Top 10 Travel Insurance Company in India

According to the data released by the Directorate of Civil Aviation, in the year 2017, 117 million people traveled by air in India. This was almost double the number of air travelers who took flight in 2011. The growth in air travel can be attributed the growing middle class and business travelers in the country who prefer hassle-free air travel of few hours to reach their respective destinations over the long and often arduous train journey. The advent of several budget airlines in the last one decade further aided this growth by reducing the gap between the fares of air and train tickets.

However, the increase in number of passengers has also led to an increase in logistical difficulties associated air travel, especially with regard to flight scheduling, luggage handling by airport staff etc. Each year, thousands of passengers report missing baggage to the airline companies in India. According to SITA, a multinational IT and Telecom company providing services to air transport industry, globally nearly 5 bags per every thousand passengers went astray in the year 2016.

In order to overcome the contingency issues related to air travel, passengers can buy travel insurance in order to safeguard themselves against any eventuality that may arise during their journey. In India, there are several insurance providers that provide travel insurance cover to passengers travelling within India or going abroad.

Top 10 Travel Insurance Company in India

In this blog, Student Cover brings you a list of top 10 travel insurance providers which are currently operating in India.

Tata AIG

Established in the year 2001, Tata AIG General Insurance Company is a joint venture between the Tata Group of companies and American International Group (AIG), a multinational corporation specializing in finance and insurance services. Tata AIG provides travel insurance for both domestic and international travelers through 4 travel insurance plans namely, Travel Guard Plan, Student Guard Plan, Asia Travel Guard Plan and Domestic Travel Guard Plan.

The Travel Guard Plan is an overseas travel insurance plan designed for international travellers while Student Guard Plan is designed specifically for those students who travel abroad for higher studies. Tata AIG’s Asia Travel Guard Plan provides insurance protection to those travellers who are traveling within Asia for leisure or business purposes. The Domestic Travel Guard Plan on the other hand, insures travels who are travelling within India either by road, rail or air.

Most of these plans provide cover in case of accidents or sickness during journey, baggage loss, flight delay or cancellation, personal death or dismemberment, loss of passport, emergency evacuation etc.

Apollo Munich

A joint venture between the Apollo Hospitals and Germany based Munich Health, Apollo Munich Health Insurance Company Ltd. came into existence in the year 2007. The company provides travel insurance cover through its flagship Easy Travel plans namely, Easy Travel – Individual, Easy Travel – Family, Easy Travel – Senior Citizens, Easy Travel – Annual Multi-Trip Plan. For students going abroad for higher studies, Apollo Munich provides travel insurance cover through Educare – Student Travel Insurance Plan.

While Individual Plan is designed to protect individual travelers against sickness, theft and other such contingency situation with sum insured ranging from $ 25,000 to $ 5,00,000, the Family Plan provides cover for the family of four: Two Adults (Self and Spouse) and two children. The sum insured in family plan ranges from $25,000 to $1,00,000. For senior citizens in the age group of 71 to 80 years, the company offers Senior Citizen Easy Travel Insurance Plan where the sum insured could be between $ 50,000 to $1,00,000. Apollo Munich also caters to the frequent fliers with Annual Multi-Trip Plan.

The some of the common benefits that most of these plans provide include medical treatment during journey, repatriation of mortal remains, loss of passport, personal accident, loss of baggage, trip delay, trip cancellation etc.

Bharti AXA

Bharti AXA is a joint venture general insurance company established in the year 2008. It offers travel insurance for individual travellers as well as those travelling with their families. The company also has separate travel insurance plans for single trip as well as for multiple trips in India or abroad. For those traveling to Schengen countries i.e. 26 specific states in the European Union that makes up the Schengen area, Bharti AXA provides pre-visa travel insurance to its customers.

One of the unique features of travel insurance provided by Bharti AXA is that some of its overseas travel insurance plans also have provision for insurance against fire and burglary at home when a person is travelling abroad. Bharti AXA travel insurance plans provide cover for medical expenses, including repatriation and medical evacuation, sickness and other related medical emergencies during the journey. The insurance plans also provide cover against loss of baggage, loss of passport and other documents, trip cancellation or interruption etc.

