Travel insurance is a unique product meant to protect you while travelling. Also known as travel health insurance, it can be bought for both foreign and domestic travels. Basic travel insurance plans cover financial losses caused by medical emergencies during your trip, however, comprehensive travel insurance policies offer better coverage for flight delays, lost passports, trip cancellations, personal liability, and more.
A travel insurance policy is a versatile plan that offers financial compensation for a range of emergencies faced by the policyholder on a trip.
It is a very effective way to secure any trip, given that you compare travel insurance plans before buying the best one for your upcoming trip. Usually, people only learn about travel insurance when they need to visit a country which requires them to buy international travel insurance online. However, compared to pre-pandemic times, more travellers are now insuring their trips.
Buying an online travel insurance policy is very convenient and the coverage can be customised for different kinds of trips. There are different coverages, add-ons and insurance periods depending on if its a business trip, a family trip or an educational trip. Benefits include compensation for the theft of your passport, medical evaluation, delay in checked-in baggage, missed connections, etc.
Before you go on a holiday, first understand what all you need to prepare for. Other than packing, booking flight tickets etc., know what is travel insurance and how exactly it will protect you. Here are some of the best travel insurance benefits to look for in an overseas travel insurance plan:
Journey Coverage
COVID-19 Coverage
Baggage Coverage
Medical Coverage
Add-on Covers
Different types of travel insurance plans have been designed to meet the needs of different travellers. People of all ages, including adults, students, families and senior citizens can buy international travel insurance online or offline. Let us take you through the different types of overseas insurance policy available in India:
International Travel Insurance
This type of travel health insurance covers individuals and families travelling overseas. It provides a wide range of coverage including medical expenses, dental expenses, flight delays, trip cancellation, loss of passport, personal liability, loss or delay of check-in baggage, and more.
Schengen Travel Insurance
It is a mandatory overseas travel medical insurance plan covering people going to one or more Schengen countries. As many European countries are part of the Schengen Zone, people commonly buy travel insurance for Europe from India before applying for a Schengen visa. It protects insured travellers from many emergencies that may lead to financial losses.
Family Travel Insurance
As is clear from the name, family insurance covers the policyholder, their spouse, and dependent children. All insured members of a family can avail of covers including medical expenses, loss of passport, personal liability, loss or delay of check-in baggage, and more. However, not all travel insurance companies in India offer similar benefits so travel insurance comparison is very important.
Senior Citizen Travel Insurance
Tailor-made for elderly people, this is the best travel insurance for senior travellers who wish to travel abroad without fearing health or other financial emergencies. Since most travel insurance companies in India only cover travellers up to the age of 60 - 65 years, providing this kind of travel insurance for seniors becomes crucial. Benefits of a senior citizen travel insurance plan include coverage of medical expenses, dental expenses, repatriation of mortal remains, loss or delay of check-in baggage, passport loss, medical evacuation, etc. just like other plans available under travel insurance in India.
Ideally, you should buy international travel insurance as soon as you have booked your flight and hotel. Most travel guides and insurance companies recommend that you buy travel insurance within 15 days of buying your flight tickets and other non-refundable costs. This comes in handy in many ways:
Buying travel insurance early protects your trip from any last-minute cancellations or delays and the financial loss they entail
Many countries like France, Germany, Turkey, Australia etc. need Indian visitors to show proof of travel health insurance before they issue a visa.
If youre going on an international trip for the first time, then chances are youre confused about how to get travel insurance for your much-awaited trip! Before you buy travel insurance online, make sure you give it a lot of thought and weigh your options:
Travel Frequency
If you are a frequent traveller, you are better off with a multi-trip insurance policy that will be cheaper and save you the hassle of buying it again. Otherwise, you should go for a single-trip insurance plan which covers you for the entire duration of your journey.
Travel Destination
Whether it is an international trip or a domestic trip, whether going to the US or Japan; different trip locations will cost you differently. Also, many countries have a mandatory travel health insurance requirement before they issue a visa so your sum insured and other requirements will vary significantly.
Trip Duration
Your travel insurance policy will be calculated and issued according to the length of your stay. In most cases, people buy an online travel insurance policy with a duration slightly exceeding their total trip duration so that any sudden changes can be accommodated without costing you an extra premium.
Number of Travelers
You can buy an individual travel insurance policy if youre going alone, or make it into a family travel plan if your loved ones are going too. The insurer should be informed about the total number of travellers accordingly.
Claim Procedure
When you buy travel insurance online, read about the insurer, their claim-settlement ratio as well as any claim limits they have set with various benefits. Each travel insurance policy has a certain limit up to which they will pay for your claims.
Buying health insurance can be easy if you approach the right channel. Having said this, Bimafinserv.com can be a good platform for choosing the right insurance policy. Bimafinserv Insurance Broker Private Limited has made the process of comparing & buying a health insurance policy easier in comparison to earlier days. A person has easy access to complete details of almost all health insurance plans available in the Indian insurance market at a competitive price.
Bimafinserv.com helps you to compare numerous health insurance plans and zero down on the plan that best fulfills your needs. Moreover, the post-sale services are extended to the customers online as well even at the time of medical insurance claim.