What is Group Travel Insurance?
As the name of this insurance type suggests, group travel insurance protects a group of people, traveling together, against any medical and other travel-related issues. Therefore, be it a medical emergency or financial crisis during travel, this insurance policy covers everything. Group travel insurance plans can broadly be divided into two categories - international group travel insurance plans and domestic group travel insurance policies. Moreover, a prospect can take it for a single trip or for multiple trips. So, one can take a travel insurance policy for a group as per the requirement.
Generally, group travel insurance policies are bought by organizations or any group of more than 5 people traveling together. These people can or cannot be from the same family.
Features & Benefits of Group Travel Policies in India
The following are the features and benefits of Group Travel Insurance Policies in India:
- Emergency Medical Costs: The insurer compensates you for expenses incurred due to an accident or ailment while travelling abroad only.
- Emergency Medical Costs (Accidental only): You will get reimbursed for the expenses insured due to an accident while travelling in India only.
- Emergency Travel benefits: This cover includes emergency medical conveyance, emergency travel costs for your family, medical repatriation or transfer of medicines etc.
- Cover for emergency medical deportation: This is an essential feature during an overseas trip be it business or leisure, especially when the person is above 50 years old. At the time of buying this coverage, the employer must explore the medical treatments and hospitals and return expenses.
- Cover for cancellation of the trip: This cover prevents you from incurring extra expenses due to a flight cancellation. It is a must for the employer to opt for biggest possible claim including the expenses for any pre-paid activity.
- Cover for loss of key documents: This cover provides assistance in case you lose any important document during travelling like Passport. Passport is essential while travelling abroad and travelling without it is an offence. Ensure that you have a policy that covers loss of passport and you can get the new one ASAP.
- Hijack disaster and other calamities: Always take a plan that includes damages or injury due to natural disasters or other calamities. It is essential to estimate how much an area is prone to disaster, where a maximum of your business trips are scheduled to and take a plan accordingly.
- Loss of Baggage: Travel insurance pay for the loss of checked-in baggage, baggage delay etc.
- Hijacking: Some insurers also pay for every 6 hours the insured is stuck due to a hijacked carrier.
- Pays Trip Interruption Expenses: In case your trip is interrupted, your travel insurer will pay the travel or accommodation expenses incurred.
- Less Expensive: The best part is that group travel insurance is less expensive that what an individual travel insurance costs.
- Hassle-free Process: This plan covers multiple people in one policy with less paper work. That means you face no hassle. You would require filling a form for a group of travellers.
Why Is It Required?
The globalization has not only improvedper capita income in India buthas also enhanced the quantity of traveling. It is seen that people travel more for bothwork and luxury these days. Moreover,exposure to international locations has also increased. However, travel is not always fun and one may come across various risks even traveling with a group. Risks such as sudden illness, loss of baggage or travel related documents can occur to anyone and at that time one cannot ask his/her co-traveler to help. At that time, having a group travel insurance plan comes as a rescue.
Group travel insurance in India helps a group of people traveling together to travel without any worry of travel-related issues.
What does the Group Travel Insurance Policy cover?
Some common inclusions that most of the insurance providers cover in group travel insurance policy are:
- Emergency Medical Expenses: The insurance provider covers emergency medical expenses incurred due to sudden illness or accident. This feature works as a boon when one is traveling in a group of people that contains children and old aged people.
- Covers Trip Cancellation Expenses: This feature prevents an insured from incurring an extra cost due to the cancellation of the flight.
- Baggage Loss or Delay: Group travel insurance pays for the checked-in baggage loss as well as delay.
- Covers the Expenses Incurred Due to Loss of Key Documents: The policy also covers the expenses incurred to renew the key travel documents like passportuntil the loss is incurred during travel.
- Covers Emergency Medical Deportation Expenses:This cover is most useful for employers who send their employees to overseas locations. Therefore, an employer must explore the options of medical treatments and hospitals as well as return expenses.
- Covers Trip Interruption Costs: The plan also covers trip interruption expenses such as accommodation and travel expenses incurred due to any interruption in the travel plan.
- Expenses Incurred Due to Natural Calamities: If the business or personal trip involves traveling to some place that is exposed to natural calamities, then it is suggested to take a plan that includes the expenses incurred due to natural disasters.
- Covers Hijacking Disaster Expenses:Some plans also provide coverage against hijack. Under this feature, the plan pays after every 6 hours when the carrier is hijacked.
- Expenses Incurred Due to Flight Delay: All the expenses incurred due to the delay of flight.
Exclusion of Group Travel Insurance
Exclusions are the most important part of an insurance plan thus one should be careful and read it thoroughly. Most of the travel insurance excludes below-mentioned things:
- Cancellation via Tour Operator: No cancellation that is done by the tour operator is covered. When the cancellation is not from your end but a third party, the insurer doesn’t consider it in their policy coverage list.
