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Updated: Feb 26, 2023
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A travel plan would be incomplete without adding that extra bit of security required to safeguard yourself from unexpected financial needs arising out of an emergency situation. In a post-Covid world, a travel insurance plan is no longer looked at as an additional expense but a necessity and rightly so.
Forbes Advisor India analyzed more than 50 travel insurance plans and chose the ones that are most pocket-friendly with maximum benefit to the policyholder.
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The Care Insurance International Travel Insurance plan is available for single trips and multiple trips for a wide age group from age of 1 day to no bar for the former and a maximum age of 70 years for the latter. Given its coverage for pre-existing illnesses, it’s ideal for family trips abroad. The policy has three variants, namely Platinum, Gold and Silver, which can be further divided according to the destinations one is traveling to worldwide.
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The TATA AIG Travel Guard insurance policy is available as a single-trip and multi-trip policy for international travel. Robust coverage for accidental death and dismemberment, medical expenses due to sickness while traveling and medical evacuation makes this a practical plan to opt for.
Option covers or add-ons that can be taken by paying additional premium are quite attractive especially the home burglary insurance and compassionate visit by a family member insurance.
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The Universal Sompo Travel Worldwide policy provides a vast number of plans to choose from for international travel cover for all kinds of travelers from individuals to students and corporate travelers. The policy is especially useful for its coverage for emergency medical expenses, repatriation of the insured person during the period of Insurance, personal accident and other travel related losses such as loss of checked baggage and loss of passport.
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The Bajaj Allianz Bharat Bhraman Insurance Policy is a holistic policy that helps cover travel via public vehicles like buses, trains and airplanes, as well as private vehicles such as cars, scooters, even a bicycle within the country. Domestic insurance policies aren’t as many in India and that makes Bharat Bhraman Insurance Policy noteworthy. This policy is affordable and can be taken for a personal or a business trip or for a holiday.
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The Reliance Travel Care Policy – Senior Citizens plan is unique in providing coverage to a wide age group of senior citizens. Unlike plans by several other insurers, basics such as cover against loss of passport, checked-in baggage, trip cancellation and personal accident are well covered for all senior citizens. One big disappointment is the coverage of pre-existing medical conditions only for citizens between the age group of 61-70.
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The ICICI Lombard Overseas Travel Policy is unique for its pay-per-day facility for existing policyholders, who can be well-covered for any number of days they extend their trip. The policy’s coverage against Swine Flu and H1N1 influenza is a useful feature for unexpected medical outbreaks while on a trip. Robust coverage to include non-medical expenses such as trip delays and cancellations a plus.
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The Royal Sundaram Travel Secure-Leisure Trip Plan is a classic leisure trip policy that allows the policyholder to travel without the stress of getting stuck anywhere due to any kind of catastrophe arising from socio-political, medical, natural cause and even man-made including terrorism. This comprehensive coverage of the policy makes it interesting. The Sum Insured value between $50,000 to $1,00,000 is ideal and the premium, which differs for age groups and the country of travel, is also quite affordable.
Forbes Advisor India analyzed more than 50 travel insurance plans are scored them on the basis of these key considerations:
Coverage for Medical Needs (20%): These include medical evacuation, covid coverage, pre-existing conditions inclusion, among others.
Cancellation (20%): This involves cancellation period, options to extend coverage, among others.
Cost of the Policy (20%): This includes the cost for buying the policy, extending as well as canceling it.
Additional Coverage (20%): This involves trip delay coverage, baggage reimbursement, theft, flight cancellation and hotel charges, among others.
Flexibility (20%): This includes emergency cash transfers, visa fee reimbursement, and the likes.
To be able to choose the best travel insurance plan in India, you need to keep key factors in consideration. These factors will help you decide how useful your travel insurance plan will be when you’re suddenly stuck and if your travel insurance company has the provision you need to bail you or your loved ones out of tricky travel-related issues.
