Why travel insurance is key to your trips abroad

The population of Indian-origin people in America grew by 38 per cent between 2010 and 2017, according to the South Asian Advocacy Group (SAALT). It consists of 1.3 per cent of the United States population. Therefore, it is not surprising to see parents and relatives flying off to meet their children and family members during the festive season. However, one must be cognisant of the fact that trips abroad can be marked with uncertainties such as accidents, health issues, cancelled flights or even lost baggage.

This is where travel insurance steps in. It allows one's trip to be special and stress-free. Availing travel insurance is not just a great idea to secure your planned trip but to make it financially risk-free. These days the extensive use of Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and chatbots speeds up the process to get travel insurance.  

Travel insurance includes medical & non-medical benefits also. Non-medical benefits include trip-related and baggage-related covers, whereas medical benefits include expenses of emergency hospitalisation and personal accident etc. This provides you with financial risk protection against any untoward incidents while you are on your trip.

Travelling to unknown places comes with multiple health risks and getting medical treatment in a foreign land can be very costly. In most of the cases, travellers are not accustomed to the food and climate of a new place. A small incident of infection could be enough to land them in the hospital.  This not only affects an individual financially but also creates a considerable amount of mental stress. Some major accidents such as fractured bone or a strained ligament can probably cost a fortune. Data suggest that roughly 12 per cent of claims are made on accidents, and the value of the claim can go up to Rs 30-40 lakh. Thus a good travel insurance plan can play a great role in protecting one from a financial tragedy at foreign locations.

Moreover, there are serious cases where mere seconds would determine an individual's chances of survival. Also, an air evacuation can ensure an unimaginably high amount of expenses in some critical cases. Thus, an exhaustive travel insurance cover with proper tie-ups with foreign health network partners can not only rescue an individual from such grave situations but also take care of the cost involved.

In the end, it doesn't matter how much effort one has put in planning all the nitty-gritties, one can never really be sure that the trip will go just the way it is planned. We hope it does, but in case it doesn't, let the travel insurance take care of that.

Bon Voyage!

(The author is Chief - Claims, Underwriting and Reinsurance at ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company)

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