Bajaj Allianz

Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Company was established in the year 2001 as a joint venture between Bajaj Finserv and German financial services company, Allianz SE. The company caters to both domestic and international travellers through a number of schemes for individuals, families, business travellers, students and senior citizens. Its travel insurance portfolio also includes specialized plans for corporate travel, travel to different regions in Asia as well as Bharat Bhraman plans for travel within the country. The plans are categorized into three segments namely, Travel Companion Plan, Travel Elite Plan and Travel Prime Plan. The student travel insurance plans include Study Companion Plan, Student Elite Plan and Student Prime Plan.

Plans for individuals and family are overseas travel insurance plan that provides medical and health cover, compensation for loss of baggage, repatriation of mortal remains etc. to international travellers whether traveling alone or with the family. The sum insured for Travel Companion Plan ranges from $ 50,000 to $ 5,00,000. The Travel Insurance plans for students are customized plans aimed at providing cover to students who go abroad for higher studies. The sum insured on those plans range from $ 50,000 to $ 2,00,000.

The Bharat Bhraman Plan of Bajaj Allianz is for individuals travelling within different regions in India either for business, holiday or personal purposes. The contingencies covered under these plans include personal accident cover and permanent disability cover. In case of death of the policy holder, this plan also provides additional compensation equal to 2% of the sum insured, towards the education of the dependent child of the deceased.

SBI General Insurance

Founded in the year 2009, SBI General Insurance is a subsidiary of India’s largest public sector bank, the State Bank of India. The key features of SBI travel insurance plans include medical cover up to $ 5,00,000 . It requires no pre-medical examination in order to avail the benefits of travel insurance. The company provides both single trip and multi trip travel insurance. The policy period of single trip travel insurance ranges from 1 day up to 180 days whereas the policy period of multi-trip travel insurance extends up to one year or 365 days.

SBI Travel Insurance plans provide cover for medical expenses including evacuation and expatriation, personal accident cover of up to $ 25,000, travel support in case of loss of passport, loss of checked-in baggage, home burglary insurance, trip cancellation, trip curtailment, emergency cash advance, hospitalization expenses cover of up to $ 2000 etc. Only those individuals who are either Indians travelling abroad for business or leisure purposes or foreign nationals working in India, are eligible for SBI Travel Insurance Plans.

Royal Sundaram

Headquartered in Chennai, Royal Sundaram General Insurance Company is a joint venture of Sundaram Finance Group, a Non-Banking Financial Company and the UK based Royal & Sun Alliance plc. The company provides insurance cover to both domestic and international travelers through Travel Secure plans for leisure trips, multi-trip, students, senior citizens and for travel within Asia.

While the leisure trip insurance plans provide comprehensive cover for holiday abroad with sum insured ranging from $ 500,000 to $ 1 million, the multi-trip plans are customized for business travellers who travel frequently during the year. The company also has tailor made plans specifically designed for senior citizens who are above 71 years of age. For students going aboard for higher studies, the travel secure student plans provide cover for a period ranging from 1 to 7 years.

Royal Sundaram plans provide cover against medical expenses incurred during the journey including hospitalization and emergency medical transportation, loss of baggage, daily cash allowance in case of hospitalization for more than 2 days and even sickness dental relief. Some of the plans also have provision for evacuation in case of a natural or man-made calamity.

HDFC Ergo

HDFC Ergo General Insurance Company is a joint venture between HDFC, a Non-Banking Financial Company in India, and Germany based Ergo International AG. The company was formed in the year 2002 and is headquartered in Mumbai. Its travel insurance plans cater to individuals and families as well as students and frequent fliers through a number of customized travel insurance plans.

HDFC Ergo’s International Student Suraksha Plan is tailor-made to provide cover to those students who go abroad for higher education. The plan cover emergency medical expenses, emergency dental expenses, medical evacuation, body repatriation, accidental death and permanent disablement in addition to coverage for loss or delay of checked-in baggage. The plans also provide cover in case of personal liability, study interruption due to ill health, death of sponsor and loss of passport. The international family plan from HDFC Ergo covers emergency medical expenses, emergency dental expenses, medical evacuation, accidental death and body repatriation in addition to providing hospital daily cash allowance.

