Are Adventure Activities Covered In Your Travel Insurance Plan

Travelling is a passion for many people. Some like to discover new places with their scenic beauty while some love to explore new cultures. Some travel lovers like to taste different flavours attached to different cultures and some are passionate shoppers. Every aspect of travelling is so much exciting and full of adventures, that if one loves to travel, he is sure to get so many new and thrilling experiences during their trip. 

But we cannot ignore the bunch of risks and losses associated with it. Experts stress overtaking some basic precautions to avoid any kind of unlikely incidents. Travelling can be local, domestic, or even any abroad location. But who likes to experience any kind of unpleasant incidents while their trips. 

What is Travel Insurance

Most people, before travelling, plan their trips and their stays, etc through travel agents. The agencies that help in the total travel planning- from tickets, hotels, dining, and places to visit, charge a good amount but sort out the complicating researches and bookings that can take a lot of effort and time. The travel agents are then responsible for the availability of tickets, hotel rooms, and conveyance if needed. 

But nowadays many travel agencies, as well as insurance companies, provide travel policies that cover the insurance regarding the costs and any type of losses that occurred during the trip. It is very helpful for a person who is planning multiple destinations and wants to be safe and tension-free regarding the schedule, and all the planning aspects of travel.

Most of the companies that sell tickets for different domestic as well as foreign destinations, provide an option to the customers to buy a travel insurance cover also. They offer a number of plans and covers with a range of pricing that covers different types of insurance coverage. These insurance policies cover a lot of losses like damages related to baggage, medical covers, accident covers, or even death covers. 

The insurance providers can also offer compensation for the passport loss and reschedule the cancelled flights. You don’t have to worry about the cost and availability planning. The insurance covers all these aspects without any worry.

The Claims Regarding the Travel

The insurance covers are available in a range of costing and benefits depending upon the plans and destinations also. The covers can be for one person, or a family even. Some travel agencies have compulsory insurance covers that include in the booking process. But some are those who have the option available with or without the insurance cover. 

The cost can be variable for different companies according to their costs and benefits provided. One who is going to buy the insurance policy should read the cover statements and the manual documents very carefully before the travel starts. Many agencies provide covers on an annual basis or trip-wise. Some travel insurances are also provided by credit card if bought through them.

Insurance Plans to Cover the Adventure Activities

Most of the trips with destinations abroad are purposefully planned to experience the adventures of exciting activities like bungee jumping, ice-skating, mountaineering, river-rafting, etc. most the young travellers love the excitement of these kinds of adventures. But the point is that the risks associated with adventure are also bigger. 

Sports-based travels should be well planned and covered by travel insurance. The insurance covers for adventurous trips are different so the travellers need to check the options or discuss the travel plans and the type of covers needed, with the insurance providers. 

The sports activities with higher risks include paragliding, surfing, skydiving, trekking, etc., not all insurance covers the benefits associated with the sports activities. So the travellers should ensure their travel insurance claims to cover the medical as well as other risk factors covered in their plans.

Most companies distribute the same through brokers and agents, while few companies sell insurance products directly to clients. To work as per convenience and the opportunity to create a massive difference in a person’s life working as an insurance broker offers more flexibility. It is the most rewarding career as it helps people to take care of children, build assets, plan for retirement, and pass wealth from one generation to the next.

Things that insurance brokers do:

Insurance brokers are majorly independent. They don’t have an agreement with particular insurers. They usually represent insurance buyers and take forward the applications to insurers on behalf of their clients. Ideally, after becoming an insurance broker, they are not appointed by insurers. Instead, they educate the clients about several insurance products from different insurance companies and help them choose the best among them.

The majority of the people wonder whether ‘Insurance Agents and Insurance Brokers – Are the same? 

What makes insurance brokers unique from insurance agents?

Insurance brokers choose from a variety of insurance products and help the clients to choose a policy that is adequate for their needs. In contrast, insurance agents work with one company and sell insurance products available in their company. You can determine the most appropriate products for them, unlike agents, they provide options, and it’s up to the clients to assess the products they need. Additionally, brokers typically charge payments that are higher than those authorized by an agent.

