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Five ways in which travel insurance protects senior citizens

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Published on July 27, 2021. EST READ TIME: 2.5 minutes

After a lifetime of experiencing the daily grind and monotony of work, fulfilling responsibilities towards your family, and planning your retirement, experiencing the sweet taste of travel is well-deserved. In fact, for many people travel is a big component of their retirement plan. They spend their working years saving for not only a comfortable life at home, but also for travelling to their dream destination.

While these dreams deserve to be realised, impeccable planning is necessary before one can embark on their travels. Senior citizens who are planning their travel in the golden years of their life are in a position where they must consider a number of factors such as their health, medical attention, and what they can do in the event of a financial loss.

What is a senior citizen travel insurance plan?

Travel insurance plans curated for the needs of senior citizens are easily available in the insurance market. These insurance plans take into account the fact that senior citizens who are travellers at heart are at a greater risk of falling sick and experiencing other health issues. These problems can arise from the state of their health presently, or can be caused because of unfamiliar weather and environment on their travels.

Healthcare may be more expensive in a foreign country, and should you require medical attention, your travel funds could take a hit. Travel insurance plans that are designed for senior citizens cover a number of problems that could potentially be faced by a senior citizen travelling within India and abroad. These include unexpected expenses like healthcare, loss of baggage, theft, and cancellations.

5 benefits of senior citizen travel insurance plans

1.     Cashless hospitalisation: Medical expenditure is extremely high in certain countries. If you are planning a trip to such countries, a travel insurance online plan will take care of your expenses in the event of hospitalisation. A number of travel insurance plans offer cashless treatment at one of the hospitals in their network worldwide. These plans typically include non-aesthetic dental, inpatient, outpatient and similar medical charges.

Some travel covers could include compensation for the treatment of pre-existing medical conditions. often at an additional premium. This can be very useful if these existing conditions become life-threatening while the insured individual is travelling.

2.     No need for medical tests: Travel plans often do not require the applicant to undergo medical check-ups, which makes availing an insurance plan easy for them. This comes as a relief for senior citizens who often face difficulty in getting an insurance policy. There are travel insurance plans that are extended to individuals up to 99 years of age.

3.     Personal accident and liability protection: Policyholders are compensated in case they meet with a personal accident that results in disability or death. Injury, damage, death or loss caused by the insured individual accidentally to a third party is also covered under these insurance plans.

4.     Safekeeping of luggage and other belongings: Most travel insurance online will compensate senior citizens should they incur a loss or delay of their checked-in luggage. If their baggage goes missing for more than 12 hours, expenses on toiletries, clothes and medication will be covered under the plan.

Typically, travel insurance plans also take care of expenses in replacing lost passports. Some plans also give senior citizens cash for their emergency needs if their money is stolen.

5.     Delayed and cancelled trips: Senior citizens will be reimbursed for expenses that take place due to delay in flights by more than 12 hours, or if the trip is cancelled. Usually, the insurer will assess the cause for such a delay or cancellation and reimburse the policyholder only if such an eventuality occurred because of medical issues or natural disasters.

How to buy senior citizen travel insurance online?

HDFC ERGO’s comprehensive travel insurance plan protects the policyholder from a number of eventualities that may result in financial losses. Here’s how you can buy the HDFC ERGO travel insurance online—

·     Visit https://www.hdfcergo.com/travel-insurance

·     Select the 'Buy Now' option

·     Select the type of travel and enter the age of the traveller

·     Enter details such as the countries of visit along with the departure and return dates to get a quote

·     Choose the travel insurance plan that best suits you

·     Fill out the required details

·     Make the payment

You can also buy the travel insurance policy through HDFC Bank's net banking platform.

Conclusion

As thrilling as the prospect of travelling to a far off country is, it requires careful planning and due diligence. Senior citizens are required to consider many more factors than young travellers such as their health and finances. For this reason, senior citizen travel insurance becomes a huge part of travel planning for seniors.

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