Planning a trip abroad – here’s why you need oversees travel insurance

27 May 2019

Every now and then, you need to unwind from your stressful work life. One of the best ways to utilize your paid leaves is to take a break and go on a vacation. A vacation proves to be the perfect breather from your hectic work life and enriches you culturally. But, whether you are travelling domestically or internationally, you need to invest in a good travel insurance policy. Such a policy protects you from unfortunate situations or circumstances that can put a damper on your trip. In this article, we shall highlight what travel insurance is and why you need to invest in it, especially when you take a trip abroad.

What is travel insurance?

An insurance policy that protects you against a myriad of risks associated with your travel plans is known as a travel insurance policy. Whether you are travelling domestically or internationally; whether you are travelling for business or for leisure; you need this insurance policy as it can protect you against various kinds of unforeseeable travel problems. Such a policy provides financial coverage against various travel-related scenarios that can prove to extremely stressful, especially when you are in an unknown city or country.

4 crucial scenarios in which travel insurance can come in handy

Falling sick or getting injured while on vacation:

Most of us invest in health insurance policies. However, these policies offer coverage only while you are within the country. Moreover, treatment for minor injuries can also cost a lot of money in a foreign country. If you need hospitalization, you end up spending a lot of money, which affects your finances and your trip budget considerably. However, your travel policy can double as an overseas medical policy and you can seek hospitalization without worrying about the cost of treatment.

Delay or loss of luggage:

In case of international travels, loss of luggage is quite a common scenario. You may reach your destination but your luggage may be shipped to another city or country, due to human errors. This makes it difficult for you to access your clothes, shoes and other belongings, when you are abroad. What’s more, you are forced to buy stuff, despite having packed everything. However, if you have oversees insurance policy, your insurance provider provides you a pre-determined amount as compensation, from which you can purchase your travel essentials. The compensation is provided on the basis of whether your luggage is lost temporarily or permanently.

Trip interruption or cancellation:

While you are on a foreign trip, an unfortunate incident could occur back home, interrupting your trip half-way through. This could mean you may need to reschedule or purchase new flight tickets, while facing a loss for your other prepaid expenses. However, if you have overseas travel insurance, such expenses are covered under your insurance policy. You can even cancel your trip before it begins. You need to get in touch with your insurance provider and explain why the trip needs to be cancelled. In such a scenario, the insurance provider will compensate your non-refundable expenses such as flights, hotels, travel excursions planned in advance and so on.

Loss or theft of important travel-related documents:

One of the prerequisites of international travel is that you need to have your passport on your person at all times. Not carrying your passport with you can land you in trouble. The downside of having to carry your passport and important travel documents such as onward and return tickets, hotel bookings, ID cards etc., is that you can lose them or they could be stolen. However, if you have an international travel insurance India policy, you can get in touch with your insurance provider and get a new set of all the necessary documents.

Overseas travel insurance policies are essentially limited period policies. These policies cover you for a period of one to six months, depending upon the destination you are travelling to or as per the requirements stated by the embassy of the country you are travelling to. These inexpensive policies provide you with a host of benefits. Moreover, you do not have to renew these policies – you can simply buy one online, just a few days before your trip.