How Late Can I Purchase Travel Insurance?

Benefits of Travel Insurance

Travel insurance will cover various unfortunate events such as loss of baggage, loss of travel documents, medical emergency and other perils. Before buying a travel insurance policy, you can go through the information provided on the official website of the insurance company. In fact, you can buy travel insurance online by filling out the online application in a few seconds.

Mandatory for the Visa - You should be in possession of adequate travel insurance to manage medical emergency or urgent medical attention. The visa-issuing authorities will verify the insurance document before confirming the visa.

Travel Insurance Plan Requirements

Before buying a travel insurance plan, you should be aware of your insurance requirements. You can take the help of a financial expert or insurance advisor to understand the insurance needs.

You can buy Domestic Travel Insurance plan to cover various risks associated with your journey in the country. Even though you are in possession of a health insurance policy, you should take a travel insurance policy to cover travel-related uncertainties. The cost of domestic insurance policy will be cheaper than the overseas travel insurance plan.

The following factors will influence the selection of your insurance policy:

• Purpose of the Visit - You should choose a travel insurance plan as per the purpose of the visit. You may visit a foreign country for studies, business, and leisure.
• Individual or Group - You can undertake the trip as single or group. The group insurance policy is cheaper than the individual insurance policy. However, the coverage of an individual policy is very much extensive. You will get higher sum assured and various kinds of risk factors are covered with an individual policy.
• Duration of the Stay - The travel insurance policy should be subscribed as per the duration of the stay in the foreign country. You can stay for a few days to few weeks. If you are going on a holiday, the insurance coverage will be for less than one month. The insurance cover will expire as soon as you complete the trip. In some cases, you will want to extend the trip. In such cases, you will want to request extended coverage of the trip. You should consult the insurance company about the additional premium that should be paid by the insured to avail the insurance extension during the extended period.
• Coverage of Pre-Existing Condition - If you have a pre-existing health condition, you should choose a travel plan so that you will become stable during medical emergency.
• Sub-limits - You should be aware of the sub-limits mentioned in the insurance plan. If there are sub-limits for the room rent or medical expenses, the expenses higher than the sub-limit should be borne by the insured.
• Co-pay - If your travel insurance plan comes with the co-pay, you should pay from your pocket as per the percentage of co-pay. If the co-pay is 10%, the insurance company will pay 90% of the expenses and the rest of the 10% expenses should be borne by the insured.

Should you Buy Travel Insurance for Domestic Travel?

You should buy travel insurance for domestic travel as well so that various kinds of risks will be covered in a very efficient manner. The travel policy will cover the individual policyholder. People between 18 years and 65 years will be able to buy the travel insurance plan. The Domestic Travel Insurance plan will cover all kinds of eventualities in the country. You can buy a travel policy at an affordable price.

The travel insurance policy will cover risk factors up to one year and it will cover for a sum assured.

Risk Factors Covered by Domestic Travel Plan

• Delay of flight
• Emergency evacuation costs
• Loss of others’ properly
• Emergency medical costs
• Loss of baggage
• Emergency medical expenses
• Emergency dental treatment

Inclusions

If you are buying a domestic travel insurance plan, you should be aware of the inclusions and exclusions. Most of the insurance companies will include flight cancellation, flight delay, loss of baggage and accident cover. However, you should go through the document to understand the inclusions. If there are certain risk factors which are not included in the plan, you can customize the plan to fulfill your requirements.

Medical or Accident cover

• Medical Emergency - The expenses incurred due to medical emergency will be borne by the insurance company. Even though you have a medical insurance plan, it will have limited options. The travel insurance plan can offer additional benefits. Hence, it is worthwhile option to include the medical cover in a travel insurance plan.
• Loss of Baggage - There will be great peace of mind when you buy a travel insurance plan to cover the loss of baggage. Most of the airlines will have their own policies in handling the loss of baggage issues. However, you should be covered by a proper plan so that the losses will be minimized.
• Personal Liability - if there is accidental damage to the third party, it will be covered by the insurance policy. Personal liability was not offered as part of the basic coverage in a travel insurance policy. However, it is being offered in current generation policies to fulfill the complete needs of travelers.
• Flight Cancellation - there are various issues that affect the flight delay or cancellation. If there is flight delay, you may be able to catch the connecting flight. The plight will be overcome by insuring the ‘flight cancellation or delay’ with your travel insurance plan.

