Updated 12/11/2019 Views 31737 Comments 38

Still, travel insurance is more related to trips on a tour. But in case you are traveling on your own and want to apply for it, you can do it in person or online (for example, through the service). Although, of course, independent travelers have more room for maneuver - they can take return tickets, make unpaid hotel reservations, etc., so travel insurance is much less relevant for them.

However, everyone’s situations are different, so after reading the following text with an analysis of all the main issues, you can decide for yourself whether it is needed in your particular case and to what extent (some insurance companies issue visa refusal as a separate item).

Insurance against travel abroad

Who needs it and why

What is travel insurance and when is it required? Usually it is bought together with a ticket abroad in travel agency. Moreover, without even noticing it, since for some tour operators it is immediately included in the cost of the tour, and in order to refuse it, you must write an application. Independent travelers make such insurance very rarely.

As a rule, tour operators selling trips and tours abroad speak about the need to make travel insurance (although it can also be done when traveling around Russia). Large tour operators, such as Biblio Globus, Tez Tour or Pegas Touristik, advise their customers to always take out this travel insurance. However, insurance companies try to minimize their costs and formulate insurance conditions so that most of the risks are not their responsibility. That is, in reality, insurance can work in quite rare cases. Therefore, some tourists prefer to save money at this point, considering the risks negligible. But still, when buying an expensive tour, or planning a costly independent trip, or taking into account your personal circumstances, you may still decide to take out this insurance.

Travel insurance - is it necessary?

Travel cancellation insurance is most relevant if you are going to countries where you need to apply for a visa in advance for entry (primarily the Schengen countries). You pay for the tour in advance or buy tickets on your own, book accommodation and suddenly you are denied a visa. Just in this case, you can make sure.

If you are going to a country where a visa is issued on arrival or is not needed at all for a short stay (for example, Thailand), you can also insure yourself against not leaving if you really want to, because not issuing a visa by the embassy is not the only reason why a trip can be disrupted . More on that below.

How much does insurance cost, where and how is it issued

Personally, I’d rather take the traveler’s insurance itself at a higher price, and I would forget about such options (insurance against non-departure, against flight cancellation, etc.). Moreover, even if I went on tour, I would buy separate insurance traveler, as insurance from tour operators is usually so-so. I spoke in great detail about traveler insurance and all the nuances associated with them in.

From documents for registration insurance policy only a passport is required.

The cost of insurance depends on the total cost of your trip, usually from 1-5% of the tour price. Through tour operators, when buying a tour, it will be cheaper to make travel insurance than when you buy a policy from an insurance company yourself, as individual. The terms of insurance for all companies are different, some necessarily require a signed contract with a travel agency, others do not. Another typical condition for buying insurance is that it must be purchased at least a few days or even 2 weeks before the start of the tour, that is, in advance.

If you are traveling on your own, you can estimate the cost in advance medical insurance traveler with the help of this, both with and without the no-departure insurance option, and decide whether to add this option or not. The cost will vary depending on the amount of trip cancellation insurance (500-5000 cu), and the risk of visa refusal is selected as a separate item and also increases the cost of the policy. But you need to understand, since such insurance is usually offered by travel agencies, you can buy it directly from rare insurance companies. But I know that Ingosstrakh sells a separate travel insurance.

In some insurance companies, you can choose what exactly to insure against: against visa refusal, illness, or all together. The cost will naturally also differ, the more risks you insure, the more expensive insurance. For example, against non-issuance of a visa with a minimum insurance amount, pay 500 rubles, and for all risks with a maximum insurance amount of 10,000 rubles.

What to do to receive a payment, a list of documents

The first thing to do after insured event- notify about it insurance company. Usually, according to the contract, this must be done within 48 hours. The next step is to file an application with the insurance company. In the application, you can indicate the number of your account, where the insurance should transfer money. You also need to collect Required documents confirming the occurrence of an insured event.

The list of documents for the insurance company (depending on the specific case) may include:

• Extract from the medical history;
• death certificate;
• Certificate from the police confirming the damage to property;
• Summons to court;
• A summons to the military registration and enlistment office;
• A copy of the visa denial page;
• Documents confirming the actual expenses (receipts, checks, etc.).

What is included and covered by insurance

This is perhaps one of the main questions. Because, if you figure it out, getting a payment for insurance against your own recognizance is not so simple.

