credit/debit card.
  
  
• Loss of belongings or delay in baggage.
  
  
• Emergency evacuation due to medical issues, natural calamities, or political uprising.
  
  
• Understand the Exclusions

 

It is equally significant to understand the exclusions when you buy travel insurance online. This would help you in planning the trip properly and in making provisions for the exclusions. The exclusions in a travel insurance policy vary from one insurance provider to another. Some common exclusions are medical expenses incurred due to pre-existing diseases, losses due to civil uprisings, baggage delay that is less than 24 hours, expenses incurred due to drugs or alcohol, and the treatment of STDs (sexually transmitted diseases).

 

• Conduct Proper Research

 

When you decide to buy travel insurance online, a critical aspect is to conduct thorough research on the various policies in the market. There are several parameters that you must consider while researching the numerous travel insurance policies. Some of these key parameters are overall coverage provided, exclusions in the plan, coverage of medical emergencies, the insurance provider’s reputation, customer reviews regarding the claims, customer service, and ease of the claim process. Keeping these factors in mind will help you with zero stress on the best travel insurance plan.

 

Is it Worth Buying Travel Insurance?

 

Imagine you have paid a significant amount of money on hotel bookings and flight tickets for your dream vacation to Greece. Unfortunately, just a day before your vacation, you fall and break your foot. This scenario can play out in two ways – if you do not have travel insurance, you will incur tremendous losses. On the other hand, if you purchased travel insurance, you could reschedule the entire trip without paying a penny more. Therefore, you must buy travel insurance online before planning your dream vacation abroad. You can compare various factors including medical and non-medical expenses and much more using Care health Insurance premium calculator and get the best suitable package for your trip.