| Almost everything can be insured The first possible risk that a person going on a trip faces is the risk of staying at home. To minimize, if not moral, then at least material costs, a prudent traveler can insure losses due to forced cancellation of a trip. Insurance companies offer this service as an addition to traditional health insurance. According to Ingosstrakh statistics, a trip cancellation policy is the most popular insurance product among those traveling abroad after a health insurance policy.
A prerequisite for obtaining an insurance guarantee is that the potential traveler contacts a travel agency. If you are traveling abroad yourself or obtaining a visa yourself, cancellation insurance is not available. In addition, the travel company that the client contacts must enter into an agreement with the insurer for this particular type of insurance. According to Alla Egorova, head of the travel insurance department of the Guta-Insurance company, the cost of the policy in case of forced trip cancellation is about 4% of the price of the entire tour, but it may be less if the insurance company provides a deductible, i.e. an unpaid part loss.
Insured events under such a policy include illness or death of the insured or his immediate relatives, damage to the property of the insured, which prevented the insured from making a previously planned trip, participation of the policy purchaser in a trial ordered after the conclusion of the insurance contract, conscription of an unsuccessful traveler for military service or refusal of him to issuance of a visa, despite the timely sending of a complete set of documents to the consulate of the destination country. When an insured event occurs, settlements with the client are made first by the travel company, which returns the unspent balance of the cost of the trip, and then by the insurer, who compensates for expenses already incurred.
However, the risk of staying at home is associated not only with the problems of the traveler himself, but also with the activities of the trip organizer - the travel company. In the event that the planned trip did not take place due to the fault of the travel agent, it will be much more difficult to return the money spent. An indispensable condition for the client to receive insurance compensation is the existence of an agreement on civil liability insurance of the tour operator. Therefore, when resorting to the services of the latter, it is worth asking whether he has such a policy. True, even in the case where it exists, a client of a travel agency can receive compensation from the insurer only after the court decision on his own claim against the travel agency has entered into force. At the same time, an unsuccessful traveler will be able to apply for compensation to the insurance company only if the court recognizes the damage caused to him as the result of an error, negligence or omission of the travel agent. If malicious intent is discovered in the latter’s actions, then compensation for damage will fall on the shoulders of the travel company, not the insurance company. And, as practice shows, collecting money from a tour operator is much more difficult than from an insurer.
Let’s imagine that the border crossing by a traveler insured against non-exit did take place. Even having a compulsory health insurance policy does not save you from all sorts of hypothetical troubles in a foreign land. To feel calm, a suspicious traveler should think of these troubles as real. And pay the money. As a rule, additional services are offered by insurance companies in conjunction with standard medical insurance and constitute higher-class packages for travelers. The cost of such packages is, of course, higher, but for the money spent they guarantee peace of mind for almost all occasions.
First of all, we insure your luggage. The scheme proposed by Russian insurers includes guarantees for the time your belongings are under the responsibility of the carrier. Liability limits extend up to $300 per piece of baggage. Then - documents, for example, passports. This service is included in the extended service packages of some Russian companies, while regular packages involve assistance from the insurance company in finding or restoring lost documents. If the trip is by car, then Russian motorists have civil liability insurance at their disposal under the international Green Card system, which is offered by the largest Russian companies.
By the way, when insuring the same civil liability to third parties for the duration of the trip, the costs of providing legal assistance based on a court decision and the costs of lawyers if it is necessary to protect the interests of the insured will be reimbursed. If this policy is still not purchased, then the policyholder has the right to rely only on the assistance of the service company in legal matters, subject to paying for the services of lawyers from his own wallet. A possible compromise is the purchase of an extended business package, which involves paying for legal services in amounts ranging from 1 thousand to 2 thousand dollars from different insurers.
If there is desire and money, standard exceptions to the rules can be overcome, for example, refusal of insurance compensation for damage caused by the actions of terrorists. Some extended packages of Russian insurers offer compensation in this case too, although only insofar as it relates to medical care costs. The strip was prepared by Igor POLISCHUK |
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