Things to remember when insuring a trip during the Covid era

International travel is opening up, but the widespread Covid pandemic has made travel insurance an absolute necessity for responsible travel today. Along with the obvious health risks, the uncertainty also extends to travel disruptions caused by Covid restrictions at transit destinations and / or airports.

Basic travel insurance coverages can be divided into medical and non-medical coverages. Medical coverage includes medical costs in the event of illness or accident in destinations, accidental death, hospital indemnities, civil liability and even dental care, excluding pre-existing conditions. Non-medical coverage typically covers baggage delay or loss, lost passports, hotel / airline cancellations or delays, and the repatriation of remains. Today, even while most existing coverages, medical or non-medical, encompass risks arising from Covid-related conditions, most insurance policies have explicitly included Covid situations in their wording in order to eliminate confusion. for the retail buyer.

Covid-induced covers, add-ons

As travelers prepare to expect the unexpected in a post-Covid world, insurance companies have also warmed to the new reality.

Starting with an option to postpone or cancel travel insurance at no additional cost – announced in early April 2020 – the insurance plans now fully cover the risks specific to Covid. In the event of a diagnosis of Covid-19 during a trip, under the accident and illness clause, medical expenses would be covered up to the sum insured. But this can only be claimed while in hospital for most policies. Outpatient care coverage is only available in certain plans. Health insurance Care, for example, offers it. The other two risks associated with Covid arise from either the cancellation or reduction of the trip. Travel insurance policies with Covid coverage reimburse “unused non-refundable service charges” including hotel or airline reservations when trips are canceled due to Covid. If the insured travel companion or an immediate family member is diagnosed with Covid-19 prior to travel, reservations made prior to the diagnosis of Covid are reimbursed up to a certain limit of the sum insured. If a Covid infection is diagnosed while traveling, similar unused non-refundable services may be reimbursed.

In addition, additional accommodation and travel costs incurred due to trip interruption, subject to the limit of the sum insured, are covered as indicated by Tata AIG. HDFC Ergo Travel Insurance also provides hotel accommodation for isolation or quarantine, if one tests positive while traveling. While most policies allow for an automatic extension of the policy term if a foreclosure is imposed in destination regions, ICICI Lombard also covers additional accommodation and board costs due to a companion’s hospitalization. . Some plans allow continued treatment even after the policy expires. Tata AIG plans, for example, offer coverage until the release date or 60 days after the policy expires.

Costs

Pricing depends mainly on the duration of the trip, the frequency (multiple trip or single trip) and the age of the insured. For a 30-year-old traveling to the United States for a single 30-day trip today, premiums range from 1,508 to 2,839 (from Policybazaar.com) for a sum insured of US $ 100,000.

Individual needs should be taken into account in choosing the right travel policy. For example, Tata AIG (Travel Guard Silver Plus) offers a higher premium of 2,069 and does not provide hospital cash benefits, but provides $ 750 for emergency financial assistance. Reliance General Insurance (Reliance Silver) offers a “compassionate visit” feature where a family member can assist the insured when they fall ill while traveling. For a 30-year-old traveling to the United States for 30 days, the premium is here at 1,688.

Points to note

The need for travel insurance today becomes more pressing when you consider the individual travel restrictions imposed by many countries. Traveling to Dubai, for example, will require two RT-PCR tests, one before travel and one after reaching the destination. The test must be carried out 48 hours before departure and self-isolation is mandatory until the publication of the test report. On the other hand, entry into most European countries requires proof of a negative test result from 72 hours before departure, proof of vaccination with a vaccine approved by the EMA (Covishield vaccine in the Indian context ) or proof of recovery from the last infection.

Travel insurance is becoming vitally important in navigating these regulations – especially so that the test is carried out 72 hours before departure, as shown by many national regulations. When the test is positive 2 to 3 days before travel, travel insurance coverage with Covid protections will ensure that travel-related losses are minimized by helping to reimburse airlines, hotels and other Allied deposits that may have been engaged. Any positive test report after reaching the destination can also be handled smoothly with travel insurance. With a test positivity rate ranging from 5-10%, the risk is not small enough to be ignored for essential travel.

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