Travel Insurance: Overview, Description, Types, Reviews

Insurance of tourists traveling abroad is a policy that provides protection for citizens located in the territory of another state. Its main task is to compensate for the costs of treatment in the event of a sudden illness or accident. Unlike a medical policy (voluntary or compulsory) operating in the country of permanent residence, tourist insurance is only active when a person is abroad.

Foreign insurance and its features

The so-called voluntary insurance for citizens leaving the country, in fact, is not. The fact is that you will not be allowed into any state without presenting a policy. Therefore, insurance traveling abroad has long been an integral part of the package of documents required to be presented.

What features does such a “protective” paper have and how to arrange it? This information is very important. You can be as sure as you can that nothing bad will happen to you, but you still have to buy a policy. To get maximum protection and not throw away money in vain, you need to carefully analyze all the proposed conditions. After all, there are a lot of nuances in this type of insurance. Let's talk about them in more detail.

Types of Health Insurance

Health insurance traveling abroad can be divided into two broad categories:

• compensatory;
• service.

They are quite different. In the presence of compensatory insurance, the patient himself assumes obligations for the organization of medical services and their payment. That is, such worries will fall on your shoulders:

1. Choosing a doctor and organizing a trip to him.
2. Fulfillment of all requirements.
3. Organization of the required procedures.
4. Purchase and administration of drugs.
5. Other events.

Upon arrival home, the policy holder presents to the insurance company all the necessary documents proving the occurrence insured event. And receives monetary compensation. In addition, you need to save all checks for the provided medical services and purchased medicines. The amount of compensation will depend on them.

This method is quite unpopular, because it is not beneficial to either the insurer or the insured. The first is not always able to verify the correctness and objectivity of the submitted documents. The second - does not want, in which case, bother to seek qualified help in a foreign country. Especially if there are problems with the language barrier. In addition, in the presence of compensation insurance, you will have to additionally present at the customs a rather impressive amount, allocated especially in case of illness.

Therefore, most often SK offer their customers a service option. In this case, in case of a sudden illness of the client, the insurance company, with the help of its partner in the host country, takes on all the important points:

• Selection of a competent specialist.
• Delivery of the patient to a medical facility.
• Organization of prescribed treatment.
• Acquisition of medicines prescribed by a doctor.
• Organization of patient delivery to the homeland, if necessary.
• Providing translation services (if necessary).

As you can see, this type of policy is much preferable. IC can be sure that you have not attributed the extra costs. And you calmly improve your health without worrying about anything.

Assistance: what is it?

In the last case we examined, insurance for citizens traveling abroad involves assistance.What is this strange word and what does it mean? This is the name of the very partner company that will take care of and worries about you in the host country. Before purchasing a policy, take an interest in having such a partner and his ability to provide you with Russian-language support. The fact is that if SK does not have assistance, then there can be no question of any service. All problems abroad will have to be solved independently. In fact, an insurance company that does not have a partner can only issue a compensation policy. Do you need it?

What is insured against when traveling abroad?

Most often, travel insurance includes the following items:

1. Opportunity outpatient treatment.
2. Transportation to a medical institution.
3. The room in the hospital.
4. Emergency dentistry services.
5. Acquisition of medicines prescribed by a doctor.
6. Assistance in transportation to the homeland if necessary.
7. Repatriation of the remains.

Many insurance limit the standard list of services. And for an additional fee they offer to expand it. For example, such options may be included in it:

• Delivery to the country of residence of the minor children of the victim, accompanied by an employee of the insurance company (tickets at the expense of the company).
• Early termination of the tour in the event of the death or illness of a close relative, returning to their homeland at the expense of the UK.
• Arrival of one of the relatives to the insured in case of prolonged hospitalization - more than 10 days (tickets at the expense of the insurance company).
• Extra protection against accident.
• Other risks.

Please note that the risks associated with pregnancy or engaging in extreme sports are not included in either standard or extended health insurance. For them, completely separate types of policies are provided.

What is not recognized as an insured event?

Travel insurance does not cover all costs associated with a client’s health. There are cases when such a policy does not work:

1. A trip to get medical care.
2. Health impairment resulting from radiation exposure.
3. Treatment of chronic diseases, with the exception of cases of acute pain relief or saving the patient's life.
4. Cases when there were medical contraindications for the trip, and the patient neglected them.
5. Pregnancy, abortion and childbirth, except for the facts when a miscarriage occurred spontaneously or as a result of an accident.
6. Treatment or exacerbation of mental, nervous, sexually transmitted diseases.
7. Suicide or intentional harm to one’s health.
8. Intoxication due to the use of alcoholic, psychotropic or narcotic drugs.
9. AIDS.
10. Prosthetics of any kind, cosmetic or plastic surgery.
11. Procedures that are not required to treat or diagnose a disease.

How much will they give?

This question often worries people who first draw up a policy. It is impossible to give a definite answer here. You will be returned the entire amount that you can back up with documents: bills, checks, receipts and so on. It is much more important to pay attention to another point. In order for insurance to go abroad to be economically justified and sufficient, you need to remember an important detail - the cost of medical services in the host country. The maximum possible amount of coverage and the cost of the policy depend on this.

The country you are going to travel to affects this. For example, in Belarus or Moldova, the cost of medicine is not too high. In these countries, it is enough to have a policy with a coverage of about 12-15 thousand dollars. But if you are going to the USA, Canada or Japan, then insurance should be issued not less than 70-80 thousand American money. The fact is that in these countries the prices for medical services are just going wild. And 10 thousand is just not enough for you. Based on the cost of medical services, ICs divide policies into the following categories:

• CIS.
• Schengen.
• Other European countries.
• Turkey Egypt.
• Canada, USA, Japan, Australia.
• The whole world (excluding all of the above countries).

Policy cost: what affects it?

It is impossible to accurately answer the question of how much the insurance policy goes abroad. It all depends on many factors: starting from the pricing policy of a particular IC and ending with the personal characteristics of the client. The cost of insurance is usually affected by:

1. Client age
2. Country of intended residence.
3. The duration of the visit.
4. Purpose of the trip.
5. Existence of franchises and insurance limits.
6. Group or individual design.
7. Other factors.

How to choose a suitable insurance company?

This process is quite laborious. You need to go through the following steps:

1. Try to personally visit the office of the UK. Ask to present permits, as well as make sure that the company has a license to carry out activities.
2. Carefully study the website of a company that offers travel insurance. Sberbank, for example, provides all the comprehensive information on the pages of its portal. There you can also read reviews of those who have already used the service.
3. Carefully refer to the proposed list of services. The wider it is, the better for you.
4. Do not agree to include risks that you do not need in the policy. For example, if you are fluent in English, refuse the services of a translator. Just don't overdo it. If something happens to you that is not included in the policy, you will not see money.
5. Choose only the most reliable companies that offer travel insurance. Feedback from former customers will help you with this. A large company is a guarantee that it will not disappear from the market while you are away.
6. Read the agreement carefully, especially the places in small print. Ask the manager anything that is not clear to you. There can be no uncomfortable or stupid questions, because this is your money.

And be sure to check if the SK company has an assistance company. If it is not, it is better to look for another insurer.