Foreign travel, either for leisure, business or studies aboard is always exciting. When traveling abroad, one wants to make the most of the trip and at the same time wishing nothing to go wrong. But the unexpected could happen. Short-term visitors, those on businesses or visiting friends or family, are especially vulnerable since they can be lulled into a false sense of security by presuming that their regular medical policies provided by employers in India (or other native lands), will cover them. That is not true since most insurers of regular policies explicitly exclude foreign travel. Even students coming to the US to study may find it intriguing that although universities provide plans that cover them after they register as full-time students, they may not be covered when school is not in session. Human tragedies involving injury, hospitalization or death can occur at inopportune times, putting an undue financial strain on self and dependents.

On the other hand, Indians and NRIs are found in almost all corners of the globe, with nearly two million people of Indian origin settled in the US alone. Therefore, it is not surprising that hundreds of thousands of Indian visitors travel abroad every year. Scores of them annually visit their next-of-kin abroad. Thousands of students and businessmen too travel abroad for short visits to attend business meetings, seminars, conventions, etc. Even with the number of visitors traveling abroad, preparing for a foreign trip involves rigorous planning. Along with visas, documentation, foreign currency, travel itinerary, etc, many travellers also need to invest in buying travel insurance. Because of the high initial cost of such insurance policies for traveling abroad, some people cut corners and try to save a few dollars by avoiding travel insurance. According to industry sources, out of every ten travellers booked for international travel, only two or thee are insured. Given the risks involved in foreign travel, along with the high cost of medical services in foreign countries, it makes a lot of sense to insure oneself against the worst-case scenario.

Considering the unfortunate that can befall, travel insurance is something, which a traveller cannot afford to forget to be guarded with when traveling abroad. While traveling overseas anything can happen. "If the person falls ill or meets with an accident, the medical expenses are taken care of by the policy. The cost of expenses varies in abroad, which the traveller may or may not be able to absorb. In such a situation, travel insurance comes handy. The traveller's tension is eased out since the policy takes charge of all the medical expenses", says Mr. Sudhir Menon, Head of travel insurance for ICICI Lombard. Apart from this, travel insurance also takes care of other important events like baggage loss, passport loss, baggage liability, etc.

If past few years are taken into consideration, it is noted that travel insurance has increased considerably. "Travel insurance has increased by around 25-30%", says Mr. Menon. The insurance companies try their best to reach out to the customers with minimum efforts to put in by the customers. Travel insurance policies are available online and the entire procedure takes not more than 10 minutes. Isn't that amazing? All that a customer has do is give a few mouse clicks to find their financial armour.

The policyholder doesn't really have to go through hectic procedures anymore. Technology is getting better making things easier for the customers. Definitely things are improving. So the next time you travel don't forget to opt for travel insurance.