Sum insured payable only upon the occurrence of an insured event. The list of insured events is prescribed in the contract. Therefore, first of all, carefully read the contract. And remember that insurance in any case covers the cost of services, documented minus the cost of the insurance policy and the franchise (if any). Only actual, documented losses are reimbursed. If hotel reservations or tickets can be canceled free of charge, their cost will not be reimbursed by the insurance company.

When are they usually paid?

So what are the most common insurance cases in practice for travel insurance?

• Denial of a visa (Schengen or any other) to the insured or one of his fellow travelers if they are close relatives (parents, children, spouses, siblings). Only a few insurance companies pay damages if the travel companion of the insured, who was not given a visa, is not his close relative, but books the same room with the insured.
• Illness or death of the insured or a close relative. In case of illness, only a hospital is considered an insured event, if you get sick and even injured, but do not lie in the hospital, insurance is not paid.
• Damage to the property of the insured (due to fire, flood, theft, theft, etc.). But usually it should be a large damage, its amount is stipulated by the contract. Not all insurance companies include this item in the policy.
• Summons to the court (if at the time of the purchase of the tour the insured did not know about it), a summons to the military registration and enlistment office.
• Late receipt of a visa.
• Early return of a tourist from abroad in case of illness (subject to mandatory hospitalization) or death of his close relative. Not all insurance companies have it.

Which travel expenses can be reimbursed by the insurance company in case of proven occurrence of an insured event:

- Hotel accommodation
– Meals, including meals in case of a delayed departure
— Air flight or railway travel
– Other modes of transport
— Various prepaid services — excursions, tickets, etc.

But keep in mind that even if an insured event occurs and after contacting the insurance company with the necessary package of supporting documents, the insurance company can sometimes still refuse to pay.

In what cases are they usually NOT paid?

• No compensation is provided for non-pecuniary damage.
• If the companion of the insured cannot travel, then most often compensation is paid only on the condition that this is his close relative. The cost of returning before or after the trip is not covered by all insurance companies.
• In some cases, tour operators may, in case of cancellation of the tour, impose fines stipulated by the contract for the provision of tourist services. Such expenses will be covered by travel cancellation insurance if this is expressly stated in the contract or insurance rules. At the same time, one-time payments and fees paid by the tourist are not reimbursed if they are not included in the package of tourist services. For example, the consular fee when applying for a visa.
• In the case of illness, in most cases, only hospitalization and hospitalization are counted. Just a sick leave, including due to a fracture, for example, of a leg, if you are not in the hospital, this is not an insured event. Another nuance - if you have a chronic disease and you knew about it in advance, even in case of hospitalization - this will not be considered an insured event.
• Natural disasters (tsunami, storm, volcanic eruption, etc.), any disturbances and uprisings in the country of destination are most often not taken into account as an insured event.
• In case of any documentary problems: documents with false information or incomplete information were provided, or it will be revealed that the tourist intentionally increased the amount of loss, or the appeal to the insurance was too late (the deadlines for applying are set by the contract).
• The tourist suffered in a state of alcoholic, toxic or drug intoxication.
• Delay, transfer or cancellation of departure due to the fault of the carrier.
• In case of refusal of a Schengen or other visa, if the insured has already had previous refusals. Also, some insurance companies do not reimburse expenses in case of refusal of a visa if the documents for the embassy were incorrectly executed or filled out. It does not matter whether the tourist filled out the documents on his own or with the help of a travel agency.
• Intentional bodily injury or suicide.
• Pregnancy.

P.S. In general, decide for yourself whether you need such insurance or an option or not.

Life hack #1 - how to buy good insurance

Choosing insurance is now unrealistically difficult, so to help all travelers. To do this, I constantly monitor forums, study insurance contracts I use insurance myself.

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03.06.2019

Travel cancellation insurance

Travel cancellation insurance is an insurance policy that allows you to compensate for the cost of a tourist trip in case you are unable to go on vacation for reasons beyond your control. Inexpensive and profitable travel cancellation insurance can be ordered on the ERV website.
You can insure the tour against non-departure, regardless of the purchase of the main medical policy. However, we recommend that you take care not only about the trip, but also about your health, and apply for a VZR medical policy under one of the insurance programs with an extended list of risks: OPTIMA, OPTIMA-Multi or OPTIMA-Annual. You can also take out Trip Cancellation Plus insurance together with a cheaper ERV insurance program, for example, Standard Plus.
Travel insurance should be at least 5 days before you intend to travel. Making an insurance policy will take no more than 10 minutes.

