Overseas student travel insurance policies to get bigger and better. Here’s how

In time for April decisions

Royal Sundaram plans to have its products in place before April, which is when students get confirmations on securing admissions and begin scouting for travel insurance products.

“We are redesigning our overseas student travel insurance policies because some universities abroad often look to deny approval to covers bought from India on some ground or the other. They have certain requirements – essentially larger covers – which we are trying to fulfil through our new products. For instance, our coverage for repatriation of remains (an unfortunate event where the student passes away and the body has to be brought back to India) is $10,000. However, a lot of universities feel it should be $50,000. We cover termination of pregnancy under maternity cover, but some universities say all expenses should be covered,” says Nikhil Apte, Chief Product Officer, Product Factory (Health), Royal Sundaram General Insurance.

He believes the probability of such covers being needed is lower, but because of such requirements, students may have to buy policies – that are typically more expensive – from local insurance companies with whom universities have tied up.

Also read: Why buying student travel insurance plan is necessary for children studying abroad

Royal Sundaram will look to offer a product that promises coverage up to $1 million. “Now, some universities also insist on unlimited medical coverage, which will never be a reality in India. We already have student travel policies with sums insured of up to $7.5 lakh. We plan to extend this to $1 million so as to satisfy the universities’ requirements,” adds Apte.

Most students fly out in the months of June, July and August, ahead of the fall season, to pursue their courses. The purchase decisions around insurance typically happen in April. “Our endeavour is to work on the product over the next three months and have them ready before April. While IRDAI’s use-and-file procedure has made product launches relatively easier, we need to have the IT infrastructure in place and commence training programmes for channel partners prior to the rollout,” he says.

Insurers look for newer distribution partners

The general insurance industry is also looking to sign corporate agent agreements with overseas education counselling institutes for greater access and acceptability among students as well as their universities. “For instance, overseas education counselling firms such as IDP. If that works out, they can deal with multiple insurance partners by the time the visa and admissions pick up pace in April,” says Apte.

Education counsellors throw their weight behind policies from local insurers the universities have tied up with. “These are group policies, custom-made for the students of those universities. Even though Indian policies could be 10-15 percent cheaper than university-recommended covers, the latter are more comprehensive. They offer wider coverage and acceptance in the destination country and hence, we recommend students to stick to the safer alternative of university-linked covers,” says Dhaval Mehta, Director and CEO, Globestar EduTech Pvt Ltd.

According to them, even if premiums of overseas travel insurance policies offered by Indian insurers would be cheaper, at the time of claim, your payouts could be higher. “This is because of the limited cashless network of hospitals and clinics that Indian policies typically provide access to,” says Rohan Ganeriwala, Co-founder and Director, Collegify, an education consultancy firm. As a result, the deductibles – the amount that you have to shell out from your pocket before the insurer chips in with the rest – are higher as you could be seeking treatment at a non-network hospital or clinic.

“For instance, say you have incurred treatment expenses of $100. if you are covered under the insurance policy purchased through the university tie-up, your deductible could be $20. In the case of an Indian insurance policy, your deductible could be as high as $50 or $60 as the clinic may not be in your insurer’s cashless network of medical facilities. If the medical centre does not consider your policy to be valid, you might have to foot the entire bill yourself,” he adds.

Before you take a call, compare the premium rates as well as the cashless network of hospitals and clinics. If your university gives a hassle-free go-ahead to overseas student plans purchased in India, you will net sizeable savings. Not only does overseas student travel policy cover medical expenses but also loss of passport or baggage, flight delays, missed connections, trip cancellation and so on.

“Overseas student travel policies have been designed keeping most universities’ requirements in mind. They are adequate to meet university’s coverage requirements. Some may have stringent rules, but this is not a very common phenomenon,” says Bhabatosh Mishra, Director, Claims, Underwriting and Product, Niva Bupa Health Insurance.