When you travel, either for business or pleasure, you might face contingencies which not only disrupt your travel plans they also result in unplanned expenses. To protect your finances against such unforeseen contingencies faced when travelling, an individual travel insurance policy should be bought. Do you know what the policy is all about?
What is individual travel insurance policy?
An individual travel insurance policy is a plan which covers contingencies faced when travelling abroad or within the country. The plan covers the duration of your trip and you can choose any amount of sum insured based on your requirements.
Types of individual travel insurance plan
Individual travel insurance policies can be categorized into different types of policies based on the purpose of travel and the area of travel. Let’s understand these categories
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Types of plans based on purpose
An individual travel insurance policy can either be taken for business trips or for leisure ones. Based on the purpose of your trip, there are two main types of policies –
- Travel plans for holidays
- Business travel insurance plans
While travel plans for holidays covers you for your holiday trips, business plans are meant for business trips taken. Business travel plans can be of two types –
- Single trip policy – this policy covers one trip taken by you. You would have to specify the number of days for which you are travelling and the policy would cover you for the specified duration. Premium is also determined based on the single trip you are taking.
- Annual multi trip policy – if you are frequent business traveller, this policy is suitable for you. Annual multi trip plans cover multiple trips taken during a year. The policy duration is one year and any number of trips taken during the year would be covered. Thus, you wouldn’t have to buy separate single trip policies for separate trips. Multi-trip policies also prove cheaper than buying separate single trip plans for frequent travellers.
Types of plans based on area of travel
Travel insurance plans are also differentiated based on the destination to which you are travelling. The sub-categories here are as follows –
- Worldwide excluding USA and Canada – these plans cover every part of the world except USA and Canada.
- Worldwide including USA and Canada – these policies do not exclude USA and Canada. If you are travelling to USA and/or Canada, these policies would cover you against possible contingencies.
- Asia – this policy is designed to cover trips taken to Asian countries only. You might find insurers excluding Japan from regions covered by travel plans for Asia. Since Japan has a higher risk of contingencies being an earthquake-prone zone, insurers might offer a separate policy specifically covering Japan trips.
- Domestic plans – domestic travel insurance plans cover trips taken within India only. Since you are travelling within India, the coverage is limited and the premiums are very low and affordable.
How to choose an individual travel insurance policy?
You should choose an individual travel insurance plan based on your trip and its itinerary. If you are going on a business trip, choose single or multi trip plans based on the frequency of your trips. The plan should also be selected based on your destination to ensure that you get coverage in the country or city you are travelling to. Get covered for the total duration of your trip. Lastly, buy an individual travel insurance plan as soon as you finalize your trip.