Who and in what cases should take out travel insurance
All tourists traveling abroad should take out travel insurance. However, we especially recommend taking care of it if:

• you are going to travel with small children;
• you, your relatives or your companions are in poor health;
• you have applied for a visa and are afraid that you will be refused;
• you bought an expensive tour / booked a room in an expensive hotel.

What does travel insurance cover?
Tourist travel insurance provides compensation in the following cases:

• outpatient and inpatient treatment;
• emergency hospitalization;
• injuries of any complexity that impede the trip;
• especially dangerous infections, including children's: measles, rubella, chickenpox, scarlet fever, diphtheria, whooping cough, mumps, infectious mononucleosis;
• of death;
• refusal, delay in the issuance of a visa or refusal to enter the country of temporary residence;
• subpoenas as a victim, witness or expert;
• more than 70% loss or damage to property.

According to the law "On the Fundamentals of Tourism in the Russian Federation", insurance is voluntary, but in practice, travel operators must insure their tourists traveling abroad of the Russian Federation. Any tour purchased from Anex Tour Travel agency in Yekaterinburg will necessarily include medical insurance. But we can offer other additional types of insurance:

Extended medical insurance:

As a rule, this is a policy that includes the maximum set of risks, including exacerbation of chronic diseases, risks associated with pregnancy, early return from the country of travel, luggage insurance and legal assistance, depending on the set of risks, it will cost an average of 7-10 % more expensive than standard insurance.
And the formation of extended insurance may be of interest to those tourists who assume the occurrence of the cases described above or go for active sports, such as skiing.

Using standard programs will take very little time to design:

• Extended medical insurance with coverage up to EUR 100,000,
• Injury insurance (including those related to sports),
• Loss of luggage insurance
• Insurance civil liability help out if you accidentally cause any harm to third parties during the trip.

Cancellation insurance:

Our more than 10 years of experience shows that it is not enough to buy a tour. Life is full of surprises and sometimes they happen at the most inopportune time for this. Injuries that prevent you from making a trip, the death of loved ones, refusal to issue a visa - this is not a complete list of reasons that may prevent you from going to a place of rest. And according to the terms of booking tours, it is not always possible to refuse a tour without deducting the actual costs from the operator. To reduce such risks, our managers will offer you to take advantage of travel cancellation insurance, which covers the above cases.
This may be especially interesting for those tourists who are going to travel to visa countries with a heterogeneous composition of tourists (grandparents, parents, children, etc.).

We offer a selection of the best offers for tours from Yekaterinburg:

Prices for all tours without extra charges (direct contracts with leading tour operators in Russia),
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The popularity of travel insurance is growing every year. This practice is widespread in the West, and is gaining momentum in Russia. Often, along with the registration of health insurance, insurance companies offer tourists traveling abroad to purchase travel insurance. What includes this policy, in what cases it works and to whom it is useful - the main questions of travelers.

Before traveling abroad, tourists fully or partially pay in advance the cost of hotel accommodation, plane or train tickets. By doing so, you agree to all the specified conditions and travel dates. If the vacation is canceled at the last moment, the air carrier, hotel and travel agency do not return all the money spent. Travel agencies prescribe in the travel agreement the percentage of refunds, in case of refusal, depending on the number of days remaining before departure. The organizers do not care about the problems of the tourist, they fully pay for charter flights, hotel stays and preparation of excursion programs.

It is worth considering all possible unplanned situations. In order to protect yourself from financial losses, in case of recognizance, you can purchase special insurance. It will be useful to those who think that circumstances can change. Useful if the tour is bought ahead of time. If a tour and tickets are very expensive (for example, to South and North America, with long-haul flights to Asia), it is better to insure your trip against a forced disruption. Tourists who once had to cancel a trip, and failed to recover the money spent on organizing the trip, will probably voluntarily find out the conditions of travel insurance. Insurance is not related to staying in a foreign country, it expires at the time of landing.

What is the price

The price of a travel insurance policy depends on the presence of prerequisites for the occurrence of an insured event, the cost of a tour, tickets. Usually the insurance rate does not exceed 6% of the tour price. The insurance contract must be concluded no later than two weeks before departure. The country of the intended trip, the presence of visas and refusals in the passport also affect. There is an opinion that it is more difficult to get a Schengen visa with a clean passport.

Calculations of the sum insured for travel insurance, rub.

