With international flights resuming normal operations from March 27th, 2022 onwards, there has been a steep rise in the number of travel insurance. It has also been observed that a large population of travelers is buying travel medical insurance, compared to the pre-pandemic numbers. A significant jump in overseas travel insurance has already been recorded in the last few days.
Travel medical insurance offers coverage against almost all the medical contingencies in a foreign land. It also saves international travelers from emptying their savings to pay hefty medical bills. Hence, it is considered a must-have for all international travelers.
So, what exactly is this travel medical insurance, and what does it include? What are the things you need to know about it?
Here, we will take you through everything you need to know to get travel medical insurance. Let us get started.
Key Takeaways
- Travel and medical insurance protect you when you take an international trip by covering your medical bills.
- It also helps you in emergency evacuation situations in a foreign country.
- Irrespective of the age of the traveler and the reason for travel, travel medical insurance policy covers all the medical expenses and makes sure that the traveler is stress-free.
The Basics of Medical Insurance for Overseas Travel
Life is unpredictable, because of which no one would know what would happen at that very moment. If a person gets a heart attack or falls sick while traveling on a flight to a foreign country, that’s where medical insurance comes into the picture. International travel medical insurance helps explore the world free from stress.
Travel medical insurance for overseas travel provides coverage for all medical needs in times of emergency.
Travel medical insurance covers all your medical expenses and other likely incidents while traveling. You can save money on a hefty amount of medical bills, loss of your valuables like jewelry, luggage, and other belongings, and the loss or theft of electronic gadgets.
Key Takeaways
- Coverage of Pre and post expenses of hospitalization.
- Provides access to over thousands of network hospitals throughout the country.
- Day-care treatment expenses.
- Ambulance charges.
- Bariatric surgery, ayurvedic, allopathy, homeopathic hospitalization, blood and organ donor expenses, etc.
- Loss or delay of checked baggage.
- Loss of passport
- Delay or cancellation of flight
- Medical evacuation
- Personal liability
- Cash advances during emergency
- Cashless health insurance facility for medical expenses
Know When, Where, and How to Choose Travel Medical Insurance
Are you wondering when, where, and how to choose travel medical insurance? A simple answer to the question is as soon as possible. One would usually buy the policy within 15 days before their trip, thinking that vacation would be the best time. When you plan a specific destination, that’s where you would consider booking a flight, train, bus, or car rental. However, when you choose travel medical insurance, you need to consider supplemental coverage to protect your trip from an unforeseen incident or a possible mishap. It would help if you considered the following things while purchasing travel medical insurance.
Here are the pre-requisites on how to choose travel medical insurance
- Check with your existing insurance about the suitable travel medical insurance policy that would cover you completely.
- Choose the policy according to your travel plans.
- Ensure that policy that you take covers your desired destination.
- The type of policy that you take covers the entire family.
- The amount of medical coverage that the policy provides while traveling.
- Coverage for your loss of personal belongings like luggage, valuables, and electronic items.
- Coverage for missed flight.
- Ensure that you can claim at the time of medical emergency, passport loss, theft of wallets, and electronic items.
- Accident coverage during the holiday or trip activities.
- Coverage for a canceled trip or holiday.
- Know the coverage limitations of your policy.
Did You Know?
Do you know that travel medical insurance can cover your loss of essential documents like a passport? Well, the policy does a lot more for you. It would be hard for you to believe that you will also get coverage for the loss of electronic items. Mobile phones, laptops, tablets, and other electronic items would get coverage during the international trip. If you think you don’t require travel medical insurance when you are young and fit, that’s where you miss out. It is not to scare you, but it is a harsh reality. You wouldn’t know what event would occur when. So, it would be essential to equip yourself with international travel medical insurance in emergency cases.
Today, you will find many travels medical insurance companies that would also cover Covid-related medical expenses, depending on the plan you buy.
Why Buy Travel and Medical Insurance: Benefits of Travel Medical Insurance
Sickness or injury is one of the most devastating events when on a trip. Can you imagine yourself in circumstances where you don’t have travel medical insurance? Though you may have sufficient balance in your account, you or your loved ones may not be able to undergo treatment overseas with limited or no coverage of health and travel insurance. It would also cover the expenses incurred for COVID treatment, which comes under the plan for travel medical insurance.
Benefits of Travel Medical Insurance
- 100% protection from any unforeseen incidents – The travel medical insurance is designed to provide you complete protection from possible unforeseen trouble. If that event occurs, travel medical insurance from a reputed company will help you with medical bills accordingly.
- Personal accidents – Personal accidents are also unforeseen events while traveling abroad. Travel medical insurance will come in handy if you encounter an accident while traveling to a new location. The policy covers the expenses, preventing you from withdrawing the money from your savings.
- Loss of your luggage – The loss of luggage has become common among many people across the globe. It has always been a hopeless situation for a person when they lose their belongings in their baggage. However, with travel insurance, you can recover your loss with the help of its coverage.
- Misplaced or lost passport – Losing a passport is not desirable as it is one of the most important documents. Hence, everyone would like to keep it safe. If you lose your passport, it would ultimately hamper your travel plan. You would have to follow specific procedures and bear the expenses to get back your passport or make a new one in a different country. You would be issued a temporary passport to pass through immigration on certain conditions. Travel insurance covers all these costs, allowing you to be more relaxed.
