Planning an overseas vacation this summer? Bharti AXA General Insurance has recently unveiled its Smart Traveller insurance scheme.

For individual and family travellers, Bharti AXA offers five different schemes with varying medical expense cover. For instance, the Smart Traveller Basic plan offers medical expenses cover of $50,000, whereas the premium product Smart Traveller- Gold allows you to claim medical expenses of up to $5,00,000.

Bharti AXA’s basic plan is not all-encompassing. Even as the limits on some benefits such as loss of passport and dental treatment are higher than ICICI Lombard’s basic (Gold) plan, there are some benefits which are not covered by Bharti AXA’s basic plan. For instance, if your trip gets cancelled due to some untoward incident or if you miss the flight connection, you are eligible for compensation under ICICI Lombard’s Plan. But Bharti Axa’s Basic plan does not cover these benefits.

The Smart traveller Gold plan on the other hand offers comprehensive coverage and has higher limits on the commonly offered benefits.

Where it scores

Bharti AXA’s Gold plan has higher limits on key benefits such as loss of checked-in baggage, loss of passport, trip cancellation and missed flight compared to ICICI Lombard General Insurance’s Platinum plan and Cholamandalam MS General Insurance’s Gold Plan. For instance, Bharti AXA Smart Traveller Gold plan allows you to claim up to $2000, in case your checked-in baggage gets lost. This is four times higher than the $500 benefit offered by ICICI Lombard’s Platinum plan, and two times the $1,000 benefit available under Cholamandalam MS Gold plan.

Likewise, Bharti AXA Gold plan allows you to claim up to $350 in case you lose your passport ($250-300 offered by peers). The personal liability cover, personal accident cover and cover for emergency dental treatments are also higher under Bharti AXA Gold plan, compared to other similar plans in the market.

Secondly, Bharti AXA Gold Plan also covers a few risks which are seldom covered by other insurers. For instance, the scheme offers bail bond benefit of up to $5000 should you get involved in a legal tangle. Pet care while you are away abroad is yet another benefit offered by the insurer. While how far these covers are really useful is debatable, there is a more relevant one — the scheme allows you to claim $1000 in case your flight gets overbooked and the airline denies you accommodation.

Where it slips

Though Bharti AXA Gold covers a number of risks, the limit in the case of some benefits is lower than peers.

For instance, the scheme allows compensation of up to $1,000 in case you require an emergency accommodation while abroad.

ICICI Lombard Platinum scheme offers up to $5000, should you need emergency accommodation in the foreign country. Next, Bharti AXA Gold does not offer burglary cover for your home, though it covers any loss or damage that may happen to your building due to fire.

Bharati Axa’s Basic plan seems a bit pricey. If you are a 30-year-old, going on a week’s tour to the US, Bharti Axa’s Basic Plan comes at ₹1,028, while ICICI Lombard’s basic plan - Gold offers similar cover for a lower ₹823. Bharti AXA’s Gold Plan however seems competitively priced.

For a medical cover of up to $500,000, the premium is ₹1,605. ICICI’s Lombard’s Platinum policy, which offers comparable benefitswith a much lower medical cover of $250,000, is priced at ₹1,522.

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