That is, with the paid cost of a tourist tour of 50,000 rubles, the insured will receive 46,600 rubles after the occurrence of the insured event. Part of the expenses that the travel company does not reimburse is compensated by the insurer, minus the deductible. Policy price (3% of the tour) - 1500 rubles. is incomparable with the losses that a tourist would have suffered in the absence of insurance.

What includes and covers

The insurance against non-departure begins to operate only when a person could not go abroad for reasons beyond his control. An insured event is considered to be circumstances that arose before departure, and were unknown at the time of registration of insurance.

The insurance organization covers the costs of the trip that did not take place for the following reasons:

• a sharp deterioration in well-being, a sudden illness, an unexpected admission to the hospital
• death of the insured person or close family members
• summoning men liable for military service to perform their military duties
• subpoena, obligatory presence at the court session, where the client is a juror or a witness
• unforeseen force majeure that caused material damage (fire, robbery, flooding)
• failure to obtain a visa of the country of destination.

Visa insurance is sometimes singled out as a separate type. The refusal of the consulate becomes an insured event if the documents are submitted by the insured on time, without errors in filling, if there were no violations of the visa regime before, rejected visa requests. The paid consular fee for insurance is non-refundable.

In what cases is it possible to refuse payment

Before you pay for the policy, read the terms and conditions in detail. When paying, all factors of trip cancellation are taken into account, exceptions in small print are important. Travel expenses are not reimbursed to the tourist, if it is documented that the insured is aware of the factors of non-departure.

The insurance company refuses to pay insurance in the following cases:

• there is no need for inpatient treatment of a patient traveling abroad, or members of his family
• intentional self-mutilation, by conspiracy, by third parties
• suicide attempt
• childbirth, abortion
• injuries sustained while under the influence of alcohol or drugs
• criminal activity
• recall from work leave
• rescheduling of departure dates by the travel organizer, airline
• civil unrest, terrorist attacks, strikes
• outbreaks of epidemics of infectious diseases.

The case is not covered by insurance if the client had a ban for health reasons, through exacerbations of chronic and mental illnesses, the consequences of operations. Missing a flight is not considered a valid reason.

Documents for receiving payment

To receive a refund, you need to have an insurance policy, an agreement with a tour operator, a check or receipt for payment, unused travel tickets. The insurance contract must include a list of documents required to confirm the reasons for canceling the trip.

The following documents will help confirm the occurrence of an insured event:

• conclusion from the hospital, certifying the need for hospitalization
• death certificate
• a document confirming the relationship with the affected family member
• a copy of the page of the international passport with a refusal to issue a visa
• a copy of the summons to the military registration and enlistment office, court, prosecutor's office
• certificate of accident
• police report with a statement about the theft of property.

Where could I buy

It is possible to issue an insurance policy against travel abroad in almost any insurance organization. Many large companies offer this type of insurance. It is possible to include it in the tourist insurance contract, as a separate option, with the total sum insured. In this case, the insurance rate will not increase much. IC EVR, Liberty, Alliance, VTB offer to issue a separate policy - the price will be much higher. You can buy insurance either at the office of the company, or on your own, via the Internet. Search sites offer to compare the insurance conditions of different insurers, calculate the preliminary cost of the policy, enter the necessary personal data, pay and receive the finished document by e-mail.

Tip, save the policy on the phone, this will allow you to have phones at hand hotline insurer, seek help in time, promptly receive qualified advice. Specialists will coordinate your actions, help you navigate in an unforeseen situation.

Waiting for a trip is the most pleasant expectation, but what to do if, due to circumstances beyond your control, plans collapse? How to return the funds spent on organizing a trip if it did not take place?

For this there is special program travel insurance.

Travel insurance is sometimes already included in the price of the tour if it is purchased from a travel agency. But in most cases this voluntary program insurance - the client himself assesses the possible risks and decides whether to buy such insurance or not.

Why take out travel insurance?

It doesn’t matter if you bought a ticket at an agency or tourists are buying tickets and booking hotels on their own - in any case, you can additionally insure yourself against travel restrictions under the program.

What is it for? If it suddenly becomes necessary to return purchased and paid air or railway tickets or refuse prepaid accommodation or transport services, then a cancellation fee is provided for, the amount of which is determined by the service provider (airline, hotelier, tour operator).

Usually, the closer the departure date, the higher the cancellation fee. Financial responsibility in any case rests with the buyer of services, that is, the traveler.

