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Student Travel Insurance, particularly the emergency medical benefits, is essential for any trip

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

Any student’s career prospects can benefit greatly from international education. If you want to take the next step in your career and advance to the highest levels, many countries and institutions provide excellent education. Obviously, you will need to relocate to the country where your institution is located and stay for the duration of the course. There are many factors to consider when relocating to a different country. Taking proper care of your health while abroad is a major consideration. You will need to obtain student travel insurance for this.

What is student travel insurance?

A student travel policy is similar to any other form of travel insurance, with the exception that it is only available to identified and qualified students. It is usually available for longer periods than regular travel policies. The student will be required to pay a nominal premium, and the insurer will provide them with a set of risk covers for their health and travel while they are travelling to and from, or while in, the host country where they must study.

What covers are available in student travel policy?

In student travel plans, various types of covers are available. These include health-related insurance, travel-related insurance and stay-related covers. Let us take a closer look at the covers of the health category because everyone should be aware of them.

• Cover for any medical emergency that does not fall under any of the exceptions, such as intoxication, pre-existing diseases, self-inflicted injury or adventure sports related injury. The cost of medical evacuation by air or surface transport is also covered.

• Cover for treatment of any emergency dental problem like acute pain or dental injury

• Covers in cases of accidental death or lump sum payments in cases of permanent disability

• The cost to transfer the mortal remains of the person insured is also borne out of travel policy if the policy insured person dies while in the host country.

• A cover for compassionate visit of a family member is also available in case the insured person is hospitalised for more than 7 days.

Apart from this, travel and stay-related covers generally deal with problems like lost baggage, last passport, missed flights, personal liability, study interruption, etc.

What are the reasons to buy student travel insurance?

Apart from the fact that travel insurance will be a compulsory requirement for the issue of a student visa, we are all aware that healthcare costs in most foreign countries are significantly higher than in India.

The student’s parents are already under immense financial and emotional stress because they must not only send their child so far away for so long, but they must also spend their entire life savings to do so.  

A medical emergency on foreign soil can become a double whammy in such circumstances. Travel insurance for students benefits both financially and emotionally by covering for compassionate visits for longer medical problems.

Who can buy student travel insurance and when?

These policies are only available to students of a certain age. To be eligible for student insurance, you must be at least 16 years and no older than 35 years old. It is important that the policy must be purchased while the student is in India and has yet to start their travel to the host country. You can not buy the travel insurance policy after the start date of the trip has passed.

What are the duration-related rules for student travel policy?

The duration of student insurance policy for travel is limited. If you are visiting a foreign country for a short period, you may be ineligible for this policy. Generally, the policy is sold for a minimum of 30 days. A maximum duration of two years is also applicable. It should be noted that the two-year policy must be purchased all at once rather than on an annual basis.

For example, if a student is going abroad for a four-year degree course, the first policy purchase will cover the first two years, and the second policy purchase will cover the third and fourth years. For students who started with a one-year travel policy, the policy can be extended multiple times as long as the total duration is two years.

Consider the following scenario: one year of original policy plus two extensions of six-month extensions bring the policy to the maximum two-year duration. No further extensions are available.

Conclusion

To summarise, if you are a student seeking international education, you should seriously consider obtaining adequate travel insurance before embarking on your travel.

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