Finally, you are going on that much awaited trip you have been keeping in your bucket list for years. Packed your bags, you have detail plan of what you want to visit, what you will do, where you will eat, your medicines. Now that it’s time, you are so excited but have you considered one of the most important aspects of travelling, travel insurance! Some of you may have forgotten buying it well ahead of time, so you buy just at nick of time and you end up buying a cover in haste. You reach your destination and there’s a medical emergency with your wife or your kid who accompanied you. Now, you realize that your policy does not cover the situation.
Snap! Good Morning! That was a bad dream and in reality, you still have enough time to research for your insurance. Take a sigh of relief!
The Indian travel insurance market is estimated to be at around US$ 820 million in 2013-14, according to Travel Trends Today, when its global market has been expected to be at around US$ 10 billion in the same year. Our country’s 9% (approximately) share in the global market indicates that the Indian population has acquired the awareness of the significance of a travel cover.
A Travel plan is critical as there can be unforeseen occurrences during one’s trip overseas or within the country. Failure to get one might have some rather nasty results, and you might just find yourself in a hospital with no way to pay your bill. Let’s talk about the concept of travel insurance and then discuss the five major questions that you need to be asking before you commit to a purchase of travel insurance policy and literally leave your life in its hands.
Understanding the Travel Insurance Policy
But, travelling does have its own risks and probabilities of unforeseen situation distress.Often in this excitement of trip we tend to overlook the possibility of getting injured or falling sick. Eventuality can happen anywhere, anytime. So, preparation is a must. Insurance that keeps you covered from any medical expenses, loss of baggage, trip cancellation, flight accident and other losses incurred during your travel within or outside the boundaries of your country is travel insurance. Especially, when you are travelling to a foreign country, you will need to obtain insurance that is applicable to the region with the understanding that things are different everywhere you go. That might be a bit of an obvious statement, but you might not understand just HOW different it can be until you are right in the middle of a bad situation. If you have never purchased this type of insurance before, you obviously would have a lot of questions, and we have brought about five of them for you.
Question #1: Where are you going?
You should know where it is that you are going, but before you make your way there you should do a bit of research about the area. For example, how friendly are the hospitals to foreigners? What procedures are free, and which ones will you have to pay for? Will you be doing anything that could be considered dangerous, such as skiing or mountain climbing? Will you be visiting the deep jungles? Whatever your plans are, you need to make sure that you have a policy to match – one that will cover whatever lifestyle you plan to pursue while you are outside of your native country. This is one time you need to be honest with yourself and not under prepare, because you never know when you might need to invoke your insurance.
Question #2: What is the length of your stay?
How long are you planning to stay in the country? This will determine how much money you need to spend on your policy in terms of duration. You need to make sure that you are absolutely covered for every minute you spend on foreign soil. If you get no other type of coverage, make sure that you obtain medical cover as this is a principle feature of the insurance policy, and the one that will keep you healthy. Furthermore, keep in mind that the duration of your stay does need to be specified before you can make a choice, and the premium will rise depending on that duration. There is such a thing as multi-trip insurance if you are interested, and this will save you a considerable amount of money.
Question #3: Why are you going?
There are two general reasons for which people will embark on these out of country adventures, the first of course being for holidays. Maybe you want to relax in the sun, take a trip on a boat, or simply visit your relatives.
The second type of trip someone might take is for adventure. Maybe you want to parasail over the Great Barrier Reef, or maybe you want to climb the Alps. Then again, maybe you want to take a dive and explore the Caribbean from beneath the waves. Whatever your desire, there is a good insurance policy available, and you need one that will cover any potential injuries that you might experience while you are adventuring far from the safety of your home.
Question #4: Is there a better deal?
When it comes to buying travel insurance, there many different options and providers in the market. Each provider tries to offer something unique. Where in one hand, ICICI Lombard’s travel insurance offers a cover for bounced booking of an airline or hotel, there might be another that offers some unique dental sickness relief. It would behoove you to take a look at every single one of them before making a decision. Perform some thorough research and make sure that you’re ready to choose a policy that suits your needs for the duration of the trip.
Question #5: How many people are going with you?
The number of people you are taking with you on your trip can obviously increase the premium. See if there are any discounts available for multi-person policies, but still, most importantly, make sure that the coverage you choose is enough for the nature of your trip. A little bit of coverage from an online provider can go a long way, but a lot can save your life in the long run.
The best way to ensure that we can manage such an expected situation is to buy a travel insurance plan. Travel insurance is an important travel necessity for individuals and families. There are many affordable travel medical insurance plans that you can buy online and secure your trip.
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The best way to ensure that we can manage such an expected situation while travelling is to buy a travel insurance plan. Do you take Travel Insurance Plan when you travel ? If yes what do you look for in the travel insurance policy? Did you have to use travel insurance policy ? Which places would you like to travel ?
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