shazip

Would anyone recommend taking out travel insurance for India? My medical needs are covered by my HMO. In all the trips I have taken I have never had the need for travel insurance. Has anyone ever had to make any claims, especially in India?

Lyndie

I'm not certain what HMO cover is. However we met a Emirates employee in Goa who told us he would never have urgent, life threatening surgery in India. He, and his family would ALWAYS opt for Thailand. For us, Thailand is our choice, whenever we are in India, for urgent medical procedures.

sandi

You're lucky that your HMO covers for medical needs overseas (outside your home country). But travel insurance covers more then just medical. If you've prepaid any or part of your trip including air and have to cancel, should there be an accident (even terrorist attack) and you have to interrupt your trip and return home. Then there is flight and baggage delay, baggage loss. And as important as medical (and dental) coverage, is evacuation coverage to get you to the best available medical facility to care for you.

Makes no difference whether you are young or old, healthy or have some pre-existing condition - "things" can happen to anyone, anywhere.

I would suggest you check out the following site:

www.insuremytrip.com

where you will find products offered by many well-known insurance providers. Compare all policies - cheapest isn't always the best - they have drop-down menues to explain certain coverage, i.e, terrorism. If you have any questions specific to yourself, there's an 800# you can call direct.

If you have HMO medical ascertain exactly what they cover and if you don't need the cancellation/interruption, flight and baggage delay/lost - consider just "evavuation" insurance. You will find this on the above site as well.

Hope this help you find the information you need.

glorialf

I would definitely get insurance for all of the above reasons

laurie_ann

Even if you have good medical insurance in the U.S. it will not cover the costs of your evacuation for medical purposes. You can compare what emergency type services are included in general trip insurance (the kind that covers you if you have to cancel the trip). www.insuremytrip.com is an easy to use service to compare the coverage and cost of different kinds. I found, however, that because of my travel, a number of business and personal trips in the U.S. and abroad each year that it was worthwhile to purchase a special annual medical evacuation policy. I have MedJet Assist. www.medjetassist.com. It has generous policies as to what is covered and what discretion you have to use it. It also includes incidental services like translators and such that might be helpful if you are ever in a situation like that. It might not be appropriate for everyone but I thought the cost and coverage a good value. So far, thank goodness, I have never had to use it.

Craig

Laurie_ann - my health insurer covers medical evacuations but I would imagine that most don't. Best to check with your own insurer before purchasing.

shazip

Thanks for your thoughts and advice everyone. I shall certainly check my health coverage specifics. My ticket is a frequent flier one. Any thoughts on that vis a vis insurance?

Craig, did you take out coverage other than medical for your trip to India?

Neil_Oz

I don't think I'm an unduly cautious traveller, but I don't go anywhere without travel insurance. I certainly wouldn't travel in countries where health services may be problematic (eg India) or extremely costly (eg USA) without it. It doesn't add that much to travel costs, and you can get fairly inexpensive policies that cover only medical (including evacuation) and personal liability.

I haven't had a vehicle accident for a long time, but I still insure the car.

Craig

shazip - we did not take out any other coverage for our trip to India.

shazip

Thanks for the responses. I have time to decide.

FenchBulldog

I would get coverage, especialy since it only cost a couple of $ a day. I went to India 3 years ago and got really sick due to time change and different food preparation. Indian food in India is not the same as in US. With 10-12 hours of time difference, you try to contact someone in US and try to get medical advice.

Ever since then, I buy travel insurance. One web-site that I found that compares prices is www.totaltravelinsurance.com. I bought an MNU plan that included evacuation.