Here’s How to Buy Travel Insurance Policy at Last Minute

Posted on: Nov 16, 2021 | | Written by:

Here’s How to Buy Travel Insurance Policy at Last Minute

Published on November 16, 2021. EST READ TIME: 3 minutes

Buy Travel Insurance at Last Minute- Travel insurance

While planning a trip or vacation, most people tend to ignore buying a travel insurance policy or rather keeps it as a last priority. However, buying travel insurance should be the utmost priority as it can secure your trip, and you can enjoy the journey worry-free. When you travel abroad, there might be a possibility of any unforeseen event like the loss of luggage, flight delays, unexpected medical emergency and many more. In a foreign territory, a travel insurance policy will be your friend to help you during your tough time by helping you sort unwanted events with ease. Most people have a query about whether they can buy a travel insurance policy at the last minute. Well, you can buy travel insurance online in the end after booking a flight or just a day before your departure, but in that case, you might miss out on some of the coverage.

Right Time to Buy Travel Insurance Policy

It would be wise to buy travel insurance online while booking your flight tickets or at least two to three weeks before your departure. In this way, you can reap all benefits your plan offers. However, suppose that if you don’t have a travel insurance policy in hand weeks before your travel date and due to unavoidable reasons like death in your family, severe illness, or an act of terrorism, you have to cancel your trip. In that case, you won’t be able to avoid financial losses for trip cancellation. Hence, it is better to buy a travel insurance policy weeks or months before your travel date to protect your trip investment if you have to cancel the journey due to the reason covered by the policy.

You can buy international travel insurance online for family or even for yourself if you are a solo traveler. If you are a business person who travels frequently, you can also choose a travel plan for frequent fliers to secure multiple trips under one comprehensive insurance plan. A travel insurance policy will cover the cost of hospitalization, medical evacuation, dental expenses during your journey to a foreign land. Apart from these things, you will also get coverage for baggage, passport loss and expenses for hotel accommodation only when you have to extend your stay due to a medical emergency. You can even modify the dates of your existing travel insurance plan. You can change the existing travel insurance policy dates if the journey has to be postponed for any reason. E.g., if the policy is bought for 01-Dec-21 to 31-Dec-21, you can change dates to 01-Jan-22 to 31-Jan-22. The change is eligible for a date after the one already chosen for travel. However, modification is not allowed if the journey is scheduled to begin before the current date mentioned in the policy, i.e. 01-Dec-21.

Disadvantages of Buying Travel Insurance Policy at the Last Minute

When you buy a travel insurance policy at the last minute or very close to your departure date, you could become subject to a waiting period, which is a specified time before your coverage goes into effect. You might have to wait for a specific amount of time, say 24 hours, depending upon the policy wording, before you become eligible for any coverage. Always remember, travel insurance policies are for unexpected events. You can’t buy a travel insurance policy after a storm is approaching towards the destination where you will be travelling. Likewise, after getting symptoms of serious illness, you won’t be able to have a travel policy for yourself. Hence, it is better to buy travel insurance online two to three weeks before your travel date.

How to Buy Travel Insurance at the Last Minute

You can buy travel insurance online even on the day of your departure. You can consider visiting HDFC ERGO’s website and checking the travel insurance section. You can choose from travel plans for yourself and even your family, including your spouse, two children, and parents. After viewing quotes, you can buy the policy for yourself within a few minutes. HDFC ERGO has 1 Lac+ cashless hospitals networked worldwide, and we also provide cover for coronavirus hospitalization.

Conclusion

Although most countries have opened up their International borders for travelers and travel restriction has also been eased, it doesn’t mean that the coronavirus pandemic has ended. It is always better to have a travel insurance policy to get coverage for medical assistance during the trip. Hence, there is no point in waiting till the end to buy a travel insurance policy. You can miss out on a few coverages and incur financial losses if the trip has to be cancelled at the last minute due to unavoidable reasons.

Disclaimer: The above information is for illustrative purpose only. For more details, please refer to policy wordings and prospectus before concluding the sales.

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