Many people periodically travel abroad. Some do this for the purpose of a memorable vacation, others visit foreign countries on work matters, and some study at foreign universities. Regardless of the purpose for which a person is going on a foreign trip, he may encounter a variety of problems that a service such as insurance can help avoid. That is why many of us are interested in the answer to the question of which insurance to choose for traveling abroad, as well as which company is best to contact.
What is insurance and why is it needed?
Any trip abroad can be accompanied by various diseases, injuries, loss of property, emergencies and other problems that can turn a vacation or a business trip into a nightmare. The thing is that medicine, especially for foreigners, in the USA, Europe and other countries is quite expensive, so not everyone can get the necessary help there. However, honey. insurance for traveling abroad will help get rid of unforeseen expenses in case you suddenly feel unwell.
Today, there are several types of insurance policies for traveling abroad, each of which is aimed at solving a certain kind of problems. For example, you can insure your life, personal belongings and property from theft and loss, and much more.
In addition, some countries, such as European countries, Japan and Australia, will simply refuse to enter you if you do not have insurance for traveling abroad.
Types of Insurance Policies
As already mentioned at the beginning of the article, there are several types of insurance, each of which is aimed at solving various problems and covers certain expense items. To make it easier for you to decide which type of policy to choose, you need to dwell on each of them in more detail.
Travel Health Insurance
Honey. insurance for traveling abroad is one of the most common and bought by most people traveling abroad. It allows you to protect your health and life, and in case of unforeseen situations get the necessary help. The medical insurance policy provides the right to:
- a call to the house of a doctor or ambulance;
- inpatient or outpatient treatment;
- diagnostics;
- covering the costs of transporting seriously ill patients or the human body in the event of death.
This travel insurance does not cover:
- expenses for the treatment of injuries sustained under the influence of alcoholic beverages and psychotropic drugs;
- treatment of chronic, mental and oncological diseases.
Thus, by purchasing this type of insurance, you get a kind of policy that provides the right to receive medical care in foreign countries.
Tourist liability protection
This type of insurance covers any damage you cause to third parties. However, there is an important nuance here: insurance payments are possible only if you can provide an official document from the relevant authorities confirming the fact of the victim's involvement in the precedent. This insurance for travel abroad does not provide for payments in case of harm caused by drinking alcohol or using drugs, as well as if you injured another person intentionally and consciously.
This type of policy is aimed at those people whose vacation is associated with extreme sports, since it is in these cases that an unintentional damage to property or injury to third parties occurs. For example, a very common case is damage to rented equipment on a ski vacation, which will be quite expensive to compensate. And if you have this insurance for traveling abroad, you can not worry about anything.
Property insurance
When vacationing abroad, many tourists find themselves in such an unpleasant situation as the loss of luggage. This may be the fault of both the tourist and the airport or any other companies that will carry out the transportation of things. Therefore, taking valuable and expensive things with you on a trip, it is recommended to insure them against loss. This travel insurance covers the following cases:
- damage to property as a result of various accidents;
- loss of property during natural disasters;
- theft.
Some trips abroad include this type of insurance in their cost, however, if the tour operator has not provided for this, it is recommended that you take care of the safety of your belongings yourself.
Travel Insurance
This type of insurance allows you to insure yourself against those cases when you purchased a vacation ticket, but for a number of reasons that are not dependent on you personally, you could not go to it, or if your vacation is interrupted. These reasons include:
- hospitalization before the planned departure abroad;
- serious health problems, as well as the death of relatives or family members;
- refusal to issue a visa.
This insurance also extends to cases when a child’s travel abroad is impossible due to the fact that one of the relatives refuses to give his consent.
How to get an insurance policy?
There are several ways to obtain insurance for traveling abroad. This can be done both independently and using the services of companies that provide similar services. Next, each of the methods will be discussed in detail.
Independent appeal to the office of the insurer
This is one of the most effective and quick ways to insure yourself against any cases discussed earlier. Its main advantage is that you can choose the risks you want to protect yourself from. When filling out the necessary documents, you will be asked by employees of the insurance company to indicate the services that you want to use. This will save a lot, since you will not pay for what you do not need.