However, if you take care of the registration of travel insurance in advance, financial losses can be avoided. Travel cancellation insurance is also useful in the case when tourists have to return to their homeland prematurely for one reason or another.

Only those travelers who have planned a trip outside the Russian Federation can insure against travel restrictions.

What costs are covered by insurance?

Travel cancellation insurance covers the cost of services included in the tour:

• hotel accommodation and meals;
• air travel or railway travel;
• use of land or water transport;
• other prepaid services (excursions, tickets).

In what cases is a refund of money spent on organizing a trip provided?

It should be said that it is not possible to return the money in 100% of cases, since the travel insurance program provides for only some events that are an insured event under such an agreement.

Denial of a visa for an insured person. If the consulate of any country does not issue a visa in a timely manner in the event that the tourist complies with all the rules and deadlines for submitting documents, this is also considered an insured event.

If relatives are going on a trip, it happens that the consulate refuses a visa to one person. As a result, the trip is disrupted for all family members, and if they are insured, then financial losses for canceling the tour can be reimbursed for all family members. At the same time, the cost of services is reimbursed only to insured close relatives (parents, children, spouses, siblings).

Very few insurance companies have more democratic insurance conditions: if the tourists who booked accommodation in the same room are not relatives, but one of them was denied a visa, then all participants in the trip can refuse the tour and reimburse financial losses.

Sudden illness or death of a travel participant, as well as sudden illness or death of a close relative of the insured (trip participant). In this case, the insured event is precisely such a health disorder that led to hospitalization - this is required condition all insurance companies.

Some insurance companies include in the terms of insurance against non-departure such cases when the insured person cannot travel due to damage to his property (due to fire, flood, theft, theft, etc.).

In what cases is it impossible to receive a payment for insurance against non-departure?

In some cases, the customer cannot claim payment for travel insurance.

If there is a delay or cancellation of the flight or the carrier has technical problems, due to which the buyer of services has suffered financial losses, they will not be reimbursed.

Also, if a traveler cancels a planned trip to a country where a natural disaster has occurred or there is a threat of hostilities, such cases are not taken into account by the insurance program.

Fires, floods and other environmental disasters are considered force majeure events and are not the basis for payments under such insurance.

If a tourist has ever been denied a Schengen visa, then if the consulate of any Schengen country refuses again, he will not receive insurance compensation.

In case of repeated refusal of a visa by the consulate of another country that is not part of the Schengen area, the insurance against non-departure is also not valid. The cost of insurance for “refuseniks” is always higher, and some companies generally refuse to insure them against not obtaining a visa.

Calculate the cost of travel insurance:

How to get travel insurance?

When making a trip at a travel agency, customers will definitely be offered this service. If travelers are booking on their own, then they should contact the insurance company that offers this type of service.

It should be taken into account that insurance conditions are different for all companies: some necessarily require a signed contract with a travel agency, others do not.

When contacting an insurance company, you should first calculate the entire amount of money spent on a ticket, including air tickets, accommodation, excursions, transfers, and divide the result by the number of tour participants. This information will be needed insurance agent to determine the cost of an insurance policy.

The document required for issuing a travel insurance policy is a valid foreign passport.

What determines the cost of an insurance policy?

First of all, the cost of the trip. insurance premium(the cost of the policy) is considered as a certain percentage of the total cost of the tour. Accordingly, the higher the price of the tour, the higher the cost of the insurance policy.

In some cases You can insure only a part of the cost of the tour, for example, if any of the services can be canceled without penalty or with minimal loss.

There are such programs in which the customer himself chooses what he needs to insure against - from non-issuance of a visa, from illness, or from everything at once. The more insured events a policy covers, the higher its cost.

If an event occurs due to which the trip became impossible or had to be interrupted, it is necessary to notify the insurance company about this.

Each company sets its own period during which this must happen - as a rule, it is 48 hours from the moment the insured event occurs.

Then you need to apply to the insurance company for insurance payment and all necessary documents.

List of required documents includes documentary evidence that an event has occurred that prevents the insured from starting a trip:

• extract from the medical history;
• death certificate;
• certificate from the police confirming damage to property;
• subpoena;
• summons to the military registration and enlistment office;
• a copy of the visa refusal stamp.

Also, the customer submits to the insurance company confirmation of actual expenses incurred: receipts, checks and other documents confirming the payment of tourist services.