- Health coverage – Health is one of the essential aspects you cannot afford to misunderstand or underestimate. If you are a person who travels a short or very long distance, you might encounter many things that may not be in your control. You may also run in a severe condition that you have never anticipated. If your frequency of travel is more than one, a multiple-trip policy would be ideal for you.
- Daily hospital allowance – If an insured person gets hospitalized for more than 48 hours, the travel medical insurance would be liable to cover the medical expenses. Also, the insured persons staying in the hospital would get the specified amount every day according to the maximum limit mentioned in the policy.
Types of Travel Medical Insurance
If you are looking to buy a travel medical insurance, then know that there are broadly two types of it:
- Single Trip Travel Medical Insurance
This kind of travel medical insurance is specifically designed to cater to only one trip. So it starts and ends according to that single trip. You can buy this if you are going to travel for only once. - Multi-Trip Travel Medical Insurance
Compared to the single trip travel medical insurance, this type of insurance covers multiple trips. You can buy this insurance for a fixed term period of one year. But know that the duration for the trip, as per the insurance guidelines, is 30/45/60 days.
What Does Travel Medical Insurance Covers
No smart person will travel without a travel medical insurance. After all, they are aware of the benefits of this insurance and they want to use it to be prepared for any kind of eventuality. We are sure that you are also one of these people. You want to be equipped with the necessary tools to deal with any kind of issue on your vacation. This is why you have decided to buy a travel medical insurance for yourself.
Now, even though it’s great that you have decided to buy travel medical insurance, you also need to be aware of what all does it cover. A good travel medical insurance covers the following:
- Loss of baggage, passport, and electronic items like mobiles, laptops, tablets, etc.
- Flight cancellations
- Flight delays
- Hospitalization charges
- Medical evacuation
- Personal liability
- Delayed luggage
- Interruption of your trip
Additional Coverage of Travel Medical Insurance
If you are buying a travel medical insurance, you can get additional coverage. One such cover is Covid cover.
Covid Cover
Some travel medical insurance give compensations for any financial expenses incurred as a result of a person being diagnosed with Covid-19. This kind of coverage will also provide for a cancellation of trip, if any close associate of yours has been affected with Covid and you have interrupt your trip. In the case of a lockdown in the country of your travel, this Covid coverage will also provide for an extension.
Exclusions of Travel Medical Insurance
- Medical expenses that exceeded the expiry of the policy period.
- Pre-existing illness.
- A routine checkup that shows no indication of affecting your health.
- Suicide attempt of self-inflicted injuries or illness.
- Claims made for injuries incurred because of alcoholism or drug abuse.
- Self-claims in case you travel against the advice of your doctor.
- Expense on any injury or loss related to HIV or HIV-related illness.
- Losses incurred owing to the accident as a driver who does not have a valid international driving license.
- Pregnancy, miscarriage, child delivery, and abortion.
- Injuries incurred because of adventurous or dangerous stunts.
- Self-medication treatments
- Self-carried baggage
- Partial destruction of your baggage
- Loss or damaged passport that resulted in confiscation or detentions by police, customs, or any other authority.
Eligibility Criteria For Travel Medical Insurance Policy In India
When you are looking to buy a travel medical insurance, you need to be aware of all the eligibility conditions. These conditions differ as per different policies. Take a looking at the following eligibility conditions.
- If you are buying a travel medical insurance for your family, know that it covers two adults who are aged 60 and less. In addition to this, this insurance also covers two children who are of the age 21 and less.
- If you are buying a student travel insurance plan, you need to be a student who is between the age of 16 and 40.
- If you are buying senior citizen travel insurance plan, make sure that the senior citizen in question is of the 85 years old and less.
Word to Remember
Insurance Claim
It is the process through which a policyholder puts forward a request to avail the benefits of the insurance plan he/she has bought.
FAQs
Travel medical insurance is not a waste of money. On the contrary, it is an investment that would be useful when you encounter any health issues or loss of your belongings when you travel. You can also claim a refund for missed or delayed flights.
Yes, it would always be better to go for a medical checkup and consult the agent or insurance provider before purchasing the policy, as most insurance companies do not cover pre-existing illnesses.
You need to go through policy documents to be aware if you encounter such situations. So, you need to take prior permission in most cases despite the exceptions like emergency cases.
The extension period of travel medical insurance depends on the terms and conditions mentioned in the policy. The overseas travel medical insurance gets extensions once or twice.
Yes, you will get a refund if you cut short the trip. However, you need to present the self-explanatory documents as evidence. However, you would get the amount after the deduction of administrative costs.
The difference between travel and medical insurance isn’t significant except that travel medical insurance exclusively caters to the coverage of health hazards. In some countries, travel and medical insurance are separate entities.
You need to check with your insurance provider. Some insurance companies do provide travel medical insurances that covers pre-existing conditions, given the conditions are stable. However, some insurance companies don’t cover these.
Yes. In fact, you can get this insurance even on the last day, before you board your flight.
Your family travel medical insurance covers up to 9 individuals. These individuals are all from your family.
You have to check with your insurance provider. Some companies do provide cover for Covid-19 while some don’t.
This depends on the frequency of your travels. If you travel a lot during one year, then it’s advisable to buy an annual travel insurance. On the other hand, if you are going only once or twice, then it’s wiser to go for a single trip.
Also read about How to Buy Travel Insurance Online on Investment Simplified.