Exclusions

Domestic travel insurance policy will be offered to customers with some exclusions. The policy will not cover non-medical expenses.

• Pre-existing medical issues
• Self-inflicted injury
• Suicidal attempt
• HIV or AIDS
• Non-adherence to medical advice
• Travelling to war zones
• Damage due to acts of terrorism

The insured should not travel against the advice of the doctor. The policyholder travelling for medical treatment to overcome terminal cancer or another severe disease, the insurance policy is not applicable.

If the insured is a partaker of criminal activities, he is not eligible for claim. Sexually transmitted diseases and mental disorders are not included in the insurance plan. The damage that takes place due to participation in adventure sports will not be covered by the plan. The policyholder should disclose complete information about the nature of activities that he will undertake during the journey. If the policyholder fails to disclose the information, the insurance will be null and void.

You can Buy Travel Insurance Online so that the premium will be low and benefits will be high. You will get access to accurate information. After comparing various products, you can settle down for the right product as per your needs.

International Travel Insurance

There is a vast difference between domestic travel plan requirements and the international travel plan requirements. When you travel to a distant country, you should deal with new people who are not aware of your language and culture. A quick local help will be managed with the help of the international travel insurance plan. In fact, the international travel insurance plan can be purchased in India and the benefits can be enjoyed in the destination country.

The travel insurance company will maintain a network of hospitals and other aid agencies. The help will be provided to the policyholder immediately. The insurance company will manage the local conditions by arranging staff that is aware of the local language. A meaningful solution will be provided to clients in the suitable way by the insurance company. Hence, you can consider the travel insurance as an asset or protection from various kinds of risks and fears. As soon as there is difficulty with the issues covered by the insurance policy, you can knock the doors of insurance company.

The insurance company will provide the toll-free number which can be reached on a 24/7 basis. The company staff will respond to your queries. If you are involved in an accident, the information should be shared with the insurance company. The insurance company will provide information about the nearest hospital or clinic where you can get cashless treatment.

• Coverage of pre-paid costs - An international trip includes high pre-paid costs. The expenses incurred towards hotel-booking and tour operator will be non-refundable. In some cases, expenses are refundable but there will huge loss in the form of cancellation charges. Hence, you should buy a comprehensive travel insurance plan to cover various risk factors.
• Evacuation on international trip - If a traveler is killed or injured the evacuation should be done on emergency basis. It will be done in a very efficient manner when you are covered by a comprehensive travel insurance policy.
• Trip delays - The trip may be delayed due to technical snags in the aircraft. The weather conditions may not permit the flight as per the schedule. The delay will incur various kinds of expenses. The boarding and lodging arrangements due to trip delay should be borne by the insurance company.
• Safety of kids - If you are travelling with kids, you should take additional precautionary measures. The kids’ safety is the prime-most concern and you should be willing to spend additional premium to get proactive services or help from the insurance company. If your children are left unattended, the travel insurance company should fill the space by providing the manpower to look after the welfare of your kids. If you are badly injured in an accident, the return of a minor child is not a small job. The job should be executed by the insurance company in a perfect way.

Hence, you should choose the right insurance carrier to cover various kinds of risks that take place due to domestic or overseas trip.

Student travel insurance is available at an affordable price from Indian insurance companies. Students should buy travel insurance policies as per the guidelines of the university or the institution where they are pursuing the education.

Conclusion

Travel insurance is necessary to cover various kinds of risk factors. You can buy domestic travel insurance plan when you are traveling to distant places in the country. The plan can be subscribed as per the duration and nature of activities. The loss of luggage, trip delay and cancellation can be done very efficiently and there will be great peace of mind. The policy can be purchased at the last minute as well. However, you will get maximum benefit with an insurance plan when you buy the policy at the earliest.