Primer. Planning a trip abroad? Insure yourself

You are all set to embark on an overseas trip you’ve been looking forward to. You have chalked out the itinerary, booked the flight tickets and arranged for a hotel too.

But, before you heave a sigh of relief, there’s one more thing that you should consider — travel insurance. Losing your baggage or, worse still, encountering a medical emergency on an overseas trip can burn a hole in your pocket.

A typical travel insurance policy provides you cover against medical expenses when you are ill or injured. Both hospitalisation and out-patient department (OPD) treatment are covered. In case of hospitalisation, while some insurers provide full cashless settlement, others do so only beyond a certain limit, settling smaller amounts on bill submission.

Death due to an illness or accident too is covered under such a policy. The insurer pays for the cost of transporting the deceased person’s remains to India or for conducting the last rites in the overseas location.

Most insurance plans also cover travel-related problems, such as loss of passport, delayed or lost checked-in baggage and delayed flights. For instance, Bajaj Allianz’s Travel Care Policy allows you to claim up to $250 in case of lost passport and up to $100 in case of delayed baggage.

Chola MS’ Overseas Travel Protection Policy (Silver Cover) allows claims up to $150 and $100 respectively. The cover against baggage delay however, kicks in only after a few hours after the delay.

You can also expect compensation in case of trip cancellations and delays. If your trip is cancelled before it begins, then you will be reimbursed the non-refundable expenses on cancellation of travel tickets, hotel bookings and scheduled tour bookings up to a certain amount.

But the cancellation must be due to such reasons as death of the insured or a close family member or any of them falling critically ill. Cancellation in the event of severe damage to the insured person’s house due to mishaps, such as fire and earthquake too, is covered.

If your flight is delayed beyond a certain number of hours and the airline does not provide you with food and a place to stay, the insurance company will reimburse the expenses incurred.

An insurance cover can also come to your rescue if you are faced with a cash crunch in case of theft. The insurer will facilitate transfer of money (up to a limit) to you from your family. Travel insurance also covers you for personal accident — compensation up to a maximum of the sum assured in case of injury during the trip, leading to death or disability. It also provides protection against personal liability. So, if you accidentally injure somebody or damage their property and they file a claim against you, your policy will provide you cover up to a certain amount.

While a travel insurance policy provides comprehensive coverage, take note of certain claims that come with what are called ‘deductibles’. These apply to claims made under medical expenses, loss of passport and personal liability.

So, for instance, a deductible of $100 in case of medical expenses would mean that any spending up to this amount will have to be borne by you. The insurer will compensate you only for expenses beyond that amount.

There are some exclusions, too. Any medical condition or a complication arising from it, which existed before the policy kicked in, will not be covered by the insurer. Routine medical examinations during a trip too are excluded. In case of baggage delays, you will not be entitled to any compensation if this happens on your return to India.

So, we’ve seen what’s covered under travel insurance. Let’s now look at the costs. The premium varies with the age of the person insured and the duration and place of travel.

A normal healthy 25-year-old can get an international travel insurance plan (gold cover) from ICICI Lombard for a 10-day trip to the US for ₹901. A Travel Care cover from Bajaj Allianz for the same trip would cost ₹700.

Both the policies provide cover against all events discussed here; the amount of coverage however differs depending on the category.

COMMENT NOW