IRDAI proposes Standard Travel Insurance policy

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) recently proposed the “Standard Travel Insurance Policy”. The Policy aims to ensure insurance coverage during domestic as well as international travel. The IRDAI recently released a draft ‘Guidelines on Standard Travel Insurance Policy’.

About the Guidelines

• The Guidelines states that standard travel insurance products would be available from IRDAI.
• The travel insurance coverage and its terminology will be uniform throughout the industry.
• If the insured is injured due to an accident abroad and he dies within 365 days of the accident due to this sole cause, the insurance company will pay a compensation equal to the sum assured.
• If the accidental death was of a minor or a person under 18, the maximum liability on the insurance company would be 50 percent of the sum insured.
• In the context of domestic travel insurance, the guidelines states that if the insured person is traveling in the event that the shared transport vehicle crashes and the insured dies within 365 days of the accident, then the insurance company is to pay the sum assured.
• There are five variants under domestic travel and four variants under international travel.
  • The domestic variants are as follows:
    • Travel by any mode of public transport within the city
    • Travel by any mode of public transport outside the city
    • Air-travel
    • Domestic tours that involved water, road, train and air travel.
  • The Overseas variants are as follows:
    • Long term trip for students, etc.
    • Short Term trips
    • Multi-trip during policy period
    • Coverage only for travel (both forward and return)

The scope of the travel insurance policy will also include failure to catch a flight, missing check-in baggage, travel delays and lost passports.

Aim of the Guidelines

The Guidelines aim to ensure uniformity and definition regarding terms of coverage and eliminations for both international and domestic travel. This will help to initiate a standard travel insurance product that has uniform coverage across all the sectors.

Month: Current Affairs - December, 2020