When is Travel Delay Insurance Claimed?

What is Trip Delay in Travel Insurance?

Many of us are avid travellers and the idea of finally going on a vacation after COVID-19 is simply too exciting!

Preparing everything from hotels, tour companies, rail or flight tickets is a tiring but necessary part of the plans. All this is absolutely worth it once you're on your vacation, but what will you do if your trip has been delayed?

All your carefully planned details, itinerary and bookings will suffer because of this unexpected delay. This can be because of several reasons, including flight delays, weather conditions or emergencies.

Because of this delay, you may have to spend extra on unexpected accommodation, additional expenses and more. Thanks to trip delay coverage under travel insurance plans, you can be covered for such expenses.

What is Covered in Travel Delay Insurance?

Travel delay is an unpleasant experience for anyone and often comes with a lot of unplanned expenses and compromises. Take a look at some of the situations that are covered under trip delay:

• Reimbursement for lost prepaid expenses
• Reimbursement for additional lodging or accommodation expenses incurred
• Covers losses like meals, toiletries etc. due to the delay, however, this feature is usually offered as an add-on by limited insurers.

This benefit is offered by several travel insurance companies in India but the exact coverage varies significantly. You should read the policy wordings carefully before buying a plan so that you know what is covered or not covered.

What is Considered a Trip Delay?

Trip delay is especially undesirable when it exceeds considerable time, usually in hours. This delay can force you to miss any interconnecting flights or an important meeting that you were travelling for.

However, there are always reasons for these delays that are not always valid during raising a claim. For clarity, look at some of the most common reasons which may force your trip to be delayed:

• Sudden changes in weather conditions or natural disasters
• Strikes (unannounced) or job action that was taken by the carrier's company employees
• Technical issues of the carrier like equipment failure

You will end up paying extra for meals, hotel/lodging etc. in case your flight is delayed for these reasons for more than a few hours.

In such cases, having a comprehensive travel insurance plan with a trip delay benefit will be a great help and cover these additional expenses caused by the delay. However, the exact coverage and reimbursement will vary a lot depending on whether you're travelling abroad or in India.

Trip Delay in International and Domestic Travel

Trip delay coverage differs significantly with the type of trip and several other factors. What may be covered under international travel may not be offered during a domestic trip. These have been briefly discussed below:

Trip Delay in International Travel Insurance

Several travel insurance companies in India offer overseas travel insurance plans that offer coverage for trip delays. However, these are claimable only if they meet a minimum deductible or criteria set by the insurer. If your flight is delayed for 12 hours or more, your reasonable extra expenses like meals and accommodation will be covered by the insurer.

Trip Delay in Domestic Travel Insurance

Be it through railways or flights, travelling in India is a beautiful experience until your train gets super late or the flight is delayed without any hint. Thankfully, many domestic travel insurance plans are now available that cover several additional expenses because of these delays. For most domestic travels, a delay of over 4 hours is covered by several insurers. Some trip insurance plans also offer varying reimbursements depending upon your plan's sum insured.

Trip Delay Insurance: Things to Remember

In some cases, your trip insurance plan won’t cover trip delays. Keep in mind some of these common exceptions:

• Delay due to any hazard that you already knew about or was made public before you booked your trip
• Delay due to any law and order or regulation issued by any public authority
• Delays due to strikes or labour disputes about which the warning was already issued before you made trip bookings.
• Delays that are due to withdrawal of services (permanent or temporary) by the scheduled carrier.

Wrapping it Up,

After a difficult time full of restrictions, travelling is a much-awaited experience for many people. Whether travelling with families and friends, make sure to buy travel insurance with travel delay coverage benefits. This will ensure that your carefully planned trip does not prove to be very disappointing. You can find travel insurance online on Policybazaar.com where you can compare different plans and pick the one you like!