Reliance

Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group owned Reliance General Insurance Company was founded in the year 2000. The company provides customized travel insurance plans for family trips, solo travellers, senior citizens and students travelling abroad. Its international travel insurance plans are specifically designed for regions such as Asia, Schengen, USA and Canada and rest of the world.

For solo trips, it has Standard, Silver, Gold and Platinum Plans whose sum insured range from $ 50,000 to $ 500,000. For family trips, the company offers Standard and Gold Travel Insurance Plans with sum insured ranging from $ 50,000 to $ 1,00,000. Some of the features of these plans include cover for medical expenses incurred during travel, loss of passport, loss of checked-in baggage, missed connections, compassionate visits, trip delay or cancellation, financial emergency assistance etc.

In addition to that, Reliance also has specific travel insurance plans for student travellers going abroad for higher studies. It provides cover for duration of 2 years of studies abroad. However, only those students between the age group of 16 to 35 years are eligible to purchase those plans. It has provisions for medical expenses, accidental injury, loss of checked-in baggage, loss of passport, study interruption due to sickness and 2-way compassionate. For senior citizens, the travel insurance plans start from the age of 60 years. The senior citizen plans have been divided into 2 categories – for those between 60 to 70 years of age and for those between 71 to 90 years of age. They also provide worldwide cashless hospitalization facility for senior citizens.

Religare

Religare Health Insurance Company was established in the year 2012 by Religare Enterprise Ltd., Union Bank of India and Corporation Bank. The company is headquartered in Gurgaon. It provides travel insurance through Explore, Student Explore and Group Explore plans.

The Explore travel insurance plan is a region specific plan providing cover for travel to Europe, USA, Canada, Asia, Africa and other parts of the world. They include medical benefits such as hospital cover in case of emergency, double sum insured for accidental hospitalization, coverage for pre-existing ailments etc. Its non-medical benefits include cover for loss of passport and checked-in baggage, trip delay, cancellation or interruption, medical evacuation and personal liability cover.

The Student Explore Travel Insurance Plans for students going abroad for higher studies provide cover for medical expenses, in-patient care, out-patient care, repatriation of mortal remains, accidental death or disablement, loss of checked-in baggage, loss of passport, study interruption, sponsor protection, trip delay, bail bond etc.

The Group Explore travel insurance plan caters to those who are travelling in groups on leisure trips. Other than IPD and OPD coverage in case of medical emergency, this plan also provide coverage for adventure sports injury as well as coverage for diagnostic tests such as radiotherapy, chemotherapy, cancer screening and mammogrpahy. The non-medical benefits of this plan includes cover in case of loss of passport and checked-in baggage and trip delay.

ICICI Lombard

ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company is a joint venture between ICICI Bank and Toronto based Fiarfax Financial Holdings Ltd. The company was founded in 2001 and provides travel insurance to both domestic and international travellers. It has single trip, multi-trip and senior citizen plans to cater to a diverse group of clients.

For leisure travel, the sum insured for ICICI Lombard travel insurance ranges from $ 50,000 to $ 5,00,000. It has provision for medical cover including medical evacuation, repatriation of remains, daily allowance in case of hospitalization, dental treatment, loss of checked-in baggage, personal liability, political risk and catastrophe evacuation etc. These plans do not require pre-medical checkup for individuals up to 85 years of age.

We hope that the readers will find the content of this blog useful. Student Cover provides health and travel insurance as well as education loans to students going to countries like the US, UK, Canada and Ireland for higher studies. Click here to know more about Student Cover’s health and travel insurance plans as well as education loan services provided by

Disclaimer: The benefits and coverage provided by insurance companies mentioned in the blog are based on personal research. They may or may not apply in case of certain insurance plans and policies. Readers are advised to check with the insurance provider the applicability of such benefits and coverage before purchasing any insurance plan or policy.