Visitor Insurance: A Comprehensive Guide to Travel Protection

Unfortunately, healthcare costs are high overseas, and domestic health insurance does not suffice. So, let us take a deeper look into what is on the insurance platter to protect your travel plans.

What is Visitor Insurance? 

Things can go wrong while travelling abroad though you wish it were hassle-free. The best way to protect your trip from emotional, physical, and financial stress is to buy suitable health insurance for foreign visitors when travelling beyond the Indian shores.

The most travelled destinations like the USA, Schengen Nations, Oceania, or our backyard, the Middle East, and South East Asia can drill a hole in the pocket in health emergencies. Contrarily, insurers tailor comprehensive international health plans covering medical and non-medical expenses. So, let us explore further to ensure your journey quality.

What are the Visitor Insurance types? 

Visitor insurance is primarily of two types based on coverage. So, there are Limited Benefits and Comprehensive Benefits Plans.  

Limited Benefit Plan

The low-cost insurance policy provides limited coverage for medical expenses up to a predefined limit. So, one must review the document before purchasing. The key features to remember are: 

1. It offers essential protection and may not suffice 
2. Moreover, there are predefined sub-limits for all the benefits
3. You can seek medical attention from any doctor or non-PPO hospitals, but the reimbursement is subject to the defined limits 

Comprehensive Benefits Plan

After meeting the deductible clause, the insurance plan offers higher benefits than the basic plan. So, you can recover between 70 and 100% of your expenses due to acute and preexisting conditions. The salient features of the insurance plan are: 

1. Better and higher protection 
2. Costlier than a limited benefit plan 
3. Plan coverage depends on the insurer and may not be uniform across all plan variants 

So, what do you look for when choosing a suitable visitor medical insurance?  

• Covid-19 Coverage: International travel has been the worst affected during the pandemic. The health insurance for foreign visitors comes with an inbuilt Covid-19 coverage 
• Individual Healthcare: The coverage includes pre and post-hospitalization medical expenses 
• Preexisting Disease Cover: The coverage extends to preexisting medical conditions like diabetes, hypertension, and cancer, to name a few  
• Critical Illness and Surgery: The insurance policy ensures payments for surgery and life-threatening illness treatment expenses  

Besides the above coverage under the health insurance package, visitor insurance also covers the following. 

• Medical evacuation and repatriation 
• Accidental dismemberment and deaths 
• Trip cancellations and delays 
• Loss of luggage and documents 

Additional Read: Medical Insurance Plans 

What Are The Visitor Medical Insurance Inclusions?

After gaining a fair insight into visitor medical insurance, it is time to look at the various coverage components designed to make your foreign trip seamless. But first, be convinced that you need visitor insurance for travelling abroad. A few startling facts to help make an informed decision are:

• Medical costs outside India are 3 to 5 times higher  
• Airlines misplace 28 million baggage every year [1] 
• Travel scams are rampant in tourist destinations 
• International transfers account for 47% of baggage loss 
• Cards, licenses, passports, and phones are the most lost belongings during international travel 
• Missed and delayed flights are a daily occurrence  

Therefore, the certainty of visitor insurance is not lost while planning a trip to a foreign land. Moreover, visitor insurance for parents is a critical requirement knowing that they are more vulnerable to travel risks than others. So, here is an indicative coverage list to help you choose the appropriate travel insurance policy.  

Covid-19 Coverage

1. Hospitalization Benefits: The coverage extends to Covid-19-related hospitalization besides other medical emergencies during the trip 
2. Trip Cancellation: The coverage is for trip cancellation due to Covid-19 with a refund for prior bookings 
3. Trip Interruption and Curtailment: If the trip is cut short due to Covid-19, the visitor insurance compensates for trip interruption expenses  
4. Automatic Extension: The travel insurance term gets automatically extended for seven days due to Covid-19 induced lockdown 

