When to Claim Your Travel Delay Insurance?
When to Claim Your Travel Delay Insurance?
One of the most rewarding ways to grow in life is to travel. You can travel for a variety of reasons, and each one of them will help you grow. Travelling can help experience and understand new cultures. You can always indulge in the local cuisines of other places. Or simply take in as much of a new place as you possibly can. Buying travel insurance online will only help you in taking your travel diaries that much more secure.
Travel can help you learn a lot more about yourself and the world in general as well. You can immerse yourself in the history of places, geography, languages, culture and so on. The ongoing pandemic did put a pause on all kinds of travel for a long time. However, with fewer cases and more countries opening their borders for travellers, it is a good time to travel.
Given the fact that there still is a bit of uncertainty, it is recommended that you opt for travel insurance online. It will help you cope with a lot of situations that you might face during travel. Here are some of the major ones.
Travel Insurance: What is A Trip Delay?
Depending on the type of traveller that you are, you might either plan your entire itinerary or create an itinerary as you go.
You might be prepared with some basic itineraries such as flight bookings, train bookings, hotel bookings, bookings with tour companies and so on. Booking some of these is essential. Otherwise, you might find the expenses of your trip going north.
Imagine a scenario where you have made all the bookings for your next trip, and due to unforeseen circumstances, the trip is delayed.
All the minute planning that you might have done for your trip might be all in vain due to the delay. And the delay can be due to a number of reasons, such as an emergency, flight delays, deteriorating weather conditions and so on.
Due to this delay, you might have to spend additional money on booking new places, rescheduling your plan, etc. This is where the trip delay coverage of a travel insurance plan comes in handy.
What Does A Travel Delay Insurance Cover?
Any sort of delay during travel is never comfortable. It comes with a lot of on-the-spot planning and a bunch of additional expenses. And there is a possibility that you might even have to compromise in a few places.
Here are some of the coverages that a standard Travel Delay insurance has to offer.
● Cover expenses related to additional accommodation or lodging that you might have to book.
● Cover certain prepaid expenses that you have already incurred.
● Offer coverage for expenses such as meals, toiletries, etc. that are due to the delay. However, some insurance providers offer this feature as an add-on.
The above are some of the standard coverages that you can expect when you buy travel insurance online. It is always a good idea to read the policy wordings carefully to understand the entire coverage of your plan.
What Conditions Are Considered as Trip Delays?
A delay in your trip can be extremely undesirable if it becomes a considerable amount of time. Usually, if the delay is in hours, there is a big possibility that you might miss an important appointment or even a connecting flight.
It is essential that you are aware of the conditions when your trip delay will be accepted during the claims. Here are some common examples of conditions that will be considered a trip delay.
● Any technical issue in an aircraft, such as the failure of an equipment
● Any natural disaster or sudden change in weather conditions
● A job action or strike that was taken up by the employees of the airline carrier
Should any of the above reasons cause a delay in your trip for more than a few hours, you will almost certainly end up spending more on hotels, lodging or on meals.
In such cases, you can claim your travel insurance that has a trip delay benefit. The plan will cover all the expenses that you might have incurred due to the trip delay. But the actual coverage would largely depend on whether you are travelling international or domestic.
Trip Delays: For International And Domestic Travel
As mentioned above, the coverage would largely depend on whether you are flying domestic or international. Some of the coverage for an international trip might not be valid for a domestic trip. Here are some of the details.
Trip Delay for International Travel
There are a lot of insurance companies that offer travel insurance plans for overseas travel. And most of them have trip delay coverage. However, you can only claim the policy if certain conditions are met, as set by the insurance provider. A common example is when your flight is delayed beyond 12 hours. In such cases, the policy will cover meals and accommodation-related expenses.
Trip Delay for Domestic Travel
It is always a good idea to buy travel insurance online, even for your domestic travel. There are several instances where flights or trains are delayed. Having travel insurance in such situations can be more than useful. There are several insurance providers to choose your travel insurance from. Similar to international travel, you can claim your policy under certain circumstances. For example, if your flight or train is delayed for more than 4 hours, you can claim the policy. Depending on your insurance provider, the reimbursement might vary based on the sum insured that you have opted for.
Trip Delays: Exclusions
As is the case with any other insurance policy, there are certain exceptions to the trip delay policies as well. These are the conditions where the insurance provider will not accept your claim.
● If the delay is caused due to withdrawal of service by the airline, either temporarily or permanently.
● If the delay is caused due to a hazard that was made public, even before you had made your bookings.
● If the delay is caused due to any strikes or disputes that were made public even before you had booked your tickets.
● If the delay is caused due to any law and order, that was issued by a public authority.
Conclusion
There are a lot of things that can potentially go wrong if you do not travel with insurance. You can opt for travel insurance online, as it will help you save a considerable amount of money in premiums. The above information will help you buy a policy that meets your needs and requirements.
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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