Skip to main content

Why You Should Buy an Overseas Travel Insurance ?

Invest Mutual Funds Online

Download Mutual Fund Application Forms

 

A perfectly-planned holiday can be ruined by an unexpected event. The uninvited and often unpleasant event could be either a minor delay in arrival of baggage or delay in flight. Or it could be a serious health scare or the horror of losing one's passport. Sure, you have no control over these events. But you can limit the damage caused by them by buying travel insurance.


However, insurance penetration is around 20% of all international travellers, points out a study conducted by Tata AIG General Insurance. This is only because Schengen visas mandatorily require the traveller to have a travel insurance policy. But even if you are travelling to a non-Schengen country, it is advisable to opt for travel insurance because of exorbitant cost of healthcare abroad.


The cost of medical treatment is high abroad and insurance policies assure that such services are made available to the travellers at the price they pay for travel insurance, which is extremely low.


For instance, if you cut your finger, the basic check up would cost you anywhere between $500-1,000 (Rs 26,000-50,000). This possibility of incurring such a huge expense can be covered at a daily insurance rate of Rs 68. More so, the outbound travellers are mostly in the age group of 45-60 years. In this age bracket, travel insurance is highly recommended. Most travel insurance plans are standardised vanilla plans covering accident and sickness, baggage delay/loss, passport loss, personal liability etc. But there are differentiating factors you should consider before buying a travel cover.

Claim Settlement Ratio Of Insurer

You buy travel insurance to make sure that the insurance cover would help you when you need medical attention abroad. That is why it is very important to make sure that your insurance company is not infamous for rejecting claims on flimsy reasons. A traveller has to check the claims settlement record of the company which are usually available on the company's website or policy schedule. If this data is not available on the website, check this data with top three to four insurance companies before finalising your policy.

Recognised Insurer

Several insurance companies have tie-ups with foreign insurers. But make sure that the insurance company has sufficient direct or indirect presence in the destination country to service your claims. The insurer, from whom the plan is being purchased, should be a recognised player and should be valid abroad. Also evaluate the network of tie-ups with the facilitators, agencies and service providers abroad for handling any emergency.

Clause On Pre-Existing Diseases

Very few insurers cover health complications that arise out of pre-existing diseases in travel insurance. Pre existing ailments are usually not covered in travel insurance and it is imperative that the policyholders understand this. In case of any health problem, while travelling, they should be prepared to pay out of pocket for pre-existing conditions. However, Bajaj Allianz offers a policy which covers pre-existing medical conditions. They have capped the amount at $300, $500 and $1000, respectively, for classic, premium and privileged. Similarly, ICICI Lombard covers pre-existing conditions till the patient's condition becomes stable. For example, if a customer who is a heart patient, declares his/her heart condition before taking the policy, the travel policy covers him in the event of another heart attack. Once the condition becomes stable, (when he/she is shifted from the ICU to general/normal ward and is out of danger) from that point onwards, the expense of further treatment has to be borne by the customer

There is no dispute over the fact that health insurance is a principal component of travel covers. The most important cover in a travel policy being the medical cover, it is important to check if the sum insured is commensurate with the premium and also check the list of exclusions in the policy.

 
But ideally you should look at a travel policy which also looks beyond a health cover. For instance, loss of baggage or baggage delay is very common as airlines do misplace or lose baggage while flying from one destination to another.

---------------------------------------------

Invest Mutual Funds Online

Transact Mutual Fund Online

 

Download Mutual Fund Application Forms from all AMCs

Download Mutual Fund Application Forms

 

Best Performing Mutual Funds

    1. Largecap Funds:
      1. DSP BlackRock Top 100 Fund
      2. ICICI Prudential Focused Blue Chip Fund
      3. Birla Sun Life Front Line Equity Fund
    2. Large and Midcap Funds
      1. ICICI Prudential Dynamic Plan
      2. HDFC Top 200 Fund
      3. UTI Dividend Yield Fund
    3. Mid and SmallCap Funds
      1. Reliance Equity Opportunities Fund
      2. DSP BlackRock Small & Midcap Fund
      3. Sundaram Select Midcap
      4. IDFC Premier Equity Fund
    4. Small and MicroCap Funds
      1. DSP BlackRock MicroCap Fund
    5. Sector Funds
      1. Reliance Banking Fund
      2. Reliance Banking Fund
    6. Gold Mutual Funds
      1. Relaince Gold Savings Fund
      2. ICICI Prudential Regular Gold Savings Fund
      3. HDFC Gold Fund

 

