6 Questions to Ask Before Buying Travel Insurance

Despite the wide range of coverage provided by travel insurance policies, most of you ignore to take one as you may not want to even think anything unpleasant that can ruin your holidays. However, being practical always helps and this is the reason travel insurance policies are recommended.

A travel insurance plan such as a policy from Religare Travel Insurance helps you to deal with unwanted situations like sudden illness and accident while you at an unknown place. It becomes your biggest help when you are travelling with your kids or old aged parents and they suddenly fell ill. It also helps you financially in case of baggage loss or loss of your important travel-related documents when you are in a foreign land.

Since there are a plethora of travel insurance policies available online, you may get confused in selecting the right one for you. To avoid such a situation, it is suggested to ask six questions to you and then finalize a plan:

Question 1: Is the policy covering your travel destination?

The first and the foremost thing that you must check before taking a travel insurance plan for a single trip is – whether the policy is covering your travel destination or not. If the place where you are going to travel is an unsafe zone for the travellers or comes under the excluded areas of your insurance plan, then do not take such a policy. Or take an add-on for the same with your basic travel policy.

Question 2: Are the adventure activities covered in your plan?

If you are going on a vacation where you will be enjoying the adventure activities, then check whether your policy is going to cover it or not. Some activities are deemed as ‘high risk’ sports, wherein chances of getting injured are higher, so these sports are excluded in most of the travel insurance policies. However, if your intention of travel is to enjoy the scuba diving, skiing, etc. in your vacation then take a plan that covers the risks involved in such sports. If you are getting all good features in your plan except the coverage for high-risk activities, then it is suggested to add this coverage as a rider.

Question 3: What is the maximum payable provided by your policy?

Before finalizing any travel insurance plan, it is suggested to check the maximum payables of the policy. Having an idea of the cap of your insurance policy, you will be in ease while making any claim or while bills will be adding up in an emergency during travel.

Question 4: What are the exclusions of your policy?

Every insurance policy has a few exclusions and when we talk about travel insurance plans then these exclusions may become situations in which the insurance policy will not provide coverage. For example, most of the insurance policies do not cover the losses that incur while you are drunk or under the influence of some drug. Therefore, if you have broken your ankle or toe when you were drunk, then treatment caused can be rejected by your insurance provider. Moreover, sometimes few treatments or procedures are covered in an insurance policy. So, the above example is given just to let you know that you must read the fine print or the exclusions of your insurance policy with its inclusions before purchasing one.

Question 5: Do you have any pre-existing medical condition? If yes, is your insurance policy covering it?

As per the ‘Internal Association for Medical Assistance to Travelers,’ a medical condition that was in your body before you were insured is considered a pre-existing condition. If you don’t declare a pre-existing condition, then your policy can be invalidated. If you had some severe health issues or had any in the past, then searching a travel insurance plan that covers it can be troublesome. Most of the travel insurance policies do not cover any pre-existing medical conditions and the plans that cover any provide very limited coverage. So, what can you do in such a condition? Well, in such situations, you can add a rider in your travel insurance policy that provides coverage for your pre-existing condition. So, the bottom line is, if you have any pre-existing medical issue, then either take a plan that covers it or opts for an add-on/ rider for the same.

Question 6: What is the process to file a claim?

With an understanding of what is covered and what not is covered in your travel insurance plan, it is equally important to know what is involved in making its claim. You can get an idea of its claim settlement by its Incurred Claim Ratio (ICR). ICR is the ratio of a number of claims settled versus the number of claims registered in a year with the insurance provider. The higher the ICR is the reliable is the organization in terms of claim settlement. Moreover, this process should be pain-free and easy because you must be stressed out while making a claim, and at that time if the procedure will also be fussy, then you may end up missing something. And missing out something while filing a claim, can lead you to claim rejection. So the process must be fast and easy. Apart from this, the insurance company should also have 24*7 active call centres so that you can be able to contact it anytime while making a claim.

Conclusion:

These are some of the questions that you should ask yourself before finalizing a travel insurance policy. Additionally, these are the features that have to be there in a good travel insurance plan. So, keep these points in mind before considering any travel insurance policy whether for a single trip or multiple trips. Keeping these questions in mind will give you an opportunity to make an informed decision while purchasing a travel insurance plan.