Your travel insurance plan must be able to accommodate changes to your travel plans especially if it is related to flight cancellations. Some policies also accommodate flight rescheduling due to unexpected events and they may be worth considering.
An ideal travel insurance policy should be able to facilitate the maximum possible medical assistance especially in the event of unexpected hospitalization. If your policy does not factor in medical aid, the expenses related to emergencies in a foreign land could be more-than-expected.
It is hard to predict an expected emergency situation such as a natural one including floods, earthquakes or volcanic eruptions, and man-made ones such as robbery, wars or curfews. Your travel insurance policy facilitating coverage for such emergencies would ensure you don’t burn a hole in your pocket for no mistake of yours during a trip.
Never assume the kind of coverage your travel insurance plan provides. Studying the policy document thoroughly to learn what kind of expenses are covered during your trip can save you time and money.
Consider adding riders that can make any emergency situation easier. At the time of purchasing your policy, ask for additional riders especially if you are traveling abroad.
It is paramount to know the ratio of claims your insurance company has paid on an annual basis. This claims ratio is readily available and for any policy holder, a policy would make sense only if the possibility of being able to claim their expenses easily exists.
To be able to buy a travel insurance plan, you must first scout the market for the best offerings available. This can be done via two ways: offline and online.
To buy a travel insurance plan offline, you need to call the travel insurer that you trust and ask them for the options available.
In most cases, travel agencies that book your travel and plan your itinerary have tie-ups with partners who offer travel insurance at discounted rates. If you are planning a trip with a planner, don’t forget to get the best deals from them if buying the policy offline is your interest area.
Buying a travel insurance plan is the easiest activity today, thanks to the use of mobile phones and the superfast internet connection that Indian service providers offer.
To find the plan most suitable for your trip, visit the insurance providers of your choice by clicking on their website links. A better way of finding the best deal is to skim through aggregator websites that list partners and competitive plans offered by them.
Make sure you use the “compare plans” feature available on most aggregator websites before sealing your policy.
Forbes Advisor adheres to strict editorial integrity standards. To the best of our knowledge, all content is accurate as of the date posted, though offers contained herein may no longer be available. The opinions expressed are the author’s alone and have not been provided, approved, or otherwise endorsed by our partners.
A travel insurance policy is a cover that protects the policyholder financially from any unexpected travel woes from the beginning of the trip to its completion. A policy to suit your needs may include emergency medical assistance, baggage theft or loss, protection from unexpected events such as storms and floods as well as cover accidental death, among others.
Among the key conditions not covered by travel insurance include financial protection when travelling for medical reasons, complications in pregnancy, suicide cases, adventure sports, losses caused while travelling under influence.
Yes, multiple trips travel insurance is available. You can choose a suitable plan by opting for an annual policy instead for a single trip.
Yes, it is ideal to declare a pre-existing illness and purchase an add-on cover, if needed, instead of hiding it and raising a claim for it at a later date.
Yes, travel insurance can protect you when you’re stuck in a foreign place or land without having the hassle to pay expensive bills for delays or emergency matters such as an accident or need for evacuation. Traveling without an insurance cover may look easier but it can prove to be irresponsible if a real challenge arises during your trip.
The Forbes Advisor editorial team is independent and objective. To help support our reporting work, and to continue our ability to provide this content for free to our readers, we receive payment from the companies that advertise on the Forbes Advisor site. This comes from two main sources.
First, we provide paid placements to advertisers to present their offers. The payments we receive for those placements affects how and where advertisers’ offers appear on the site. This site does not include all companies or products available within the market.
Second, we also include links to our advertisers’ offers in some of our articles. These “affiliate links” may generate income for our site when you click on them. The compensation we receive from advertisers does not influence the listings or commentary our editorial team provides in our articles or other impact any of the editorial content on Forbes Advisor.
While we work hard to provide accurate and up to date information that we think you will find relevant, Forbes Advisor does not and cannot guarantee that any information provided is complete and makes no representations or warranties in connection thereto, nor to the accuracy or applicability thereof