Medical Coverage

1. Medical Emergencies: The financial implications of sudden illness while travelling abroad are enormous. But the insurance policy compensates expenses for hospitalization due to common diseases, dental emergencies, and even fatalities  
2. Medical Evacuation: Visitor medical insurance covers evacuation expenses to the nearest hospital and even to India for treatment 
3. Accidental Death and Repatriation: The policyholder’s nominee gets compensation for unfortunate fatalities during international travel. In addition, the insurance policy covers repatriation expenses for the policyholder’s mortal remains to the home city  
4. Compassionate Visit: The insurance policy provides the cost of to-and-fro tickets for the policyholder’s family member to be beside you in the hospital if needed

Journey Coverage

1. Lost Passport: Losing your passport during international travel is a calamity that is hard to digest, and obtaining a replacement is equally tricky. The visitor insurance policy provides reasonable expenses to procure a new one 
2. Travel Assistance: Many services make your travel experience hassle-free. For example, visitor insurance coverage includes lost luggage, lost passport replacement, funds transfers, and legal counsel 
3. Personal Liability: The insurance policy covers third-party damages and liability arising from an accident. But it will protect only the policyholder and not the family members  
4. Delayed Flights: Weather and other extraneous incidents may affect flight schedules. The insurance coverage includes expenses for rescheduled tickets, overnight stays, etc., if the flight delay is 12 hours or more  
5. Hijack Assistance: Most tourist insurance policies provide distress allowance when the policyholder’s flight suffers a hijack   
6. Trip Cancellation or Curtailment: The insurance policy covers loss due to trip cancellation and returns to India due to any emergency

Baggage Coverage

1. Delayed Baggage: Missing and delayed baggage is a common experience with air travellers across the globe and requires additional expenses to cope. The insurance policy compensates the policyholder with costs till its receipt
2. Lost Baggage: If the baggage is lost, the consequences are graver. The insurance policy compensates for the luggage value, subject to the terms and conditions

What Are The Exclusions Under Visitor Medical Insurance?

Medical Exclusions

1. Travel against doctor’s advice 
2. Complications and assistance due to preexisting medical conditions 
3. Injuries sustained while serving in the armed forces 
4. Risks due to participation in adventure sports until specifically covered 
5. Self-inflicted wounds and substance abuse 
6. Mental and nervous disorders 

Journey Exclusions

1. Confiscation of passport by the law enforcing agencies or customs 
2. Passport loss, not intimated within 24 hours of the incident 
3. Losses incurred due to war or similar situations 
4. Loss and damages due to nuclear reaction and radioactive contamination 

Baggage Exclusions

• Baggage shipped separately before the travel date 
• Baggage delay does not occur during the trip duration 
• Loss of electronic gadgets, credit cards, money, or other securities 

How To Choose Visitor Insurance?

Planning an international trip is demanding, especially understanding the visa approval norms of the destination country and arranging the documents accordingly. But choosing the perfect insurance coverage needs meticulous analysis of the many factors. So, let us look at the significant factors individually. 

Destination

Most favoured travel destinations for Indians require visitor medical insurance for visa approval. For example, the USA, Schengen, Russia, and the UAE seek compulsory medical insurance.

Travel Frequency

The type of visitor insurance depends on your travel frequency to destinations abroad. Thus, you can select single or multiple trips depending on your travel plans and obtain them instantly online. 

Trip Duration

Choosing visitor insurance tenure which slightly exceeds your planned trip dates makes sense. It ensures that the coverage continues even if you extend your trip due to emergent compulsions.

Travel Companions

If travelling alone, an individual insurance plan suffices. Contrarily, consider visitor insurance for parents if they are visiting. Even group tourist insurance is available if travelling with others while simplifying documentation.

Claim Limit

Financial coverage is one of the influencing factors for making an informed choice of the sum insured in visitor insurance. However, your destination plays a crucial role as the compensation must match healthcare costs within limits. So, a higher premium is worth paying, considering the benefits.

Purchasing visitor insurance with the confirmation of an international trip is a song, as you can access several early-bird advantages in coverage and costs. Count upon your Bajaj Fiserv Health to provide the right insights into the product to make an informed decision. Comprehensive visitor medical insurance is about coping with health emergencies and many other travel perils. Moreover, the best travel insurance policies help you relax and experience the vacation attractions to the fullest.