There are several ways how having travel insurance can help you in case one of your family members is hospitalised. This can come in several forms, including compassionate visits, escorting of minor children, and trip curtailment benefits.
There are certain circumstances or conditions to avail of these benefits, so let us explore and learn some of these conditions and the specific benefits I received when I was studying in Florida and had to come back home to see my father.
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What is Travel Insurance?
Before delving into the details, the first thing to consider is what is a travel insurance and why you might need it.
A travel insurance policy is a financial protection against a number of risks associated with travel offered by a travel insurance companies. This protection is typically availed when travelling abroad as the scope of risks increase by several times for an international trip but there are some insurance providers who offer domestic travel insurance as well.
What are the benefits offered by a travel insurance?
There are frankly a lot of risks associated with foreign travel and some are a bigger risk than others. These can be some of the base offerings such as medical emergency care, maternal care, and delivery of a new born baby. These are then combined with the additional optional coverages which can be incorporated into your plan based on the nature and destination of your visit as well as other needs like a full pre-history medical coverage.
Adding to these, the insurance provider I used for my University was Niva Bupa. As a student, they offered a lot of coverage options to help me and my parents to allow me to carry out my studies with a piece of mind.
During my 2nd year, my father suddenly became very ill and needed treatment. There were talks that he might not make it and I should come back home to at least see him one last time. Niva Bupa was very helpful during that time and helped me come back to India and visit my father.
Thankfully he started recovering soon after that and is not feeling better than before, even though he hasn’t fully recovered.
How Travel insurance helps if a family member is hospitalised?
Travel insurance companies may offer several additional optional covers including compassionate visits, escorting of minor children, and trip curtailment benefits. These can be availed through fulfilling certain conditions offered by each insurance provider.
In case of compassionate visit which involves visiting a travelling family member who is hospitalised for more than 5 consecutive days, there aren’t a lot of conditions other than no other adult member should be travelling with you or be at the location of hospitalisation.
In case of only one adult travelling with minor children, and the adult is hospitalised, and someone is travelling to the location of hospitalisation to accompany the minor children back to the city of residence, there are certain reimbursements you might be entitled to.
These are a few other methods of how a travel insurance helps in the case a family member is hospitalised.
Conclusion
Thus, having a travel insurance policy not only helps with regular travel related risks but also some exceptional circumstances such as the hospitalisation of a family member who is traveling abroad or someone who is hospitalised at the home country of a student with a travel insurance.
