Novel Tech Platform to keep Schengen Travel Insurance Frauds at Bay

An invalid travel insurance policy may make travelers' visit to Europe quite impossible. Without travel insurance policy your visa might get canceled at the last moment.

The General Insurance Council which is the official representative body of 27 general insurance companies, have created one of a kind technology platform through a portal for Schengen countries to check the frequent illegal practices involving canceled travel policies, like health covers.

A Schengen Visa is one that lets a traveler to visit 26 European countries with one visa. Now each of the Schengen States has the right to log into the portal and verify the validity of the travel policy.

As per the rule, it is mandatory for the visitor to possess a travel policy throughout the traveling period, which can be of help to the visitor in case of any uncertainty. The minimum covering amount that is necessary, is euro 30,000.

Many cases came to the notice in which a prospective traveler, after taking the policy, later canceled it to seek the refund. The traveler shows the document at the time of issuing the visa but withdraws the money before flying out. He keeps the printout of the invalid policy handy while traveling abroad.

These kinds of frauds have been found in policies which are being issued in groups by the travel agencies. In several incidents, some European states even came across sick travelers who were going abroad with canceled policies, thus making them aware about the overlooked faults.

After General Insurance Council got to know about the fraud, it proposed to design a platform through which European embassies and consulates can check the authenticity of the insurance documents. The mechanism can now directly verify the policies of 12 general insurers and the policies that are not part of this platform would be rejected by the European states.