Travel Insurance Policy Exclusions You Should Know About

Most of the people have a travel plan already set out before they embark on their trip. A travel plan usually includes information on travel destination, flight tickets, accommodation & other bookings, tourist places to visit, places to eat, list of important documents to carry along (passport, visa, ID proof) and some small but important items that might be needed during the journey. Now many of you might think that this list is complete but the most important item missing in this list is travel insurance. But is travel insurance worth it? Yes, travel insurance is one of the most essential things that you might need when travelling abroad or even when travelling domestically. An appropriate travel insurance policy can help you deal with any financial setbacks that you might face while travelling. A travel insurance plan provides coverage to you and your loved ones in the following scenarios:

1. Loss of baggage
2. Loss of passport
3. Flight delays
4. Flight cancellations
5. Hospitalization expenses
6. Medical evacuation
7. Personal liability
8. Delayed baggage
9. Trip interruption

Besides these coverages, general insurance companies also offers features such as quick disbursement of claims, automatic claim settlement service, on-call support and many innovative travel insurance packages suiting the needs of different individuals. While these are a general set of inclusions, your policy may also offer additional benefits depending on the plan you’ve opted for. For example, student travel insurance may offer customised inclusions tailored to the needs of students studying abroad. Now that you have noted the inclusions in the policy, you should also mull over the exclusions in your travel insurance policy. What is not covered in your travel insurance policy? Some of the general exclusions in a travel insurance policy are:

1. Medical expenses incurred beyond the expiry of the policy period
2. Pre-existing illnesses
3. Any routine examination where there is no objective indication of impairment of normal health
4. Attempted suicide or wilfully self-inflicted injury or illness
5. Claims made in case of injury/loss due to alcoholism, drunkenness or the abuse of drugs
6. Claims made by you, if you are travelling against the advice of your doctor
7. Any injury, loss, expense attributed to HIV or HIV related illnesses
8. Losses due to accident as a driver without a valid international driver's license
9. Pregnancy and related conditions like miscarriage, child birth and abortion
10. Any injury or loss due to involvement in adventurous/dangerous activities
11. Experimental treatments
12. Your self-carried baggage
13. Partial destruction of your baggage
14. Loss or damage to your passport as a result of the confiscation or detention by customs, police or any other authority

While these are some of the basic exclusions in your travel insurance policy, we recommend that you read your policy document in detail to understand your coverages and exclusions of specific plans such as travel insurance for senior citizens or students. This would help avoid any inconvenience at a later stage like filing a travel insurance claim or renewing the policy. You can read informative articles on Travel Insurance on Bajaj Allianz's blog.