Travel Insurance - Important When Going Abroad
Travelling is an integral part of our lives. We need to travel from one location to another for a lot of reasons which can be as personal as meeting someone you love or as formal as a wedding. Many of these trips involve going outside the country. When doing so, travel insurance policies become one of the most important insurance policies to think about.
When going abroad, there are two very important reasons why you should go prepared for any disaster that might happen. They are:
a) As a citizen of a country, undoubtedly you would be most comfortable when visiting various regions of the country. The costs of living are approximately the same and you would be able to manage in the worst of situations. Further, the insurance agency with which you have your health insurance policy is bound to be operating in that region too and filing the claim would not be difficult. However, this might not happen when abroad. The cost of living would be different, you would be in an alien place and the insurance agencies would not accept claims for accidents that happen outside the country.
b) Travel costs for flights between countries are very high relative to those within the country. For someone who got injured in the visiting country and has to book more than one seat on the flight back (for the sake of comfort), booking costs alone would be very high and very damaging as far as the finances are concerned.
Without a travel insurance policy in place, the individual would have to foot in for both the bills himself despite of having an elaborate health insurance policy. All these troubles can easily be avoided by buying a travel insurance policy.
Travel insurance policies are made keeping in mind the travel needs of people and can be availed in two forms:
a) Single Travel: A policy that is valid for a single travel outside the country and expires when the policy holder returns. A new policy has to be bought every time a travel is scheduled.
b) Multiple Travels: This policy is for people who need to visit abroad multiple times during a year. The policy is valid for a specified period of trips that can be made in a year post which, this too needs to be renewed.
As far as the benefits of both the policies are concerned, there is little difference. In case of an accident, the policy would cover the travel expenses back to the home country along with all medical expenses incurred till full recovery.
When an applicant applies for the policy, he is required to submit proof of travel (a copy of the VISA), the number of days for which the travel is planned, location of travel and the value for cover. Based on these entries, the premium values are evaluated. Payment of the premium is done in one installment before taking off to the destination. Governments usually come out with minimum coverage suggestions for different locations of travel based on prevalent costs of medical and travel services there.