Star Health Travel Insurance Review - Should I buy it?

According to data published by Statista, approximately 20.38 million Indian nationals departed on outbound trips in 2015, representing growth of 2.05 million in just one year. In fact, the number of Indian travelers has only been increasing since then, with more and more people are traveling abroad for work and leisure. When it comes to traveling abroad, most people pay first attention to the things they need to pack and planning the places they'll visit, rather than planning for their health by checking out options for overseas travel insurance. This should actually be the first step to take while planning an international trip to make the most out of your travels. Star Health has come up with a simple and safe overseas travel insurance called Star Travel Protect Insurance Policy, which protects you against unfortunate events and medical emergencies that might take place in a foreign land.

Single Trip Policy

The original policy period is 180 days. On payment of an additional premium and declaration of good health by you, extension of the policy is possible, but only twice.

Eligibility

Any person who is a permanent resident of India, aged between 6 months and 70 years and traveling outside India for business or personal leisure is eligible for this overseas travel plan. Medical tests are not required in general. However, a pre-acceptance medical screening would be required for individuals above 65 years of age.

Cover Starting Amount

Star Health's Travel Protect Insurance Policy is available for travel worldwide, with the option of including or excluding USA and Canada. The four sum insured limits for this travel insurance policy are US$50,000 US$1,00,000, US$2,50,000 and US$5,00,000. Also read: How to choose a good travel insurance plan?

Inclusions

Star Travel Protect provides you the following coverage on your travel abroad either for business or holiday purposes:

• Coverage of emergency medical expenses and repatriation to own country.
• Repatriation of mortal remains to India.
• Coverage for expenses incurred for a dental emergency due to an accident.
• Compensation for injuries caused by personal accidents.
• Compensation for the loss of checked in baggage up to the pre-specified limit.
• Coverage for expenses incurred on buying emergency items due to any delay in checked in baggage.
• Pre-decided compensation for expenses incurred for obtaining a new passport.
• Coverage for flight delay, missed departure and inconvenience due to missing a connecting flight.
• Cover for any third party legal liability, involving any property damage and bodily injury to a third party.
• Hijack distress allowance.

Exclusions

The policy does not cover for your trip if your travel is against a physician's medical advice, especially for treatment of a pre-existing condition. Those who are engaged in organized sports like mountaineering or rock climbing and any kind of winter sports are also excluded for this policy. Moreover, the company will not be answerable for any claim arising from pregnancy, self-inflicted injury, suicide and attempted suicide, and any kind of mental disorder and depression.

Turnaround Time for Claim Settlement

For the claim procedure, you need to contact Star Health's assistance company, Heritage Health TPA Pvt. Ltd., informing them of your policy reference number and claim. Other Features Star Health travel insurance has tied up with reputed overseas assistance companies to render policy services to the policyholder abroad. The policy offers you storage facility for preserving medical records in electronic form, for free. The policyholder is issued free health magazines at regular intervals. Covering all possible possibilities of inconvenience one can face in a foreign land, Star Health Travel Insurance is a good product overall. I recommend you also check out other Travel insurance products and plans I've reviewed here before making a decision.