Getting an online travel insurance cover is among the foremost things to do if an overseas trip is on your calendar this year! A business tour, an educational opportunity, or a planned vacation time with family – for the countless reasons you may have, you must never forget that it is crucial to secure your trip as things may not go as expected. One may fall sick, get injured, face trip delays, or lose documents or baggage. A travel insurance plan helps you manage some major travel-related risks with ease.
Further, healthcare outside India can be unaffordable for many of us. A travel plan covers emergency medical treatment, thus preventing any financial impact. Considerable thought towards ensuring safety before starting a trip is of utmost importance. Opting for travel insurance is one step in this direction that will protect you financially during unforeseeable events.
What is Travel Insurance?
Travel insurance is coverage designed to provide financial protection for the expenses incurred due to uncertain events while travelling overseas. A travel insurance policy covers the cost of trip cancellations, medical emergencies, baggage loss, or travel delays.
Why Should You Buy a Travel Insurance Policy?
Travelling gives us new opportunities to explore new cultures, people, and places and discover the beautiful things the world has to offer. Many students dream of pursuing education overseas at their preferred university. Therefore, an essential activity in our lives, travelling is inevitable, and so are the uncertainties it brings along. For instance, a sudden illness leading to hospitalisation may result in unwanted expenditure that can hamper your travel budget. Moreover, treatment in a foreign country can be costly. Besides, trip delays due to bad weather or lost luggage are typical cases when you can face unexpected expenditures. It is when your travel insurance policy protects you by covering these expenditures.
Types of Travel Insurance Plans
There are six main types of travel insurance plans.
- International Travel Insurance
- Family Travel Insurance
- Senior Citizen Travel Insurance
- Student Travel Insurance
- Corporate and Group Travel Insurance
- Single-Trip and Multi-Trip Travel Insurance
International Travel Insurance
International travel insurance is a travel policy that provides comprehensive protection against travel-related uncertainties during an overseas trip. It covers various unforeseen medical and non-medical expenses, like in-patient, out-patient care, loss of passport or checked-in baggage, trip delays or cancellations, etc. You can get country-specific international travel insurance plans to suit your requirements.
Family Travel Insurance
Family travel insurance provides comprehensive insurance coverage for your entire family during an overseas trip. Under a single plan, you can get cover for all the medical and non-medical expenses of any insured family member.
Senior Citizen Travel Insurance
A senior citizen travel insurance policy is explicitly designed to offer coverage for travel-related risks for travellers who come under the senior citizen’s age category, that is, those aged above 60 years without a pre-medical check-up. Senior citizen travel insurance plan provide cover even for pre-existing ailments and ICU care.
Student Travel Insurance
Student travel insurance plans are crafted for ambitious students who are planning to pursue education overseas. Customised travel insurance for students keeps them worry-free and allows them to focus on their studies and be back with good memories. The student travel insurance cover provides a financial cushion to students by taking care of their unexpected expenditures due to any medical or non-medical exigency.
Corporate Travel Insurance
It is a travel insurance coverage for employees of an organisation who undertake business trips to different locations within or outside the country. Corporate travel insurance policies are the safest way to ensure you stay financially protected during any medical or non-medical exigency while on tour for business purposes.
Group Travel Insurance
Group travel insurance offers enormous benefits for those who travel in a group to the same destination. Group travel plans provide comprehensive yet affordable coverage when any group member faces a medical or non-medical exigency.
Multi-Trip Travel Insurance
Multi-trip travel insurance policy generally has a policy period of 12 months, during which the insured person can undertake multiple trips and get coverage for emergency medical and non-medical expenses.
Single Trip Travel Insurance
A single trip travel plan offers insurance cover for only a single trip to an international destination or any location within India. However, travellers can cover multiple destinations together during their single trip. This type of travel insurance policy remains valid until the insured person returns home.
Single-Trip and Multi-Trip Travel Insurance Policy
Single-Trip Travel Policy | Multi-Trip Travel Policy |
Single trip travel insurance is the best plan recommended for occasional travellers | Multi-trip policies are for frequent travellers |
Valid for a set number of days | Valid for 1 year period with a cap on the travel duration |
It provides coverage for a single journey to an international destination from India | It provides coverage for medical and non-medical exigencies for multiple trips |
Benefits of Travel Insurance
Benefits of opting for the best travel insurance online:
- Comfort: Having a travel insurance cover for your trip will save you, especially senior citizens and students, from the stress of travelling. The best thing is you can buy travel insurance online.
- Protection in Medical Emergency: The policy provides coverage to help you get immediate medical attention.
- Compensation in case of Mishaps: The plan offers compensation to the nominee in case of the insured person’s uncertain death.
- Covers you in other Contingencies: Trip delays and loss of belongings and documentation will be taken care of under the travel plan.
- Multi-Trip Policy: A frequent flyer can avail of the multi-trip travel policy.
- Cashless Claim Settlement: You can apply for the cashless claim facility.
- Region-specific Plans: Our region-specific best travel insurance India plans help to relish your trip and leave all your travel worries with us.