Who can apply for an insurance broker license?

When it comes to becoming an insurance broker, an Insurance broker license and their operations are issued as per IRDA regulations. The ones who can apply for an insurance broker license are:

• A company registered under the Companies Act, 2013 or any previous variant.
• A registered co-operative society is registered as per the provisions of the Co-operative Societies Act, 1912, or other similar laws.
•  An LLP registered under the Limited Liability Partnership Act, 2008.
•  Any person recognized by the authority.

Qualification and training details:

• Must have a bachelor’s/master’s degree or any equivalent qualification like being a fellow or an associate of the Insurance Institute of India/Insurance Institute of Risk Management/Insurance Brokers Association of India.
• The person must have undergone adequate hours of theoretical and practical training recognized by the Insurance Regulatory Authority of India.
• Once training is over, get passed the exam conducted by the National Insurance Academy.
• Retain a minimum capital as per regulations provided by the authority.
• Engage in any insurance consultancy or reinsurance activity for seven years from the date before the application is submitted. Otherwise, being a principal underwriter or manager in any nationalized company in India.

The license can be issued after the necessary conditions are satisfied. Unless the same is suspended by the regulations, it can be valid for 3 years from the issued date. Before the license gets expired, a broker may apply for license renewal within 30 days. Brokers carrying brochures and loads of policy documents to meet people are not a situation anymore.

Insurance is a big business today. All kinds of insurance, be it car insurance, home insurance, health insurance, have lots of customers. For those of you who are new to this concept, insurance is defined as the contract, in which a company or a person receives financial reimbursement or protection against losses, from an insurance firm. The insurance firm pools customers’ risks to make payments much more affordable for the entity which is being insured. In the olden days, insurance was purchased manually, by directly going to the companies or through their respective agents. The process was tedious and cumbersome.

At present times, the insurance market is dominated by purchasing all the policies online. Nearly every insurance firm such as Bajaj Allianz, Aviva, TATA AIG, and Life Insurance Corporation sells its policies online. The online insurance market is growing at a rate of thirty percent per year. Nearly every big company, that has an online presence, also helps customers to purchase car insurance online. Individuals looking for insurance for any kind of brands such as Maruti, Tata, Renault, Volkswagen, etc and any type of automobile like Small cars, big cars, or Smart Utility vehicles will be able to do it with just one click over the internet. Now, people must be wondering, why the online market is growing so fast. So, let us give the advantages of purchasing insurance online.

Benefits of online insurance purchase

1. Comparison

This is one of the biggest advantages of purchasing online insurance. The online aggregator assists customers in purchasing online policies. For example, if an individual desire to purchase car insurance, then he/she can go to the no1 site www.policybazaar.com, and check out his favourite policy and purchase it instantly. Using this tool, he will be able to compare Features, Exclusions, Benefits, Inclusions, Premiums, and Car Insurance Online prices of various policies from the site, using a click.

2. A lot of time is saved.

Since, in this era, where both husband and wife work, people have very little time, for going to the company’s insurance office, standing in queues, and purchasing their favourite policies. So, they turn to the internet, since it is extremely convenient, and there is very little paperwork. Another benefit is that customers get a hard copy instantly in PDF format, without having to wait weeks for the courier.

3. The duplicate policy is issued instantly

In the past, when policyholders lost their policy documents, they had to contact agents or spend hours and hours together in a queue, filling up forms, to get their duplicate policy issued. Now, thanks to the facility of online insurance, customers get a soft copy of the policy instantly and also a hard copy. This acts as a big incentive for them to purchase their policies online.

4. Customer support is 24*7.

Another big benefit of online car insurance is the presence of 24*7 customer support. Customers can clear doubts, or ask for new services and products from the insurance firms, by contacting their customer care services. Nearly, all the customer care services are available by phone, chat, Skype, Social Media, LinkedIn, etc.