What is Usually Covered by Travel Insurance?

What Kind of Emergency Does Travel Insurance Cover?

Be it your health or something else, most travel insurance companies in India offer extensive benefits in case you face an emergency while travelling. Take a quick look at the most common benefits offered by trip insurance in case you find yourself in a pickle:

While these are not all the benefits offered by all the insurers, these are the most commonly covered emergency.

Most Common Travel Insurance Coverages

Medical Emergencies

This is perhaps the most important component of any travel insurance plan. The greatest risk to anyone while travelling is usually one’s health. For this reason, if you happen to fall sick while travelling abroad then your insurer will cover the related expenses, as long as they fall within the scope of your policy schedule.

Emergency medical expenses such as the cost of diagnosis, treatment, hospitalisation, surgeon’s fee, COVID-19-related treatment expenses etc. are some of the most common medical benefits offered in case of health-related emergencies. What’s more, most travel insurance companies in India also offer the benefit of cashless hospitalisation so that your insurer can directly settle the bill with the medical facility.

Itinerary Changes

Sudden changes in your travel plans are usually due to an emergency, mostly due to personal reasons or factors beyond your control. However, why should you take the brunt of it? When things don't go as per your schedule, chances are that you are already exceeding your budget. 

Be it urgently going back home or cutting your trip short, you can easily claim a partial or complete refund for all your booking expenses that were incurred as per the original schedule. Flight cancellation, trip interruption, or trip extension are some of the benefits that can be availed of during such itinerary-related emergencies.

Loss of Passport & Valuables

Passport loss is among the biggest crisis while travelling. Thankfully, insurance companies in India understand this and provide coverage in case your passport is lost or stolen abroad. Thankfully your travel insurance plan will help you arrange for a duplicate passport and cover those expenses too.

Not just your passport, many insurers also offer coverage for the loss of other valuable items such as your luggage, wallet etc. so that you're not stranded abroad. In case of such a financial crisis, you can easily get help from your insurer and file a claim for adequate compensation accordingly. 

Personal Liability

Accidentally damaging or harming a person or their property can land you in significant trouble abroad. If you're responsible for harming a third party or their assets, you will be liable to compensate them. This legal tangle is often a time-taking and costly affair, especially if you're in a country like the US or the UK. 

Most travel insurance plans offer protection in case of such legal emergencies and help you pay for the required compensation according to your policy terms.

Evacuation & Repatriation

This is one of the worst scenarios to find yourself or your loved ones in. Being hospitalised is bad enough, but if your attending doctor deems it necessary for you to be evacuated back to India then it’s going to be a very costly affair. Evacuation due to natural disasters, terrorist attacks etc. is also covered by several travel insurance plans.

Repatriation of remains is an unpleasant scenario when a traveller’s mortal remains must be transported back to their home. The entire procedure is a devastating and expensive affair, especially for the mourning family who have suffered this loss. Most travel insurance plans in India offer coverage in case of both evacuation and repatriation.

Other Emergencies

Trip insurance plans are often set apart by slight differences in benefits. While these may not be offered by all the insurers, these are still widely available and you can buy travel insurance for your upcoming trip accordingly. 

These benefits cover a range of emergencies, ranging from a sudden flare-up of your health condition, a security breach back at home or getting your valuable gadgets stolen. You can get additional coverage through optional covers such as home burglary insurance, personal belonging cover, cover for pre-existing diseases, and adventure sports cover. 

Wrapping it Up,

Thanks to a competitive market, the range of coverage and emergencies included by most travel insurance companies in India is pretty wide. You can easily find multiple plans to pick from for any trip without burning a hole in your pocket. Just make sure to be careful about what’s not covered by the trip insurance plan and don’t buy any plan without first comparing them on Policybazaar!