Travel Agency Insurance
You can insure yourself against any possible problems during your stay abroad when buying a ticket abroad at a travel agency. However, in this case, you should read the contract very carefully, as some companies impose part of the costs of insurance claims on the client himself. If suddenly you are not interested in insurance or plan to buy a policy through an insurance company, then you can refuse it when you purchase a ticket.
Employer Insurance
Insurance for traveling abroad to work is not the most popular, but it offers the best conditions. The thing is that some employers provide their subordinates with the opportunity to obtain a health insurance policy, during which you can insure yourself and your family to travel abroad. However, in this case, insurance extends solely to health and does not extend to other types of risks.
The cost of insurance for traveling abroad
In order for insurance to travel abroad, the price of which depends on many factors (from 400 rubles per day and above), to take effect, you must pay an insurance premium. In this case, the final cost of the policy is formed from the following factors:
- time spent abroad;
- the country;
- type of rest;
- ticket price;
- transport on which you will reach your destination;
- personal data - age, state of health and others.
At the same time, it is important to understand that leaving a child abroad and acquiring insurance will cost much more than an adult. You also have the right to influence the amount of compensation that will be paid in the event of a particular event, so if you are planning a vacation in a third world country where the infrastructure and level of medicine are poorly developed, you should worry about the amount of payment being as can be more.
Online Insurance Process
Nowadays, many insurance companies offer their customers the opportunity to take out insurance for traveling abroad online. This is very convenient, because you do not even have to go beyond the threshold of your own home. In addition, buying a policy via the Internet will cost you less, which will save you some money on your vacation.
Making an online insurance policy is quite simple. If you are faced with a similar task for the first time, then the instructions described below will help you avoid any errors. The first step is to decide where to take out insurance for traveling abroad. The choice of a reliable insurance company is very important, since not only the size, but also the timeliness of compensation payment depends on it. When searching, you must focus on the following criteria:
- company lifetime;
- customer reviews;
- number of services offered.
In addition, the site of the insurance company will also be important. It should have an intuitive interface and work quickly. The support service of the insurer should quickly and efficiently carry out its activities and help clients in resolving any issues, and at least one free telephone number must be provided on the site by which you can contact the company.
If you encounter any problems in the search process, then you can always use the help of specialized Internet resources on which you can find the rating of all insurance companies. It will also be useful to inquire the opinion of consumers who have had experience working with them. On these sites you can also calculate the cost of the policy and immediately purchase it.
After you decide on an insurance company, you need to choose the right program for yourself. For example, if you go on vacation by car, then in addition to property and health insurance, car insurance for traveling abroad will be useful. In this matter, you should be guided solely by personal beliefs and insure any risks that you consider necessary.
The next step when making insurance online is to fill out an online form on the insurer's website. At the same time, one should be very careful, because even the slightest mistake can make the policy invalid and it will be impossible to get compensation for it. After filling out the form, be sure to check all the fields and make sure the information provided is up to date.
After filling out the form you will need to pay insurance. There are many ways to do this. For example, you can pay using a credit card, various electronic payment services or self-service terminals. However, do not rush to pay and do it only after all issues have been resolved. If you need additional information, you can get it by calling the toll-free number provided on the website of the insurance company or from the online support service.
When all the formalities for registration and payment of the insurance policy are settled, a letter will be sent to the email address indicated when filling out the form, with the following list of documents attached:
- policy;
- receipt;
- A list of phone numbers to call when you encounter any problems.
If any of these documents is not in the letter, then you must immediately contact the insurance company and ask the employee to resend the documents to your mail.
Rating of insurance companies: which is better to choose?
Nowadays, a huge number of insurance companies work in the financial services market, so choosing a good one is quite difficult. To make it easier for you to decide, here are some of the key industry leaders:
- Renaissance is a leading Russian insurance company that provides consumers with many different products. During its activity, this insurer received a fairly decent amount of various awards and positive customer reviews.
- ERV is an international company operating in our country for more than 10 years. This insurer works worldwide and offers a wide range of services aimed at protecting tourists from all sorts of risks.
- AlfaStrakhovanie is another domestic insurer that offers quality service, a large number of insurance programs and the ability to issue a policy in just 5 minutes.
You can use the services of these companies or take out insurance from any other. The main thing is that the insurer works honestly and quickly pays compensation in case of any problems. Do not rush to fill out an insurance policy in the first company you come across.