Travelling requires a lot of planning, like getting a flight ticket, arranging other documentation, budgeting, and applying for visas and passports if it is an international trip. Getting domestic or international travel insurance is yet another crucial requirement.
A travel insurance plan offers financial benefits and comfort in times of emergencies and unforeseen events. Moreover, there are countries that make it compulsory for travellers and tourists to purchase travel insurance plans before entering their geographical boundaries.
Let us discuss travel insurance is mandatory for which countries.
List of Countries With Compulsory Travel Insurance
| Country Names | Country Names |
| All Schengen Countries | The UAE |
| Algeria | Antarctica |
| Cuba | Ecuador |
| Georgia | Lebanon |
| Iran | Israel |
| Jordan | Moldova |
| Nepal | Qatar |
| Romania | Rwanda |
| Seychelles | Turkey |
Note: The above list is not exhaustive and may change from time to time. Please verify the mandate for travel insurance for your destination and ensure policy purchase.
List of Countries Where Travel Insurance Plans are Highly Recommended
Listed below are the countries where travel insurance plans are highly recommended. In some cases, you are required to take out student travel policies, while others require you to take out international travel medical insurance with COVID-19 coverage. Based on the kind of safety protocols and overall security, you can buy specialised policies for various countries.
- The USA
- Antarctica
- Galapagos Islands
- Maldives
- Singapore
- Thailand
- New Zealand
- Japan
- Australia
Reasons for Mandatory Travel Insurance in Countries
● COVID-19 Coverage
The countries that initiated the compulsory travel insurance system, Aruba, Lebanon and Seychelles, did that due to the uprising in coronavirus cases. Most insurance providers also started to include COVID-19 medical coverage in their standard travel insurance plans.
Most countries now make it mandatory for travel insurance policies to offer coverage for testing, treatment, quarantine and trip cancellation if needed. To protect the tourists from any additional expenses and hassle and limit the spread of the pandemic, policies were made mandatory.
● Medical Emergencies
Most countries ask you to buy a policy with international medical travel insurance. Medical and healthcare can be very expensive, and you need medical coverage to protect your financial stability in these cases.
This coverage increases the importance of travel insurance plans by covering treatment, hospitalisation, surgeries, medications, trip cancellation or rescheduling and other expenses.
Ensure that you buy your policy from a company that offers adequate coverage and fair claims. For instance, Tata AIG is well-known for its transparent and quick claim settlement and wide coverage.
● Trip Interruption and Cancellation
Travel plans can be disrupted by multiple factors, such as bad health, bad weather conditions, political unrest or other personal emergencies (covered under the standard travel policy).
Trip cancellation, interruption or delays can lead to numerous excessive expenses such as new bookings, booking cancellations, extended stays and other non-refundable essential expenditures. This can be a crucial support if you are visiting countries that are prone to natural calamities or political disputes.
● Baggage Loss and Delay
Losing or misplacing your luggage or delayed luggage delivery by the airport services can cause major restlessness in tourists. This can either lead to major expenses or unrest between the officials and travellers.
The travel insurance plan offers financial cushioning that you can fall onto in such daunting times. This coverage makes sure you are provided with reimbursement or compensation for the replacement cost of your lost or delayed essential items.
● Loss of Passport
Passport is an essential and compulsory international travel document that identifies you as a citizen of a country and offers you the authorisation to travel to the concerned country.
Many instances can lead to the loss of a passport, be it misplacement, theft or other things. The travel insurance plan offers financial assistance to the traveller to get a new passport from the embassy. This ensures the nation’s and traveller’s safety.
● Emergency Evacuation
Evacuation of a policyholder in case of a medical or other emergency refers to the provision of financial coverage required for the services offered for evacuation. The cost of an ambulance or helicopter (for evacuation) can be overburdening. However, with the help of your travel insurance, you can cover it, ensuring a safe return.
● Additional Coverage Options
Add-ons or optional additional coverage features offer you financial assistance in events that are not covered in your standard policy. Some common add-ons are adventure sports add-ons, emergency cash assistance, rental car add-ons or personal liability add-ons.
Ending Note
In order to find which countries have compulsory travel insurance, you need to stay educated about the same. Update yourself with daily news, ask your travel agent and visit the official government website of the country you plan to visit, or you can just Google it!
Purchasing travel insurance online is going to be a profitable decision regardless of the necessity of mandatory travel insurance.
