An insurance product designed to cover the costs and reduce the risk associated with unexpected events during domestic or international travel. Travel insurance usually covers the insured in two main categories: costs associated with medical expenses and trip cancellations. Many online companies selling airplane tickets or travel packages allow consumers to purchase travel insurance as an added service. Some travel insurance policies may also cover damage to rented equipment, such as a rental cars, or even the cost of paying a ransom in the case of a kidnapping. Travel insurance package plans deliver coverage for cancellations, interruption, hurricanes, medical emergencies, evacuation, lost, stolen, and delayed baggage, and more. This type of plan is the most popular because it fits the needs of most travelers. The main difference is the coverage for trip cancellation.

Types of Travel Insurance Plans

The hardest part of buying travel insurance is knowing which type of plan to choose. You’ve heard about travel insurance, and that it might be a good idea for your trip. You’ve started with some online research. You’ve visited a few websites looking for information. But you’re still asking, “So, which type of plan do I need?” You don’t want to buy the wrong plan. You want to make sure you have the coverage you expect so there are no surprises. Once you grasp the main difference between the these policies, it makes researching and buying a plan easy.

What type of travel insurance do I need?

Here is an overview of what each plan covers and what type of trip it works well for.

Package (Comprehensive Trip Insurance)

When most people think of travel insurance, they’re thinking of a package plan. It goes by many names, including: Trip Insurance, Vacation Insurance, Comprehensive Travel Insurance, Trip Cancellation Insurance, or simply Travel Insurance. All of these terms are used to describe this type of plan. Travel insurance package plans deliver coverage for cancellations, interruption, hurricanes, medical emergencies, evacuation, lost, stolen, and delayed baggage, and more. This type of plan is the most popular because it fits the needs of most travelers. The main difference is the coverage for trip cancellation. This is the only plan that offers this, and it is always bundled as a “Package” with all the additional benefits. There are no standalone policies that only cover trip cancellation.

Package plans are ideal for:

• Cruises
• Vacations & general travel
• Family trips
• Domestic or foreign travel
• Any traveler concerned about losing money due to a canceled trip

Travel Medical

Travel medical insurance provides emergency medical coverage when you are outside your home country. It is also knows as: Travel Health Insurance, International Medical Insurance, and International Travel Insurance. It provides coverage for medical emergencies, accidents, emergency evacuations, and repatriation. In many cases, travel medical plans include comprehensive-style benefits, but those benefits are often limited; this type of travel insurance plan focuses on medical and evacuation coverage.

Travel Medical plans are ideal for

• Travelers leaving their home country (U.S. and non U.S. citizens)
• Vacations abroad
• Business trips abroad
• Long-term work or study abroad
• Expats living in a foreign country

Evacuation (Medevac)

Medical evacuation, or Medevac, plans provide coverage for emergency medical evacuations and international security evacuations. These plans focus on emergency evacuation services to take you to the nearest hospital or return home.

Medevac plans are ideal for

• Cruise travelers with health insurance coverage
• Vacations in a foreign country
• Travelers visiting remote locations
• Any traveler concerned with emergency medical evacuation costs

Travel Accident

Travel accident plans provide international accident protection and term life benefits for frequent travelers. This type of plan focuses on AD&D (accidental death and dismemberment) and term life insurance benefits that are in effect while the insured is traveling on an insured trip or during their annual coverage period, depending on their plan.

Travel Accident plans are ideal for

• Any traveler concerned about having life insurance and AD&D

Annual

Annual travel insurance plans are more common than you think and useful because they provide a variety of coverages in one convenient plan that covers you for an entire year’s worth of trips. Frequent travelers, traveling academics, business travelers, and even retirees who travel often like the simplicity of having the same coverage all year long.

Annual plans are ideal for

• Frequent travelers
• Business travelers
• Any traveler with multiple trips per year

Specialty Plans

Specialty travel insurance plans are those that cover one-off needs like car rental, term life, and other types of coverage that fill in the gaps between what the traveler already has available to them back home.

Specialty plans are ideal for

• Corporate Kidnap, Ransom and Extortion coverage
• Car rental collision and road trip coverage
• Term life insurance coverage
• Medical tourism coverage
• Any traveler concerned with a specific travel risk

Travel insurance can be categorized into the following types:

Single Trip Travel Insurance - This is insurance policy designed for a single trip. It usually covers medical insurance and offers compensation in case of cancellation of the trip.
Multi Trip Travel Insurance - Designed for frequent travelers, these policies can be availed of specialized trips such as sking holidays or adventure tours.
Long stay insurance - Those who go on trips that last anything between 3-18 months can avail of these plans.
Medical Travel Plans - These are policies that take care of the policy holders health or medical issues that may arise during the time of the vacation. The insurance company will ask for documents relating to the condition of the health of the traveler before selling such policies.

Exclusions

• No coverage if an insured missed his/her flight or train in case of local protests/civil war.
• No coverage if an insured gets hospitalised for pre-existing diseases.
• No coverage for baggage delay of less than 24 hours.
• No coverage for Damage/loss of keys.

Premium The premium of travel insurance depends upon the following factors

• Which part of the world (country) you are travelling to.
• The duration of your stay
• Your age
• The nature of your holiday

Documents Required Most insurance companies will let you buy travel insurance instantly online without any medical examination. However you will need the following documents in case you wish to mak a claim.

In case of loss of baggage

• Copies of boarding pass, ticket and tags of baggages
• Proof of value for articles priced at $100 and above.
• Details of reimbursement received from airlines or any other regulatory authority

In case of loss of passport

• Photocopy of the passport
• Copy of FIR
• Copy of new passport and details of expenses incurred to make it

Delayed or cancelled trip

• Documents from airlines that certify the delay of the flights
• If medically unfit to travel, a doctor’s report to certify the same
• If trip is cancelled due to employement issues, a letter of termination or any other related document from company.

Hijack

• Copy of ticket and boarding pass
• Airline correspondence
• Statement of incident in written

**In all cases, all original bills, vouchers and statements, doctors’s report must be submitted.

Group Insurance

A group insurance gives benefits of standardized coverage at competitive rates. Groups-for this purpose can be employer-employee or non-employer-employee groups (credit cardholders of the same bank, members of the same social group and so on.) Your cover ceases to exist if you leave the group.

Group insurance can be broadly classified under the following heads?

Office package policy offers the following coverage-

• Group Health Insurance
• Group Personal Accident
• Group Life Insurance
• Group Travel Insurance