- War like situation/local strike: Though most of the travel plans include terrorist activities and damages, the act of war or civil unrests always come in the exclusion list. Hence, even if you are forced to cancel your trip due to ongoing unrest in an international location, your insurance policy won’t cover it.
- Pre-existing illness: It is a very common exclusion by all travel insurance due to the risk factor. It denotes the health condition, which requires medical attention before travel or beginning of the travel insurance.
- Baggage delayed for fewer hours: If your baggage is delayed for less than 24 hours, your insurer may not cover the loss. Minimum 24 hours of delay is required to avail the benefit.
- Loss or damage to keys, credit cards, documents, money, tickets etc.: These items are included in the exclusion list and required to be safe with you at all times.
- Sports Injuries: Travel insurance does not cover any injury due to adventurous activities such as white water sports, bungee jumping, mountain climbing, paragliding etc.
- Maternity and Childbirth: Conditions are applied when it comes to maternity or childbirth related complications. However, some policies cover the first trimester if someone is travelling during this time.
- Mental Disorder or Self-initiated Injuries: No coverage is offered if the person has been suffering from mental illness, a nervous disorder. Also, a self-inflicted injury like suicide attempt is also not covered.
- Divorce as a Reason to Cancel a Trip: Some travel policies do not accept a claim for trip cancellation or interruption due to your other half filing a divorce. However, travel insurance companies have started adding cover for divorce or separation cases as well.
- Group Travel Insurance Policy Claim Process: Every insurance company has its own set of claim procedures. However, here are the basic requirements that you need to know about a claim process:
How to Claim?
There are different scenarios for filing claim in group travel insurance plan:
Baggage and Personal Documents Loss:
The insured needs to follow the below-mentioned steps to file a claim in this case:
- Give written notice immediately to the:
- The relevant common carrier for the loss of baggage/documents.
- To the local police station in case of theft or loss of baggage/documents.
- Inform the insurance provider either by a call about the loss and get the claim reference number from the company's representative on call.
- Duly fill the claim form and attach all the below mentioned documents with it.
- Send the form and documents to the address of the insurance provider.
Documents Required:
Provide the following documents in case of loss of baggage and other personal documents:
- Claim form - duly filled and signed by the policyholder.
- Photocopy or original police report in case of theft or loss.
- Copy of the passport.
- Written proof confirming the loss or theft of documents or baggage.
- To claim the loss or theft of precious stones or jewelry, submit the valuation certificate.
- For the loss of passport - photocopy or original receipt given by the embassy or passport office regarding passport replacement.
- For the loss of goods purchased during the trip - original purchase receipt.
- For the loss of baggage by common carrier -baggage slips and original tickets.
Trip Cancellation:
Follow the below-mentioned steps in order to file a claim in this case:
- Claim form duly filled and signed by the policyholder.
- Purchase receipts of the list of essentials purchased for the trip.
- Letter supporting the approximate reason for trip cancellation.
Flight Delay:
Follow the below mentioned steps in order to file a claim in this case:
- Get the confirmation letter from the airlines that clearly state the duration of the flight and the reason responsible for a flight delay.
- Inform the insurance provider and get the claim reference number.
- Submit the claim form with the following documents to the address of the insurance provider.
Required Documents:
The list of documents required in this case is:
- Duly filled and signed the claim form.
- A confirmation letter is given by the airlines stating the reason for the delay and duration of the flight.
- Invoices of all the essentials purchased due to flight delay such as refreshments, meals, etc. or other expenses that are directly related to the delay in flight.
Trip Interruption:
Follow the below steps to file a claim in this case:
- Duly filled and signed the claim form.
- Boarding pass and ticket copies.
- Invoices of the essentials purchased because of interruption during the trip.
Emergency Travel Benefits:
Follow the below-mentioned steps to file a claim in this case:
- Duly filled and signed the claim form.
- Proof of emergency traveling.
- The certificate is given by the doctor or hospital explaining the intensity of the medical treatment needed.
- Invoices or bills of the transport used for emergency travel or other requirements purchased in an emergency.
Medical Expenses:
Follow the below steps in order to file a claim in this case:
- In case of non-emergency medical treatment, it is suggested to intimate the insurance provider and get approval before going ahead with the treatment.
- For accident or other medical emergencies, it is suggested to report to the insurance provider as soon as possible.
- Keep all the receipts of the medical treatment as evidence. These receipts must have proper date and should be duly signed.
- If it is the case of accident and third-party is involved, then it is required to provide a copy of the police report as well.
How to Compare Travel Insurance for Groups?
It is a must to compare group travel policies before buying one. You will get a range of online aggregator websites, which offer you a complete solution for all your inquests regarding a travel plan. You need only visit the website, click on insurance calculator or premium calculator, check the plans, and compare. This way you can buy an informed travel insurance plan, save money and time as the online purchase will offer you hassle-free and instant plan.
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