Travelling is one of the best ways to get rid of day-to-day stress. It also helps in getting closer to the family and friends. It does not matter if you are going for a personal or professional trip; the experience will bring a change in your life. However, there is a catch as every trip is prone to some natural or man-made disaster. No matter how careful you are, from trip cancellation to loss of baggage and from a medical emergency or terrorist attack, there can be hundreds of reasons that can ruin your trip. Thus, it is essential to get a travel insurance plan that can at least save you from the monetary losses.
Travel insurance plans come with several exclusions and terms that you should know about. It is essential to compare the programs and choose the right one as per your requirements. Here are some ways to compare the travel insurance plans to buy the right one for your next trip.
Understand the types of travel insurance
While comparing the insurance plans, you should know the types of Travel Insurance Plans available in the market. Depending on the type of insurance cover, make sure to select the basic and add-on features. Here are different types of travel insurance plans:
Leisure Trip Insurance
- Medical cover
- Loss of passport benefit
- Trip delay benefit
- Failure or delay of baggage
- Trip cancellation
- Accidental death benefit
- Missed connecting flights
Multi-Trip Insurance:
- Medical expenses
- Medical evacuation
- Hijacking benefit
- Loss of passport benefit
- Emergency cash advance in case you lose your wallet or cards
- Trip cancellation
- Missed flight/departure
- Accidental death benefit
Student Travel Insurance:
- Medical expenses
- Repatriation of mortal remains
- Ambulance charges
- Compassionate visit
- Loss of delay of checked-in baggage
- Accidental death and dismemberment benefit
- Child care benefits
- Loss of laptop
- Study interruption
- Physiotherapy
- Maternity benefit
Senior-citizen Travel Insurance:
- Medical expenses
- Hijacking benefit
- Trip delay benefit
- Trip cancellation
- Emergency cash advance
- Accidental death and dismemberment benefit
- Sickness dental relief
Compare the plans yourself
One of the biggest problems with travel agents or insurance agents is that they prefer those insurance policies in which their commission is more. Thus, it is always better to compare the plans yourself rather than relying entirely on the agents. Here are some of the factors to consider:
- Destination: The first thing you need to check if there is any exclusion based on the destination. In that case, either choose add-ons or find another policy that provides maximum coverage for specific destinations. For example, if you are visiting Egypt, the policy should cover any issues arising due to a terrorist attack such as evacuation, medical emergency, and more.
- Add-on features: Every insurance policy has some limitations. For example, many travel insurance plans will not cover adventure sports. In such cases, you need to buy add-ons or riders to cover incidents associated with excluded factors like burglary, fire, natural disaster and more.
- Claim history: While comparing the insurance companies and plans, make sure to keep the claim history as one of the important factors to consider. A company with fast and efficient claim process should be on the top of your choices.
- Medical cover: No one can assure you that you are not going to get sick on your trip. During international travel is your insurance policy does not cover medical emergencies; you may get into tremendous financial trouble. Thus while comparing the policies, make sure to check the medical cover you can avail. It should cover hospitalization, cashless payments, dental emergencies, and pre-existing conditions.
Compare and buy- the right way
Travel to far places has become easier in the last few decades. However, the risks that come with travelling have increased too. Thus everyone needs to have a travel insurance policy so that you get cover for any financial loss during the trip. Also, travel insurance policies provide support lines to help their customers that can solve a lot of different problems like assistance in case you lose travel documents, emergency evacuation and more. It is important to compare the insurance policies before you buy the right one. The tips mentioned above will help you in finalizing the plan that can provide you with maximum cover.
