5 Ways How Travel Insurance Can Secure Your Solo Travel Plans

• Written by Mudit Handa

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Travelling to various destinations opens up multiple avenues of career and personal growth. However, when you travel in a foreign country, even your day-to-day problems may seem daunting to you. You may feel helpless at times if caught in a catch-22. The 2013 blockbuster hit movie “Queen” perfectly portrays the situation of a naive Indian woman travelling abroad. Estranged by her fiancé, she plans to go on a “solo honeymoon trip” to London, where she encounters various intimidating situations. Although the movie emphasises an individual’s courage and determination to overcome difficulties, there is something more to learn from the story— prudential travel planning.

International travel is not a pushover! It needs careful planning, ensuring you have a support system for assistance during a crisis, along with much-needed financial coverage. A comprehensive  travel insurance is thus essential to cover your solo travel plan, so that you are at complete peace of mind while travelling abroad.

This article will explain the significance of a travel insurance plan and how it protects you when travelling alone.

How Does Travel Insurance Protect You When Travelling Alone?

When you embark on a solo travel journey covered by a travel insurance plan, you get coverage for the following scenarios:

1. Trip Cancellation: You might book your flight tickets and hotel room reservation well in advance, but an unforeseen event, such as bad weather or a natural calamity, disrupts your travel plans. In such a situation, travel insurance can provide coverage for the additional costs that you bear after cancelling your flight. You can get reimbursed for the cancellation charges you paid due to the flight delay.
2. Medical Emergencies: In case you have a health emergency abroad, your travel insurance will protect you against unforeseen medical expenses that you may incur due to your illness. Apart from covering hospitalisation expenses and ambulance charges, your travel insurance can even provide emergency assistance, such as medical evacuation from your destination to your home country.
3. Personal Liability Cover: Although you expect your solo travel to a distant country to be a joyride, you may face an awkward situation abroad. Suppose you drive a vehicle abroad and have an accident; you’ll have to suffer the liability for the damages caused to the vehicle because of you. Thanks to your travel insurance plan, that will cover the cost of any such damage or injury caused to a third party. Moreover, travel insurance provides several benefits for solo adventurers like accidental cover.
4. Loss of Travel Baggage: If you are travelling alone to a foreign country, the chances of misplacing or losing your luggage is quite high. A travel insurance policy would reimburse the cost of replacing your lost luggage and its contents, up to the sum insured mentioned in the policy document. Your travel insurance plan will also cover the cost of a duplicate passport, visa, and other travel documents.
5. Cover for Pre-existing Diseases: If you already suffer from a critical illness or a pre-existing disease, making a solo travel plan without getting your trip covered with travel insurance would be irresponsible. In fact, in many countries immigration authorities mention this in their solo travel tips and safety advice to the travellers. 

As a part of medical expenses coverage, your travel insurance plan will also cover pre-existing illnesses, subject to the waiting period applicable. 

So these are five ways how travel insurance protects you when travelling alone. 

What to Consider When Choosing Travel Insurance for Solo trips?

After knowing all the basic advantages of travel insurance for solo travellers, you must now consider what features you must look forward to, while choosing an ideal policy. 

• Coverage for Trip Delay: While your travel insurance covers your for trip cancellation, you must check whether it also provides coverage against trip delays. In case of trip delays, travel insurance should cover the additional expenses that you incur, such as meals, accommodations, and transportation, especially airfare. 
• Pre-existing Illnesses: Knowing that your travel insurance plan covers your medical expenses abroad, you must also carefully look at the list of pre-existing illnesses that you will be covered for.
• Accident Cover: With a travel insurance plan, you get coverage for personal liabilities. However, you must also consider that an ideal travel insurance plan should provide you cover against personal accidents, including death and disability coverage. 
• Consular Access to your Home Country: If you are caught in an emergency such as losing your travel documents, like visa and passport, an ideal travel insurance plan can provide travel assistance. The  travel assistance team will provide access to the embassy or consulate of your home country for advice and assistance.

These are a few things to always remember while choosing a travel insurance plan for your solo trip.

Wrapping Up!

Before embarking on a recreational trip abroad, you must purchase international travel insurance to cover your trip against medical and non-medical emergencies.

To know more about the validity of claims and exclusions to travel insurance coverage, you must carefully read the Care travel insurance policy brochures and prospectus. You can also talk to the customer care team for comprehensive guidance on claim settlement. 

>> Also Read: 5 International Countries that Solo Travellers Must Visit

Disclaimer: Plan features, benefits, coverage, and claims underwriting are subject to policy terms and conditions. Kindly refer to the brochure, sales prospectus, and policy documents carefully.