Travel Insurance: Essential Risk Coverage

Published By: Deccan Herald

Published Date: 29-10-2018

Travel insurance has become indispensable in our increasingly connected world, with India's outbound travel market projected to reach Rs 28,000 crore by 2020. While 90% of millennials know about travel insurance, only 40% purchase it, often believing the odds of needing it don't justify the cost—statistics prove otherwise.

Travellers face numerous risks: lost luggage affected 7 out of 1,000 Indian air travellers in 2014, while globally, on-time flight arrivals were only 82.6% in February and 76% in January last year, with 17.4% of February flights and 24% of January flights delayed or cancelled. These disruptions cause missed connections, accommodation expenses and replacement costs for essentials.

Many travellers mistakenly believe their health insurance covers international medical emergencies, but domestic policies rarely extend abroad. Travel insurance bridges this gap with comprehensive medical coverage ranging from Rs 69 lakh to Rs 1.38 crore, plus accidental and dental coverage between Rs 7 lakh and Rs 17 lakh. This protection is crucial—a recent traveller to Egypt with a spinal fracture received treatments worth Rs 35 lakh without financial burden.

For modern travellers, providers now offer additional benefits like political risk coverage, catastrophe evacuation, emergency hotel extensions, compassionate family visits during medical emergencies and child return if adults cannot travel.

Value-added services include 24/7 worldwide assistance, medical concierge and customisable plans tailored to individual needs. With 38% of millennials still believing travel insurance is unnecessary despite mandatory requirements for many countries, travellers must recognise it as an effective tool for risk mitigation rather than an unnecessary expense.