Lesson from Uttarakhand: Do not forget travel insurance

Do you buy travel insurance when you tour within the country or aboard? Chances are you don’t, especially if the trip is inside India. But a report in the Business Standard todayrecommends buying thisjust because the premium amounts are just nominal.

The premiums are only a few hundred rupees, and you would get a sum assured amount, accident death benefits, medical evacuation charges, medical and hospital charges and the like. These are the general features, but every insurance company offers different features, so it makes sense to compare before buying.

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For instance, while one company could even cover your house while you are on a vacation, another would extend a daily cash amount in case you are hospitalised while travelling. In fact, some companies even offer special types in travel insurance polices for those going for adventure trips and the like.

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Regarding the speed of claim settlements, the report quotes Renuka Kanvinde, assistant vice-president, health insurance, Bajaj Allianz General Insurance as saying, “If you are claiming for hospitalisation or evacuation to the nearby hospital, you will be reimbursed immediately. But if you are claiming reimbursement for permanent disability, then you will have to produce a certificate from the hospital where you have undergone treatment and that could take some time.”

Keep in mind though the premiums are not too high, they do vary as per the features the policy offers, as well as your age, the duration of your travel and the like. In fact, where you travel also matters. Mostly, people don’t buy travel insurance because they positively assume that nothing could possibly go wrong. But with natural calamities, like the disaster at Uttarakhand,the awareness for the need of travel insurance is likely increase. Read the whole Business Standard story here.

Firstpost Take: We highly recommend travel insurance when you are travelling overseas. After all, you are in an alien country and it’s best to be insured. As far as travel insurance for domestic insurance goes, if you are willing to absorb the cost, in case something goes wrong, we think you don’t need to buy a travel insurance policy.