Should you get a travel insurance plan with Covid-19 cover?

Rising airfares and the fear of travel plans getting stalled due to Covid-19 have made travelling an expensive affair. However, a travel insurance plan with Covid-19 cover can be a good idea in such circumstances. A single trip travel insurance plan with a Covid-19 cover is ideal for travel with the family internationally.

General travel coverage
Travel policies typically cover medical costs entailed during travel, medical evacuation or repatriation costs, personal accident cover, accidental death or disability cover. Additionally, they also cover for loss or delay of baggage, loss of passport, delay or cancellation of the trip, etc. It is extremely important to check the exact coverage offered and compare it with other travel policies before buying one.


Covid-19 specific coverage
This covers medical expenses incurred, if the insured is diagnosed and hospitalised with Covid-19 outside India during the trip. It also offers trip cancellation cover for the non-refundable portion of the flight and hotel bookings, if the insured’s co-traveller or immediate family member is diagnosed with Covid-19. Trip interruption expenses may be covered if a trip had to be cut short due to the insured or family member contracting Covid-19. The cover gets automatically extended for a certain time if a lockdown is imposed in the destination country.

Pre-existing diseases
The insured needs to declare pre-existing diseases at the time of policy purchase. The insurance policies also have a deductible amount that needs to be paid before the claim is paid by the insurance company.

Points to note

• Policies can be chosen in the form of single-trip, multi-trip or year-long travel insurance plans.
• It is mandatory to have travel insurance while visiting certain countries for the purpose of visa processing.

(Content on this page is courtesy Centre for Investment Education and Learning (CIEL). Contributions by Girija Gadre, Arti Bhargava and Labdhi Mehta.)