– Anuj Gulati –
Be it a business trip or vacation, going abroad needs a lot of preparation. From tickets to visas and arranging for local currency to selecting attire basis the weather or even ensuring that the baggage is as specified by the airline. Although all of these contribute significantly to enhancing one’s travel experience, the one thing that could be a differentiator is a comprehensive Internal Travel Insurance.
While we could prepare for things that are known to us there could be a lot of travel and medical related exigencies that we can’t prepare for. For Example: slipping a stair while visiting a museum and having a minor fracture, or hitting a beach-rock while walking that leads you to a hospital visit or accidently losing your passport or checked-in baggage. A Travel Insurance in these situations acts as a safety-net and secures one from financial losses. Below is a list of some of the important reasons to get a travel insurance while travelling abroad:-
1. Protects against unforeseen medical expenses
Despite all your efforts to stay healthy and not fall sick on a vacation, a disease or an illness might get the better of you. Long flights, climate change, food, etc., there are many things on a foreign soil that can get you in the radar of a medical emergency. Incurring extra expenditures on medical emergency while travelling could spoil your entire holiday experience. Moreover, the cost of healthcare overseas is a lot more expensive as compared to India and even a small visit could set you back significantly. Travel Insurance comes handy and safeguards you by covering your medical exigencies on a cashless basis. A good travel insurance is comprehensive and besides covering minor outpatient expenses, it also extends coverage to chronic or pre-existing ailments. Furthermore, there are many plans that offer air ambulance or medical evaluation and allows the patient to take complete treatment in his/her home country, post-return.
2. A friend in a foreign land
The thought of getting stuck on a foreign land, with nobody to understand your language and vice versa can be quite scary. A good travel insurance offers 24*7 customer support that can prove to be the greatest friend in times of need. The customer support executive communicates in one’s own preferred language, thereby breaking language as well as geographical barriers; an invaluable support while dealing with an unforeseen mishap.
Regardless of where one is; travel insurance makes it certain that there is a committed group of people to help in the event of any medical or travel-related crisis. It assures quick help, be it, admission to the closest emergency clinic or guidance on the procedure for reissuance of lost travel documents. The procedure remains absolutely smooth and seamless for the insured as the representative from the insurance company keeps in touch with the local medical provider or relevant authorities, directly.
3. Coverage for Personal liability
Many a times, there have been emergencies wherein damage has been done to a third party, person or property and the expenses have to be borne by the insured. To take care of such damages, there are many travel insurance plans that take care of ‘Personal Liability.’ In case of such damages, the insurance company takes charge and covers the expenses for third-party damages.
4. Travel Related Emergencies
Travelling comes with a lot of baggage. Non-medical emergencies like losing important documents, such as passport, boarding pass, identity proofs, checked-in baggage or delayed flights due to bad weather, can often result in missed flights or unused hotel reservations.
A Travel Insurance plan covers many such non-medical exigencies, thereby providing relief to the insured. Some travel insurance companies today even offer compensation for visa fee, in case it is not accepted. So, it is always a great idea to take up an insurance plan to cover any unanticipated incident and deal with things in the best possible way.
5. Mandatory requirement
In recent times, many nations have made it a pre-requisite for travellers/visitors to have travel insurance. Nobody would want to be in a situation wherein they arrive at the immigration counter and are informed that they cannot enter the foreign country as they do not have a valid travel insurance. In several scenarios, it has even been observed that visa applications get dismissed because the individual has not purchased a travel insurance. So, before voyaging abroad, it is better to check if the country that you are travelling to, has made travel insurance mandatory for visitors or not.
So, get a travel insurance and travel worry-free!
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* The article has been authored by Mr. Anuj Gulati, MD & CEO, Religare Health Insurance
* Disclaimer : The views expressed by the author in this feature are entirely his own and do not necessarily reflect the views of INVC NEWS
