Travel insurance is a type of insurance specifically designed to cover contingencies and medical expenses while traveling.

The travel insurance policy is designed to protect travelers against a variety of risks that may arise when traveling abroad such as cancelled or delayed flights, lost or stolen luggage, personal injuries and/or other medical emergencies.

Mishaps are painful but the magnitude of pain increases many folds when mishaps happen in a different country due to different language, norms, values, customs, procedures, rights, laws and facilities and amenities.  So, it is always recommended that the traveler is properly covered and protected in the event of an unforeseen.  It may seem like an unnecessary expense, travel insurance however, is a vital expense that can save a significant amount of money, effort and headache should something go wrong.

What does travel insurance cover?

Actual coverage of travel insurance depends on the company providing the insurance policy and the policy itself and its cost, however, most travel insurance policies cover or compensate for unexpected financial losses incurred due to:

• Costs related with trip cancellations and/or delays
• Lost or damaged baggage
• Emergency medical care
• Routine medical care
• Prescription drugs
• Medical evacuations
• Personal liability etc.

What is not covered by Travel insurance?

Some travel insurance policies are more restrictive than others again depending on the company providing the insurance policy and the policy itself and its cost, however, most travel insurance policies exclude:

• Treatment due to or related to existing medical conditions.
• Coverage outside certain age brackets
• Travel to places that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office advises against.
• Luxury or expensive products are typically excluded, including watches, jewelry, laptops, and cameras
• Incidents such as earthquake, civil upheaval, pandemics, or terrorist attacks
• Events resulting from activities like:
  • Adventure sports
  • Hiking/climbing.
  • white-water rafting
  • winter sports
  • potentially hazardous activities

Do’ and Don’ts of Travel insurance:

Dos:

• Honestly provide all details of your trip as required by the policy
• Communicate all your needs for coverage.
• Read the policy very carefully
• Validate if policy covers all places you plan to visit
• Validate the duration of coverage is more than your planned trip
• Get answers to all your questions before actually bought the policy
• Know about their refund and lapse policies
• Conduct good research before actually buying the policy
• Check if any of your credit cards already include travel insurance
• Only consider reputed companies
• Keep their contact, customer service and claim contact information handy

Don’ts:

• Don’t misrepresent facts to get a lower price
• Don’t go with unknown and badly reputed companies
• Don’t let your policy lapse unless the need finishes
• Try to misuse the policy
• Travel abroad without appropriate travel insurance

The primary benefit of having travel insurance is the peace of mind it offers.  Mishaps bring various miseries such as time lost, physical stress, mental stress, emotional and financial stress.  Travel insurance brings relief to at least one major stress which is financial and, as a result, it helps reducing other stresses too.

Keep in mind that various companies offer policies that can be tailored and adjusted to individual travel needs, you should ensure to read through the different kinds of coverage available, covering all the bases.

Moral of the story:  Travel insurance is a highly recommended and worthwhile expense for international travel.  With good luck you may never need it, but if you did, it would pay off big time.

Nanajee.com recommends Ekta which is not only highly rated (4.9 – 5) but is also very competitive. However, its always a good practice to do some research too.