You are not alone if you are ignoring travel insurance while booking the ticket for your upcoming trip. In fact, 90 percent of Indian travellers going abroad know about travel insurance, but only 2 to 5 percent of them prefer to buy one.
Usually, people in India do not buy travel insurance unless the country they are travelling makes the policy mandatory. Just because vacation is associated with fun and pleasure, it doesn’t mean, nothing bad will happen during a journey. Remember, travel comes with its fair share of risks, and it is always good to buy travel insurance to have a fun-filled and peaceful trip. Remember an indian evisa if you are planning to travel abroad!
Here are a few reasons due to which you should consider buying a travel insurance before your next trip:
- Loss/delay of baggage: So, you are all set for your trip and excited about it. But, after reaching the destination, you find that your bag is delayed due to the airline’s mistake and you do not even have basic clothing and toiletries to spend two or three days until your bags arrive. It means, now you would have to either shell out extra money on buying some basic things or rely on the mercy of the airline. However, if you had a travel insurance policy, this thing could have been easily avoided. The insurer would have paid you a pre-approved sum as stated in the policy.
Rather than being worried about your stuff or contacting the embassy and then figuring out things on your own, your one call to the travel insurer can sort out all the things right from doing paperwork to getting the required finances.
- Medical emergency: Disasters like injury or accident can strike even when you are away on a vacation. If you have a travel insurance policy, you will not require to pay huge medical bills from your pocket in case of any mishappening. A health insurance becomes futile as soon as you leave your country. However, a medical travel insurance covers expenses related to transportation, diagnostic tests, in and outpatient services, and ambulance charges as well as also helps in finding the nearest medical facility. Some of the plans might even provide for dental coverages and pre-existing conditions. As the medical expenses are quite high in countries like the USA, UK, etc.; it is imperative to buy a suitable travel insurance plan.
- Loss of passport: If you have a travel insurance and in case your passport is lost, it shall help you get your duplicate passport as soon as possible and will also cover the cost of any expenses in relation to duplicate passport. Passport is the only valid identity proof while travelling and losing a passport in a foreign land can become risky. A travel insurer eases your worries by arranging for the duplicate passport or bearing the expenses related to it.
- Emergency evacuation: In case a natural or a man-made calamity like earthquakes, tsunami, hurricane, political unrest, strikes, violence, terrorist attacks, etc. occurs which needs an emergency evacuation from the country, your travel insurance company will help you get out of the situation by providing requisite assistance.
Similarly, when you travel to foreign countries, you might not know their local languages which can make it difficult to communicate in case of any emergency. However, at that time, you can call your travel insurer’s 24*7 emergency assistance service and all the help will be given to you.Travel insurance companies take the full responsibility of flying out the policyholder from the emergency situations to the home country and offering all required medical help.
- Cancellation of the trip/flight: Certainly, there is a monetary loss if you cancel your trip due to some medical or family emergency. However, if your travel insurance policy comes with cancellation coverage, the insurer will reimburse your cancellation charges. Similarly, if you have a travel insurance and your flight got cancelled due to terrorist activity, strike, or any weather-related activity, the travel insurance company will pay a cancellation compensation. A travel policy saves you from monetary attack
- Missing the connection flight: In case you miss your connecting flight, your travel insurer will book a new connecting flight for you and bear all the expenses related to it. A travel insurance policy ensures a tension-free journey.
Whether you should buy a travel insurance or not?
Buying or not buying a travel insurance is totally a personal call with just a few countries mandatorily requiring one. But, if you would like to have a hassle-free trip without worrying about cancellations, missing flight, loss of bags and much more, then you should buy a travel insurance.
Moreover, merely buying a travel insurance is not enough. It should be sufficient to cover your trip completely and therefore, when you go for insurance, don’t just go by the premium amount but rather the spread and reach of the insurance company.