Want to Buy Travel Insurance? Here is What You Need to Know

If you are planning to travel abroad, it would be a wise and smart move to take travel insurance. It could be a leisure trip or you might be a frequent flyer, who makes multiple trips every year. Travel insurance is also highly recommended for students who are visiting foreign countries for their studies. It is also suitable for senior citizens travelling to foreign countries to meet their loved ones. It’s quite easy to buy travel insurance online and you can get complete travel protection in just a few minutes.

Buying travel insuranceprovides effective protection against the risks and uncertainties of overseas travel. For example, in case of accident, sickness, hospitalization or loss of travel documents at an overseas location, you might have to bear significant expenses from your own pocket. Such situations can also be quite disturbing and stressful. This is why it’s necessary to take travel insurance when travelling abroad. You may already have life insurance, health insurance, property insurance, etc., but these do not cover the travel risks that you face at overseas locations.

If you are planning to buy travel insurance, here are some important things you need to know.

Take location-specific travel insurance: The premium you pay will depend on the location where you are travelling. The premium may be higher in case of certain countries and lower in case of others. You need to choose location-specific travel insurance policy, so that you can reduce your insurance cost. For example, if you are travelling to Singapore, you can take a travel insurancepolicy that is specially designed for the Asian region. The premium will be less in this case, as compared to a worldwide travel insurance plan.

Check risks covered: Choose a travel insurance policy that provides comprehensive coverage against a wide variety of risks. A good travel insurance policy should be able to provide for medical expenses, accidental death and dismemberment benefit, personal liability benefit, trip delay and cancellation benefit, protection against loss of checked-in-baggage, cash allowance for hospitalization, emergency cash advance, assistance services, political risk and catastrophe evacuation, hijacking benefit, emergency hotel extension, etc. Basically, all types of potential risks should be covered by your travel insurance policy.

Check claims process: Make sure that the insurer you choose has an easy claims settlement process. Rules for the claims should be properly defined and documents and paperwork required should be clearly mentioned. There should not be any kind of ambiguity in the claims settlement process, as it could be very disturbing for you. If you have any doubts, it would be better to discuss the same with the insurer before buying the travel insurance policy.

Travel insurance has become a must-have in the times we live because risks and uncertainties have increased significantly in recent years. Political turmoil, civic unrest, economic problems, terror events,biological threats, and natural calamities triggered by climate change are some of the primaryrisks one is exposed to when travelling abroad. Travel insurance provides effective protection against these and various other risks, which is why you absolutely need it when travelling abroad.