Are you an avid traveller with a wish to hover over the maximum places you can? Do you reject including travel insurance thinking it to be an unnecessary expense?

If your answer is yes, you’ve been lucky. Travel insurance adds up to 1% of the total cost of travel. However, its importance in safeguarding your trip from mishaps is exponentially more. In fact, it can turn out to be a saviour in the moments of crisis in a distant land and can save your trip from turning into that of pain and punishment.

Expect the Unexpected

Travel is often about venturing into the unknown, but we do not wish to be taken for a ride with these surprises. Disturbances might crop up to hamper your journey. Cancellations, bad weather, loss of baggage, theft, hospitalization, etc. are real incidents that can affect your experience.

Travel insurance can help greatly if you lose your luggage, important documents, valuable items, or have to visit a hospital.

Travel insurance plans also help you in case of third party damage, legal assistance and much more in a foreign location. With so many benefits available at a nominal cost, especially when you can buy travel insurance online, there is no reason why you should skip buying it.

What Does Travel Insurance Cover?

In order to understand the requirement of insurance, you first need to know what it actually covers and what benefits are waiting for you, if you actually need to use it. Many companies offering the insurance generally cover the following cases:

  • Interruption or cancellation of trips or flights
  • Personal items and luggage
  • Dismemberment and accidentals deaths
  • Emergency medical cases and extra stay
  • Round the clock phone assistance across the world

Travel insurance looks after certain basic conditions. However, some companies take a step or two further and incorporate clauses that might prove to be more useful at times. Different reasons could prompt people to go on a trip.

While some leave for a leisurely tour, others go on a business trip or to join a family event. Naturally, they will have different requirements for their policies. The travel plans cover the basic risks along with specific exposures while travelling to different countries. You may notice that your benefits and premium cost changes as you change the destination of your visit.

However, these policies pay no heed to addictions towards drug and alcohol and have no special mentions for previously existing illness.

Travel Insurance & Family Back Home

Often your travel plans may leave your family stranded for a while back home. Thus, few insurers have included benefits for the family as well along with your travel insurance plan. On the one hand, the insurance will offer you financial support on your trip and on the other it can also, assist you in taking care of your family in India.

The services travel insurance can offer to your family members are as follows:

  • Healthcare related: ranging from doctor’s appointment to nursing care assistance, which includes monitoring services
  • Motor Vehicle Breakdown services: Assistance to the family members with vehicle breakdown and maintenance including on road assistance
  • Living/Lifestyle Assistance: Housekeeping services like pest control, electrical and plumbing, etc.
  • Safety of Home: While you are travelling, your travel insurance can protect you from losses due to burglary, fire, etc. which may occur in your empty house

Even if your family is residing in a relatively new neighborhood in India, with such travel insurance, you can still ensure their wellbeing from afar.

How to Buy Travel Insurance?

You can buy travel insurance online, directly from the insurer. Once your travel plans have been finalized, you can connect with the insurer or visit the website to explore the travel insurance plans. Most online travel insurance providers offer a calculator where you can estimate your insurance premium before buying.

What Affects the Premium?

Your premium for the travel insurance depends on the following five parameters:

  • Selected Sum Insured
  • Destination of Travel
  • Duration of Travel
  • of travelers
  • Age group of travelers

When you buy travel insurance online, first you need to estimate the premium using the online calculator. You can customise the plan as per your need by increasing/decreasing the sum assured and covered features, before buying.

Once you have decided the plan, it takes only a couple of minutes to complete your application, make payment, and your policy document will be e-mailed to you within minutes. You can carry a print of the online document on your trip.

With these many benefits and an easy buying process, it is unwise not to have a stress-free experience during your overeas travel.