Holiday season is round the corner. I am sure there are discussions now at most dinner table about a must visit destination this sumer. Will the Far East - Asian Tigers (Thailand / Malaysia / Hong Kong) be a good option or visiting serene and beautiful Europe shall be the dream Holidays in the coming season? Or may be why not to see the Big Apple (New York) coupling with an excuse to meet old friend or relatives who are calling for long now. I guess all options are good and fortunately in the market there are plenty of choices with throw away deals.  

The best news for Indian Wonder lust travelers now is the availability of exotic itinerary, cheap Tickets and Hotels deals through Online. There are many companies now operate an online model that will take care of your needs. But my understanding is that, still a complex and non-homogenous Holiday itinerary is handled well by friendly neighborhood travel agent or Leisure shops. Because of competition most of the travel agents are forced to give the cut-throat deal to woo the king i.e. YOU - the customers.  

So, how do they make money? Well here is the secret. Most Travel Agents including big brands make most of the money by selling Non-Tickets item like Travel Insurance, Car Rentals (Ground Transportation) and Hotel accommodation. You will be surprised that 70% your Travel or Holiday cost may be coming from above 3 components, which makes it important for you to look at them carefully because the genuine pleasure of your trip you are seeking and paying perhaps over 2500 dollars, very much depend on the fine-prints of services bought. In this note, I particularly like to high-light Travel Insurance component of your journey. Generally you next door Agent without informing you, gives his policy because he is making atleast 15% margin on that.

Consider the following case study : You are going to United States for 21 days with  US$ 500000 cover 

 Source: USA Bonsai Insurance  ( http://Usa.InsuranceMall.in ). USA Insurance rates are rates of the lowest company. Note, they are not completely comparable. 

So you could see it transparently that if your agent happen to be working for say ICICI, then chances are that you are paying Higher Premium and also your agent is making higher money from you, without your knowledge. What is more important here for us to understand that what exactly you are getting in your Travel Insurance Policy from your Travel Agent? Couple of important points you must know and should ask your Travel Agent to share: 

Authorized : Is he an authorized Insurance Agent or Broker to sell the Travel Insurance Policy? Pls remember buying Insurance is not buying Air Tickets or doing Hotel booking. As per the law of the land, only authorized (by IRDA) Insurance Agent or Broker can solicit Insurance business. Why this information is important because should there be a claim, only an authorized Insurance Broker or Agent can help you make a better representation with the Insurance Company. The Travel Agent who is generally not authorized agent can’t do much as he is a 3^rd party to the claim.

Fine Prints : Pls look into the Fine Prints of your policy. We understand that most of the Travel Insurance Players in India, particularly Private and MNC players have created a Sub-Limits to avoid big losses on Claims. Here is case in point for your perusal.

 USD 50K coverage for a customer of Age 60 going to United States 

 Source: Bonsai Insurance Brokers ( http://www.InsuranceMall.in ) , based on published Brochures by companies 

Claims : This is very important to know up-front that how is the Insurance company in providing claims. It is qualitative argument hence difficult to provide a simple decision matrix. But, here is some thing that may interest you. 

While buying Travel Insurance, you may want to check with your Insurance Broker on what is covered and what is not. Say for example, most of the Travel Insurance that is being sold in India does not cover your accompanying gadgets like Camera / IPod / Souvenirs etc. Also, it is imperative for you to know that loss of Forex (Cash / TC’s etc.) is not covered by your Travel Insurance. Indian Travel Insurance also does not cover you for medical emergencies abroad, should that is related to Pre-existing disease. If you are planning for an exotic trip to Australia – New Zealand (Bungee Jumping) or Dubai (Desert Safari) or Thailand – Water Sports, then you may want to read your Insurance Policies fine prints once again as none of the hazardous sports are covered by Indian Travel Medical Insurance. 

It is also a fact that Travel Insurance is generally a less important item in over all Holidays Planning but this time around you may want to take pause and take an informed decision by comparing available policies online at www.InsuranceMall.in. You will be pleasantly surprised to save over 30% on your Overseas Travel Medical Insurance Premium this vacation. 

Buy Insurance. Travel Safe.

Manish Jaiswal

USA 

for 

InsuranceMall I Opener 

 https://www.insurancemall.in/I-Opener/post/2008/04/Indian-Travel-Insurance-for-your-next-trip-e28093-Importance2c-Fine-Prints-and-Online.aspx