Ensuring your safety, especially when you’re on the move, is a smart thing to do. It becomes all the more important if you travel a lot. Getting Travel Insurance is as essential as planning the perfect vacation. Most of us think that getting Travel Insurance isn’t important as nothing can ever go wrong on a trip. Well, we’re wrong! Not to be pessimistic, but a lot of things can go wrong on a trip and the risk is even higher when you’re travelling solo.
Therefore, it’s essential to plan your travel well before stepping out or making other arrangements. The most important part of planning your trip right is opting for a good Travel Insurance plan. It not only covers your medical expenses while you’re on the move, but also covers you for delayed or cancelled flights, emergency evacuation, stolen bags, natural calamities and more.
To claim Travel Insurance, you need to keep a couple of things in mind. Ten of these include:
- Photograph your valuables
Photograph all the valuables that you’re carrying along and mail a copy to a secure email address. In case any of these get stolen, you’ll have enough proof to show and it’ll make getting a claim easier.
- Make copies of important documents
Make copies of all important documents like your identity proof, passport, visa, insurance policy and flight details and leave one copy of each of these at home. In case you lose them, you’ll have a backup. It’s also a good idea to scan these documents and save the soft copies in a secure folder online.
- File a police report
In case something gets stolen while you’re on the vacation, you need to report the matter to the local police station within 24 hours of the incident. Most insurance companies won’t pay you unless you’ve reported the incident on time. So, as soon as something untoward happens, file a report.
- Keep some essentials handy
To cover any accidents that you might encounter on your trip, it’s essential to keep your insurer’s emergency contact number and your Travel Insurance policy number handy. Dialling your insurance company to inform them about the accident is one of the first things you must do.
- Store your bills well
For minor medical treatments, you must preserve all the medical bills and receipts to apply for a reimbursement later. If something major happens, you need to contact your insurer to inform them about your medical issue and the prescribed treatment as soon as possible. Even for follow-up checkups later, you need to stay in touch with your insurance company at all times.
- Get a written cancellation confirmation
Usually when your flight gets delayed or cancelled, the insurance company asks for a written confirmation of the same. So, before leaving the airport, ensure to get a duly signed confirmation from the airline or your tour operator. It’s advisable to do this as soon as possible because it tends to get more complicated as time passes.
- Always tell the truth
Don’t cook up stories just to make a claim. Try not to believe that you’re the brightest bulb in the box; one mistake and you could be penalised heavily. You wouldn’t want that to happen to you, would you?
- Keep your limits in mind
The amount that you’ll receive as a settlement can vary depending upon the type of the claim. There’s a limit for every type of claim and you need to keep that in mind. For instance, the claim for medical treatment will pay you more as compared with a lost-luggage claim. These details will be in your policy. Read the fine print.
- Give enough proof
Before paying you, the insurance company will need enough proof of the claims that you’re about to make. So, in case you’ve lost your luggage at the airport, ensure to enquire about what to do next there. Fill in the required forms and complete the necessary paperwork so that you can prove your claim later.
- Filing the claim
While in most cases, you get to avail the ease of filing and completing all the formalities online, in others, you need to go and meet your insurer personally with all the relevant documents.
Now that you know all the essential steps you need to follow before making a Travel Insurance claim, maybe it’s time to get your own policy?