Difference between travel and student travel insurance India

Travel insurance, as we all know, is a very important part of any journey. It provides an insurance cover for any unfortunate incident that may occur when we are in a foreign land, either on business or on vacation. Student travel insurance is a similar form of insurance, where students who go abroad for higher studies are covered.

While some of the clauses of these two types of insurance are common, there are some major differences between general travel insurance and student travel insurance. Let’s take a look.

What is travel insurance?

Travel insurance is a kind of insurance that is bought by a traveler before embarking upon a journey. The insurer promises to pay the insured a sum assured if the latter is faced with a medical or financial emergency.

What is student travel insurance?

 Student travel insurance is a kind of insurance that is designed to support and cover students who go abroad to study. From emergency medical assistance to loss of passport, a student travel insurance plans provides cover for a long list of misfortunate occurrences.

 What are the features of a student travel in plans?

 Generally, a student travel insurance plan includes:

Medical expenses, including costs of evacuation and repatriation if required. Provision for emergency dental treatment. Tuition fee payment for the time when there is a study interruption due to hospitalization. The policy will also reimburse the tuition fees (paid in advance) if the insured is forced to discontinue his studies due to terminal illness, death of family members, etc. Sponsoring the tickets and stay of one member of the insured’s family when the insured requires hospitalization for more than 7 days (only in case no family member is present by his side). Paying the remaining tuition fees of the insured if the sponsor dies midway through the course. Compensation for loss of passport, loss of baggage, baggage delay, etc.

How do these features differ from a general travel insurance policy?

 As we can see from the points above, a student travel plan is very dissimilar to a general travel insurance plan. For example, while a travel insurance plan too would pay you for baggage losses, it wouldn’t reimburse the tuition fee if you (the student) have to leave the course half way.

Is it a good idea to opt for student travel insurance?

 It is not only a good idea, but almost a necessity to opt for a student travel insurance India plan when going abroad for higher studies. Any one between the ages of 16 -35 (varies from policy to policy) can avail of such a plan and so you must take it.

The unfortunate events covered under a travel insurance plan can happen to anyone and for a young student to deal with such problems without any assistance can be rather difficult. So make sure you buy a student travel insurance before you set foot abroad.

Source: http://travelinsuranceindia.quora.com/Difference-between-travel-and-student-travel-insurance.