The standard travel cover will come with single premium payment option which will be collected in advance. There will be no restrictions on minimum and maximum age of entry. However, the proposer needs to be at least 18 years of age.
The regulator has put special emphasis on getting this product sold online. “Standard product may be distributed across all distribution channels including Point of Sale persons and Common Public Service Centres but must necessarily be offered through online channel by all insurers. Distribution of standard travel insurance product shall be governed by the regulations of concerned distribution channels” states the IRDAI guidelines.
The regulator has asked every general and standalone health insurer to offer this Standard Domestic Travel Insurance Product.
Here is a look at the features of the standard travel insurance as per IRDAI guidelines.
What the various variants?
There are five variants of the standard travel insurance product based on mode, frequency, distance and tenure. Here is what they will offer.
Standard Domestic Travel Insurance Product (SDTIP), Plan-A
- Mode of travel covered: Travel through Taxi Cab/bus,
- Limit on distance: Within 100 kms from the Place of Origin
- Covered Journey: A single journey from Place of Origin to Place of Destination.
- Tenure : Duration of journey
SDTIP Plan-B
- Mode of travel covered: Travel through Taxi Cab/Bus,
- Limit on distance: More than 100 kms from the Place of Origin
- Covered Journey: A single journey from Place of Origin to Place of Destination
- Tenure: Duration of journey
SDTIP Plan- C
- Mode of travel covered: Train Travel (Only for Reserved tickets),
- Limit on distance: No restrictions on distance
- Covered Journey: A single journey from the Place of Origin to Place of Destination.
- Tenure: Duration of journey
SDTIP Plan-D
- Mode of travel covered: Airtravel
- Limit on distance: No restrictions on distance
- Covered Journey: A single journey from the Place of Origin to Place of Destination.
- Tenure: Duration of journey
SDTIP Plan- E
- Mode of travel covered: Domestic Trips involving travel through any one or multiple modes of common carrier such as Taxi Cab, Bus, Train, Ship or Air travel
- Limit on distance: No restrictions on distance
- Covered Journey: Coverage from Place of Origin till return to Place of Origin/Pla ce of Residence
- Tenure: Domestic trips with maximum duration of up to 30 days.
Standard features these plans will offer
These covers will have indemnity-based payment for hospitalisation expenses due to accident. These will have range of sum insured per person from minimum Rs 1 lakh to maximum Rs 10 lakh. This feature will also have deductibles worth Rs 500.
These plans will have benefit based coverage for accidental death ranging from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 1 crore per person. The Permanent Total Disability (PTD) coverage will also be benefit based and will be similar to accidental death cover. For repatriation of mortal remains these policies (except Plan A) will come with cover of Rs 20,000 to Rs 1 lakh.
Optional benefits that you will get
Apart from standard feature these plans will also have optional features that will depend upon the variant of the plan that you select. These features include compassionate Allowance, Missed Flight Connection, Loss Of Checked-in Baggage, Trip Delay (applicable only for air travel) (beyond 3 hour), Carrier Cancellation (applicable only for air travel) and Trip cancellation & Interruption.
How to choose a right travel plan
When all insurers will offer same standard travel plan how should you decide which is a better plan for you. “Pricing is not standard, and the servicing is different for different people. So, buyer will decide based on the brand, the price, and the servicing experience,” says Sanjay Datta, Chief-Underwriting, Claims and Reinsurance, ICICI Lombard General Insurance.
