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Do not balk at taking a travel insurance plan with all bases covered – there are many situations you may need to use it in!
Planning your trip, packing your bags, getting your visa and checking on your flight tickets… a holiday awaits you and you can hardly wait to get going! But have you forgotten one really important detail? No, we don’t mean packing another dress in your already groaning bag, or getting a facial just before you leave. We are talking about taking a travel insurance policy.
You probably purchased travel insurance with your flight tickets, but what does it cover? There are a variety of unfriendly situations you may encounter on your holiday that only a good travel plan can bail you out of. For instance –
1) Emergency health treatment: Your health insurance may not work internationally, but your travel insurance plan certainly will. Getting medical attention abroad is expensive, so it is always wiser to get a travel plan to help out in such situations.
2) Flight cancellations: This may have happened to you before: you have two connections on your route to your final destination, but one flight is cancelled and you are stranded mid-way! If you have a good travel plan at this juncture, it will help pay for an alternative flight or mode of transport.
3) Loss of travel documents: Most travellers keep their travel documents in a little pouch tied to their bellies, but one second of absent-mindedness can result in the bag being lost. Travelling without your passport and other travel documents can make it difficult to return home. Instead, let your travel plan cover for you and get you new documents.
4) Stolen luggage: A thief might mug you on the street or somebody might pick your pocket – either way, you can lose valuables, money, your passport, credit cards and other important items. If this happens, your travel insurance policy can provide coverage to replace the lost items.
5) The travel operator downs shutters: Not many people know that travel insurance can help replace tickets booked by transport operators that have suddenly shut business or have gone bankrupt. If you are about to travel and the airline you have booked yourself on is no longer operational, simply claim your flight money from insurance.
6) Misplaced luggage: The airlines, trains or even hotel can misplace your luggage, thus inconveniencing you severely. But instead of fretting about your lost clothes and other belongings, simply get your travel plan to replace the lost items so you can proceed with your trip.
7) Terror strikes or natural calamities: In today’s world, terrorism is a reality that each of us must live with. At the same time, there is no way to predict where a natural calamity such as a tsunami or cyclone may strike. While these events are out of your control, your travel insurance plan provides life coverage for such circumstances.
8 Accidental coverage: You might meet with a freak accident while on holiday, or sustain injuries while participating in an adventure sport. Either way, let travel insurance pay for your medical treatment.
9) Death duties: In the unfortunate event of the demise of the policy holder or any of the other people covered under the travel plan, the insurance policy pays for airlifting the body back to the holder’s homeland and also pays for emergency ambulance costs.
10) Illness after you leave for your trip: You could fall ill at any point during your trip and need a doctor’s visit. Or you might run out of your daily medication and need to source more abroad. Your travel plan covers you for these eventualities.