Benefits of International Travel Insurance
- Coverage for personal accident and dental expenses
- Benefits in terms of 20% sum insured as out-patient care and double sum insured for accident hospitalisation
- Cover for pre-existing health problems and common accidental deaths
- The convenience of cashless claim settlements
- Feature to easily upgrade into business class seats during their flight
- Settlement of all the monetary losses incurred during the flight due to delay for valid reasons
- Offers non-medical benefits, like cover for loss of checked baggage and loss of passport
- Coverage for any interruption, delay, or cancellation of the trip
Benefits of Senior Citizen Travel Insurance
- Elderly individuals above 60 years can secure their overseas trip with Senior Citizen Travel Insurance and get financial protection, especially when they travel alone.
- They can customise the policy as per their requirements.
- The policy will cover various travel risks, including medical emergencies, personal accident, loss of passport, loss of baggage, trip cancellations, etc.
- The travel policy also covers any pre-existing illness that the policyholder was suffering from before getting the policy.
Benefits of Student Travel Insurance
- Option to customise the policy covers as per the requirements of the university
- Students pursuing education overseas have different travel insurance for Schengen visas as per the needs of the universities
- Immense flexibility in choosing your geographical coverage of the policy, unlike other travel insurance plans that have a single plan for all geographical locations
- No upper age limit and no per ailment limit
- Double the sum insured for hospitalisation due to an accident
- No pre-medical check-ups
- Medical cover entailing medical evacuation, in-patient and out-patient care, dental expenses due to injury, permanent total disablement, or permanent partial disablement
- Cover for non-medical exigencies like loss or delay of checked-in baggage, loss of passport and international driving license, interruption of studies, personal liability, a compassionate visit by a family member, and sponsor protection
- Option to select the travel insurance for the tenure of 1 month to a maximum of 3 years
- Choice of selecting a geographical location for the scope of coverage of the travel insurance
- Cashless claim settlements and speedy disbursement of claims
Benefits of Group Travel Insurance
- Flexibility to choose between single-trip policy and annual multi-trip policy
- The considerable sum for dental expenses
- Double the sum insured in the case of hospitalisation during emergency
- Offers expense cover for adventure sports-related injury
- Out-patient and in-patient medical expense cover
- Specially dedicated admin as the guide for travel policies during the insured period
- Widespread coverage for medical tests like radiotherapy, chemotherapy, mammography, and cancer screening in-network hospitals
- Cover for non-medical expenses, personal liability, and bail bonds
- Specific cover for medical expenses due to a threatening medical condition resulting from a pre-existing disease
Benefits of Multi-trip Travel Insurance
- The multi-trip travel policy is an affordable option for those who plan to fly abroad in the same year frequently. There is no need to get a new policy for every trip.
- One can choose the multi-trip policy for a trip duration of 30 days, or 45 days, or 60 days.
- It provides insurance coverage for various medical expenses incurred during an emergency.
- It secures the policyholder by covering trip cancellations, delays, or interruptions
- The policy is suitable for business travellers or anyone who requires to travel more than once a year.
Benefits of Single-Trip Travel Insurance
- Single-trip travel insurance is ideal for those who plan for family vacations
- The policy provides cover for a minimum trip duration of 1 day and a maximum of 180 days.
- It provides comprehensive protection by covering medical expenses like in-patient care and out-patient care, and personal accident cover.
- It secures the insured by covering non-medical expenses in case of loss/ delay of checked-in baggage, loss of passport, trip cancellations/delays/interruptions, etc.
- The policyholder has the choice to extend the policy to a maximum of 365 days
How to Choose the Best Online Travel Insurance?
Maximum Coverage: The first thing to check in online travel insurance is coverage. Comprehensive travel insurance covers all types of medical and non-medical expenses that you may incur during an emergency when you are away from your home country. So, you should pick the travel insurance that covers all your travel risks and gives you maximum coverage.
Medical Coverage: Exclusive travel insurance includes expenses such as emergency hospitalisation, surgery, anaesthetic tooth treatment, medical evacuation, and accidental death. Further, hospital daily cash allowance, air ambulance, medical repatriation, and permanent disablement are the other medical benefits of travel insurance. So, pick a plan that gives you maximum coverage.
Non-Medical Coverage: Before choosing a travel insurance policy, make sure that it gives you non-medical coverage. Compensation in case of loss or delay of your checked-in baggage, flight cancellation or delay, personal liability, extended hotel accommodation, etc., are its non-medical benefits.
Quick Assistance: You should read the online reviews about the insurance providers to know how good they are in providing immediate assistance to their customers. See the ratings and then make your buying decisions. Trusted travel insurance companies like us give you quick assistance in case of emergency.
Premium Amount: Use online premium calculators available on our official websites to calculate the premium for different plans. You need to put the details and compare the premium to choose the one that best suits your travel budget.
Claim Settlement Ratio: The ratio shows the insurer’s capability to settle the claims. Companies with higher CSR are always good to go. Read the detailed online brochure for more clarity.
Exclusions: Adventure sports injury, alcohol consumption, cosmetic, obesity treatment, and others come under the exclusion. It means you are not entitled to file a claim for exclusions. So, you should pick the travel insurance that has minimal exclusions.