Importance of Travel Insurance When Going Abroad

Travel insurance is a comprehensive insurance policy that covers both medical and financial emergencies which might arise while travelling abroad. To that end, there are several travel insurance plans that offer protection during overseas travel. These insurance plans offer benefits like loss checked-in baggage loss or delay, loss of crucial documents like passports, personal accidents, unique facilities like personal liability and personal accident coverage, allowance in case of distress related to hijacking, coverage for financial emergency assistance. Travel insurance also provides health coverage for medical expenses, dental treatment, transportation to the hospital and a daily hospital allowance.

Here’s why it is essential to buy travel insurance before travelling abroad: -

1. You Can Get Sick or Injured

With late-night flights, changing time zones, air conditioning, change in temperature and different cuisines, chances of falling ill when travelling are quite high. There also remains a chance of getting injured. And while the country you are visiting might require you to take vaccination for particular diseases beforehand, you cannot rule out falling seriously ill on your travels that might require hospitalization. These are just a few of the examples when travel insurance will help you.

2. When You Need to Cancel or Change Your Trip Before You Go

This can happen when you fall ill or a family member does or some natural calamity strikes and you are left with no choice but to cancel your intended trip or change the plans. Cancelling pre-paid travel plans is often expensive. When you buy travel insurance online or offline, you get yourself the comfort of knowing that in case of any emergency, you need not think twice about the financial side of things before cancelling or changing your plan.

3. When Your Travel Plans Fall Apart

When travelling, especially to other countries, people have pre-planned itineraries. These itineraries are like a house of cards, dependent on each other, and a slight departure from the plan can disturb the whole trip. This change can be caused by a cancelled flight or any other aspect. With travel insurance at hand, you won’t have to bear the financial burden of amended trip plans.

4. Your Baggage is Delayed or Lost

Luggage getting misplaced is quite common nowadays. While the chance that it might be yours is not high, it is advisable that you stay prepared for the worst. Travel insurances usually provide coverage for delayed bags. They will help you recover your misplaced bags and will also reimburse any amount spent on essential items such as shoes, toothpaste, etc. so you can enjoy your travel. Even if your baggage is lost, the insurance will provide reimbursement for the stuff you’ve lost.

5. Your Passport is Lost

Losing your passport and other essential documents while travelling abroad can be a nightmare. But with travel insurance providing coverage for it, the insurance company will help you obtain a new passport and other necessary documents while reimbursing the cost for a new passport.

To most people, travel insurance may seem like an unnecessary expense, and many travellers have asked the same question; why buy travel insurance? Firstly, travel insurance, like getting vaccinations is among the number of things that you must have during travel. Besides being a necessary requirement, travel insurance provides you coverage against a number of emergencies, as mentioned before. For all these reasons, travel insurance is essential, and undeniably a very sensible investment to make prior to travelling.

 

**To understand exactly about the policy coverage, exclusions etc read the Policy Wordings carefully.**