Popular posts from this blog

Rs 14,000 Crore worth of tax free bonds coming soon from NHAI , PFC

  NHAI, PFC file prospectuses, coupon rate not yet decided MORE debt investment options have opened up for investors with AAA rated tax-free bonds worth over Rs 14,000 crore lined up. The National Highway Authority of India ( NHAI ) and Power Finance Corporation ( PFC ) are offering Rs 10,000 crore and Rs 4,033.13 crore worth of tax-free bonds, respectively, as per prospectuses filed with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi). Of a Rs 5,000 crore issue by PFC, Rs 966.87 crore has already been raised through private placement on September 28 and November 1. Tax-free bonds give investors tax-free return on any amount invested. In another kind of bonds, the long-term infrastructure bonds, investments up to Rs 20,000 are tax exempt, that is this cap amount can be deducted from the taxable income. Accordingly, the NHAI prospectus has clarified that only the amount of interest from -and not the actual investment on -its new bonds will be tax-free. "NHAI's publ...
Read more

Change in Fund Manager for some of HSBC Mutual Fund Schemes

Buy Gold Mutual Funds Invest Mutual Funds Online Download Mutual Fund Application Forms Call 0 94 8300 8300 (India) However, this facility is only available to Unit holders who have been assigned a folio number by the AMC.   HSBC Mutual Fund has announced that the below mentioned schemes shall be managed by the new fund managers as stated in the table. The effective date will be July 02, 2012.   Amaresh Mishra 's will be Vice President and Assistant Fund Manager. Having done a Post graduate diploma in Business Management and Bachelor of Chemical Engineering, he has over seven years of experience in Equities and Sales.   Mr. Piyush Harlalka's designation shall be Vice President- Fixed Income. Qualified as a C.A., C.S. and holding M.B.A.( Finance degree), he has over six years of experience in Fund management and ...
Read more

How EEE and EET Tax affect Retirement Investments

  An important factor while choosing a financial product is its taxation , and for retirement savings, this is even more important as the sums involved are usually life-long savings. Here's a look at the current tax treatment of three major long-term retirement planning products, which are - Employees' Provident Fund (EPF), Public Provident Fund (PPF) and National Pension System (NPS). EPF The tax treatment is EEE, which means your money is exempt from taxes at the time of investment, accumulation and withdrawal. At the time of investment, the tax deduction is under the limit of section 80C of the Income-tax Act , which is currently Rs 1.5 lakh. Partial withdrawals are also tax-free if made after 5 years of continuous service. If withdrawals are made before 5 years of service, 10% tax will be deducted at source. Exceptions have also been provided for transfer of amount and conditions wherein the subscriber is unemployed for more than 2 months or the loss of job was beyond th...
Read more

Personal Finance: You can insure your wedding

But luck may not always be on your side. With the frequency of such attacks, as also other risks and unforeseen accidents growing, a wedding insurance is something you may want to look at if a marriage is being planned in the family. Event insurance plans like this is still in its nascent stages due to low awareness. And given the sacred nature of the ritual, nobody wants to discuss or think negative. But as wedding spends and risks grow, it makes sense to cover the potential monetary loss. The policy in those countries even covers the loss of the wedding ring, the wedding gown not reaching on time and even the expenses/loss due to late or non-appearance of the photographer which may mean staging the event once again for the photograph. In India, most insurance companies — including ICICI Lombard General Insurance, Oriental Insurance, Bajaj Allianz and National Insurance — offer wedding insurance. The policy is tailor made to individual requirements and needs. The sum insur...
Read more

DSP BlackRock MidCap Fund

Best SIP Funds Online   HOW HAS DSP BlackRock Small & Mid Cap Fund PERFORMED? With a 10-year return of 14.61%, the fund has outperformed both the category average (12.34%) and the benchmark (10%) by a good margin. Should you invest in DSP BlackRock Small & Mid Cap Fund? This fund invests predominantly in mid-cap stocks but takes a sizeable exposure in small-caps as well. The focus is on nascent companies with high growth potential. The fund manager places emphasis on quality and avoids inferior businesses even if these look tempting from a valuation perspective. Over the past year, the fund portfolio has grown, having added to some of the underperforming sectors like chemicals and healthcare. Its portfolio churn has come down significantly. The heavily diversified portfolio is run completely agnostic of its benchmark index— most bets are from outside the index—which can at times lead to bouts of underperformance as seen in the recent years....
Read more
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
Invest in Tax Saving Mutual Funds Download Any Applications
Transact Mutual Funds Online Invest Online
Buy Gold Mutual Funds Invest Now