It is the festive season. Your Visa and other travel documents, the foreign currency and everything you need for your much awaited holiday abroad is in place! Everything? Perhaps not quite! Have you given a thought to things that can go wrong when you are on a holiday abroad? Unexpected expenses ruining your mood and your trip is the last thing you want.
It is time to give a thought to some of these problems and to overseas travel insurance. Take a peek at the things that could go wrong and how travel insurance can literally save the day. Based on the actual experiences of travellers, find out how buying travel insurance turned out to be the most prudent pre-travel expenditure they made!
here could be an accident or you could fall ill when you're abroad. From indigestion to an accident to emergency surgery – anything could happen! Medical expenses abroad are significantly higher than they are in India. Whether you are abroad for sightseeing or as a student, illness or accidents could be a huge drain on your budget.
One young man studying abroad had a medical emergency that was taken care of by travel insurance, another traveller found that the food in Macau did not agree and yet another traveller needed emergency surgery for his mother. For all these; travel insurance proved to be a prudent purchase, all the assistance required in stressful situations and compensation for expenses incurred. “Long-term, work related stays come with their share of bouts of sickness. My travel to Singapore was ridden by one where severe pain due to kidney stone hit me hard. Thanks to my overseas travel insurance, I did not hesitate to go and see a doctor.”
It can be harrowing if your passport is stolen or lost when abroad and this could happen despite your best efforts, so ensure that you have photocopies of all important documents when you travel.
According to one traveller who had taken the precaution of buying travel insurance, when he lost his passport while he was visiting London “I immediately contacted the embassy and the travel insurance assistance team. Both were cordial and genuinely helpful. Photocopying all my documents really helped my case. I am safely back home now. Phew.”
You’ve packed with utmost care to ensure that everything you need while abroad is there. When your bags go missing, it not only means a lot of hassle and inconvenience but significant extra expenses because of delays since you could be carrying valuable items or items of personal significance.
For one Indian traveller returning from a trip to Australia, the fact that the airlines lost his baggage would have been terrible news; except that he had travel insurance! “The claim process was smooth and I got good compensation for my lost luggage”.
Flights could be delayed because of the weather, the airline, medical reasons, personal problems or natural disasters. You could miss a connecting flight or your flight could get cancelled. This can result in significant extra expenses as well as inconvenience.
One traveller’s trip to Bhutan saw an entire day’s delay because of cancelled flights. Luckily for this traveller, “flight expenses were covered and I did not have to worry about the loss.”
There could even be a theft back home while you're on holiday. Your travel funds could also get stolen or lost. It can be a horrifying experience to be stranded while travelling or to come home finding your home burgled. Did you know - these eventualities and losses are also covered by travel insurance? This can be a big relief knowing that there is someone else to take care of the stolen items in your absence!
A family was happily vacationing in Dubai, unaware that their home was burgled in their absence. Upon return, however, the family was relieved to find out that they could claim for compensation for lost valuables. “Me and my family went on a vacation to Dubai. When we came back home we were shocked to see that our house had a break in and most of our contents robbed. We were glad to have insurance which got us covered.”
The quick response time and sympathetic, proactive customer service definitely helps to ease things when disaster strikes and that’s what the Reliance Overseas Travel insurance team specializes in! When one is feeling upset, unsure and stressed in an unfamiliar place; having someone to take care of things can be very reassuring indeed! So, in essence, when you're buying overseas travel insurance, you are buying peace of mind!
- "This story is brought to you in association with Reliance General Insurance."
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