Why Travel Insurance is important, Inclusions and Exclusions

When we go for a vacation, the things that occupies your mind are flight and hotel bookings, travel bags, camera and the excitement of going away form your normal routine life. However, after spending so much on bookings, we sometimes ignorantly and most of the time intentionally, choose not to have a travel insurance and that too for unknown reasons. I think following can be the reasons for not choosing travel insurance.

• Cost -  People don't buy travel insurance because they need to shell extra money for it and does not come integral with the flight bookings. Well, nothing comes for free and when you are spending some Lakhs or thousands of rupees on other bookings than why not secure your holiday travel with few hundreds. It gives you peace of mind in any kind of mishap.
     
• All is well - I am fit and fine and everything is planned, nothing can go wrong, this is the mindset for choosing to ignore the insurance. You can be sure of things which are under your control but what about external factors - weather, calamities, medical emergencies, baggage loss, family emergencies etc. Insurance is to take care of those things which you can not take care.
     
• Not enough awareness - When i see the people around me, i can see there is serious scarcity of knowledge among peoples when it comes to any kind of insurance. People are not aware of the benefits of insurance and some even don't know whether it can be insured or not. Celebrities have insured their body parts, can you think of insuring them? There seems to be only two insurances - life insurance and vehicle insurance in general. People need to be educated and made aware of the importance of different types of insurances products, "which insurance to have", "when to choose insurance" and most importantly "why to have insurance".

Why it is important ?

If you are travelling abroad then you must have travel insurance, for domestic travel you can choose to travel even without it. Outside India, medical facilities are very costly and can punch a huge hole in your pocket even for a small illness or injury. With travel insurance, you need to worry about baggage loss or flight delays or sudden illness. Most importantly, travel insurance comes with peace of mind. Travel insurance can be your rescuer during tough times.

You can buy travel insurance or online also. When you choose to buy it online, you get abundant options to compare and that too at affordable rates. There are huge varieties of travel insurance policies that provide you several benefits in one package.

   

Benefits of Travel Insurance

Benefits offered by a product is the only reason to buy that product. Below are benefits that are included as a part of travel insurance.

• Medical Emergency - Medical emergency not only takes all your energy, it can all shake you financially, if you don't have insurance to cover your medical costs abroad. Medical emergency is perhaps the single most important factor to consider proper travel insurance cover. Under this cover, you will get assistance if get sick or injured overseas. The policy covers your treatment cost, cost of medical advice from doctors, medical bills and even evacuation to your home country or nearest country where adequate medical facilities are available for your treatment.
     
• Trip Cancellation - When we plan for a vacation, trip cancellation is never on the cards. Insurance for trip cancellation or interruption is a must consider point for international travel. These kind of policies cover cancellations due to weather, sudden illness, death and emergencies whilst at home or abroad. This covers trip delays, trip cancellation, trip curtailments, missed connections and like. So, you don't need to worry about cost of rebooking or delays and cancellation.
     
• Baggage Insurance - Often we hear about airlines misplacing baggage. Covering the expense of replacing your lost baggage and belongings is a part of travel insurance. This is important as expensive gadgets like laptops, tablets, iPad and iPhones, smart cameras and the like have become part of the travel baggage now.
     
• Repatriation of Remains - In the unfortunate event of the death of the insured, a travel insurance policy covers expenses for repatriation of the remains.

Exclusions in travel insurance

• Pre-existing medical conditions
      
• Baggage delayed for less than 24 or similar hours
    
• Sports injuries
    
• Pregnancy and childbirth
    
• Psychological illness or self-inflicted injuries
    
• Acts of war/local protests
    
• Act of God
    
• Tour Operator Cancellation
     
• Failing to get the passport or visa in time
    
• Death or illness of a pet
    
• Losses due to nuclear radiation or radioactive contamination
     
• Losses incurred while the insured is legally drunk or under the influence of drugs.
  

Make sure that you declare the intention of your travel exactly in the application form; even if it is a fun holiday or an adventure trip, it must mention everything on the suggestion form. A standard travel insurance plan is not suitable to cover risks for adventurous actions. Nevertheless, you can pay extra premium to look for coverage for such activities. It is better to compare travel insurance plans so that you are able to get the best deal. Once you are insured, you can travel anywhere across the world and feel safe, secure, and most importantly be at peace with yourself. This will of course improve your overall enthusiasm for the trip. After all, it is not every day that you go for holiday. 

Have a safe trip!