You might be a meticulous planner who always prepares for all emergencies. You may be an impulsive personality who makes snap decisions and follows upon them. Travel insurance, however, needs to be a part of your preparations for a trip whether you are impulsive or otherwise.
Sometimes, even if you are a planner, you might need to make sudden trips. From visiting your parents or a friend who has been hospitalized to last minute vacation plan with your family, there are plenty of instances where you’ll need to get a travel insurance in a jiffy.
Here are some tips to purchase travel insurance policies at the last minute.
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How To Buy Travel Insurance Quickly
You have made all the preparations for the trip, you have the tickets, you have packed for the journey, even hotel reservations have been made. Now all you need is comprehensive travel insurance. You can approach a friend who is an agent for a good travel insurance company or you can look at buying a policy online. If you are traveling with your family, get family coverage.
Single Trip Travel Insurance
This is a good idea if you are buying a travel policy in a hurry. Buy the cover for this one emergency trip and then when you come back, plan carefully for annual travel insurance or multiple trip covers. Single trip insurance costs less, and you avoid making a hasty long-term commitment to a policy.
When you buy a single trip cover, you are probably quite sure of your travel plans and there are fewer chances of cancellations. In that case, you can waive the trip cancellation cover in your policy. This will greatly reduce the premium and you can customize your policy to include other essential features.
Online Purchase Of Travel Insurance
You can surf the web and choose a good policy online. Even if you are buying a cover for just this one trip, don’t buy in haste. You can visit third-party websites that provide comparisons of various travel policies and also have reviews of various policies.
After you have compared policies from different companies and different types of travel policies, make your decision. Visit the company website from where you want to buy the policy. Thoroughly review the policy features, download brochures and prospectus documents. Study them. Once you are satisfied with the various features offered by the policy, go back to the website. Click on the ‘Buy Online’ or ‘Buy Now’ or similar links. Fill in the requisite forms, and pay through cards or net banking. That’s it! You now have a travel cover for your trip.
What To Look For While Buying Travel Insurance
It does not matter if you are making an emergency purchase or investing in a planned long-term cover. There are certain basic features that your policy has to include for the insurance to be of use.
Medical Expense Coverage
Sudden illness or accidents, while you are traveling, is the single most critical reason you need a travel insurance policy. Hospitalisation and treatment costs can be prohibitively high in the US and European countries. In fact, certain countries require you to have a medical cover in place before they issue a VISA to you. So, ensure that you have a substantial medical coverage as part of your travel insurance, even if you have to pay a higher premium.
The Company’s Network
Make sure that the insurance provider has a good network of offices in the places you are planning to visit. Some finance companies partner with global insurance providers to offer travel coverage. This is a vital point because a good network ensures you can avail of cashless hospitalization. It also ensures that you will get financial assistance quickly when you make your claim.
Other Vital Coverage
Your travel insurance also needs to cover financial emergencies like loss of travel funds due to theft or burglary. Loss of baggage and documents also needs to be covered. The insurance provider can then provide you with an allowance for replacing vital needs like clothing and also help you in procuring duplicates or replacements of crucial documents like passports and visas. You also need personal liability coverage in case you cause accidental injury to a third-party or cause damage to property. Provision for medical evacuation back home in case there is such a need is another important feature.
It pays to invest in travel insurance like HDFC ERGO whether you are traveling abroad or within the country. So go online and find the best one for you!