Do you dream of travelling to faraway places and exploring exotic scenery, interesting cuisines and meeting new people? Then your bucket list probably covers quite a few Schengen countries!While visiting Europe is an exciting proposition, do remember that you will need to be financially covered to meet emergencies and unanticipated expenses.
In this regard, a travel insurance policy can be of immense help as you will be able to enjoy your trip without any worries. Before travelling to any of the 26 Schengen countries, it is a good idea to get familiarized with the nuances of Schengen visa and travel insurance. Schengen visa travel insurance is mandatory for most non-US citizens. It is also required for those US citizens travelling to Schengen countries for more than 90 days, within a 6-month period, with the purpose of traveling for pleasure.So, read on to know more about the travel insurance you need:
Schengen Visa Countries are:
Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.
What does a travel insurance for Schengen cover?
There are various travel insurance policies for Schengen that offer coverage against lost passport, lost checked-in baggage, trip delays and more. Insurance providers offer plans specially designed for the Schengen area, and have customized plans for family trips, solo travelers, senior citizens, and students studying abroad. Moreover,the travel insurance strives to negate all possible risks that you could encounter while travelling. Whether you are going on a leisure or a business trip, you get to ‘pack in’ maximum coverage for a variety of situations under travel insurance policies.
Here’s what travel insurance for Schengen covers:
- Acuteanesthetic treatment of teeth problems due to an injury.
- Cost of obtaining a fresh or duplicate passport in case of a lost passport.
- Compensation for death or permanent disability caused by an accident, while riding as a passenger in a common carrier.
- Reimbursement of return ticket fare for a family member visiting you, that is the insured, if you’re hospitalized for more than 7 days.
- Emergency medical expenses incurred by you or any of your family members whilst abroad, for any sudden illness, injury or death.
- Expenses incurred if you miss a connecting flight due to a delay of more than 3 hours.
- Facility to provide you emergency cash in case you lose travel funds due to theft.
- Compensation for a third party in case your involuntarily actions result in someone’s demise, cause someone injury or any damage to health or property.
- Accidental bodily injury during the trip.
- Emergency expenses made for medical evacuation via land surface or air.
- Expenses incurred if a trip is cancelled or interrupted due to airline, medical, personal employment problems or natural disasters.
- Expenses incurred while transporting the insured’s mortal remains back home or towards burial abroad, in case of an untimely demise.
- Expenses incurred if a trip is delayed for more than 12 hours due to airline, medical, personal employment problems or natural disasters.
- Insurance against burglary in your home, while you are travelling abroad.
- Special distress allowance if your plane is hijacked for more than 12 hours.
- Total loss of your checked-in baggage by a common carrier.
What is not covered under insurance?
It is not enough to just know what all are covered by a travel insurance policy. You should ideally go through the exclusions carefully, so that you can save yourself monetary loss or hassle in one of the following cases:
- Life-threatening conditions are covered only if they arise from disclosed pre-existing diseases, which are mentioned in the travel insurance policy schedule, for people up to 70 years of age. Claims arising out of non-disclosed and non-declared pre-existing medical conditions will not be covered. So make sure to declare all pre-existing diseases while taking the travel insurance policy.
- Expenses incurred due to any of the following conditions:
- Suicide
- Self-inflicted injuries or illnesses
- Mental disorder
- Anxiety, stress or depression
- Venereal diseases
- Alcohol/drug abuse
- HIV/AIDS
- Cosmetic or obesity treatments
- Expenses incurred if you’re:
- Traveling against the advice of a physician.
- Receiving or are on a waiting list for specified medical treatment.
- Travelling to receive treatment abroad.
- Have been given a terminal prognosis for a medical condition.
- Issues faced due to theft or loss of passport when left unattended or unreported, to local police authorities.
- In case of loss of checked baggage,the insurer will not provide any coverage.
- War or nuclear threat in the country where you’re travelling.
So, hope for the best and yet prepare for the worst by obtaining a suitable travel insurance policy if you are travelling to Schengen countries. Medical emergencies, loss of important documents, accidents and delays are some of the major issues you can protect yourself from. This way, you can travel in peace and won’t have to break your bank in case of unanticipated scenarios.
