Should You Buy Travelers Insurance From India

Many travelers wonder whether it’s better to buy their visitors insurance from India or from the U.S.? The following are key points to understand when deciding where to buy your visitors insurance:

• Indian visitors insurance companies may not give the traveler an ID or proof of insurance. Thus, if you are traveling in the U.S., the doctor and/or hospital may not recognize the insurance and you’ll have to pay for 100% of the costs of your medical care and file a claim for reimbursement. This can be time-consuming.
• Indian visitors insurance company claims processing is often handled in India, which means there may be delays and administrative hassles when contacting the insurance company from the U.S.
• Indian visitors insurance companies do not offer a wide choice of types or plans. Most Indian insurance companies offer only limited coverage plans, which is why the cost is so low, with few choices while U.S. insurance companies offer many types of plans with many choices.
• Most Indian visitors insurance companies do not have dedicated customer support teams available 24/7 to answer a traveler’s needs and their support hours may not coincide with U.S. time zones.

• Indian insurance regulations do not protect the traveler’s rights as well as those from the U.S. do and reliability is often an issue. If you need to file a complaint, you’ll have to file it in India and it is unclear whether your complaint will be well received and answered or not. U.S. insurance companies are regulated by established U.S. insurance industry regulations.
• Most Indian insurance companies are relatively new and they do not have the long history of service that U.S. insurance companies do.
• Most Indian insurance plans are not renewable. So, even though you may want to extend your trip to stay a little longer, your plan will expire and you will be left without coverage.
• Most Indian insurance plans cannot be cancelled - a particular problem if you review the plan’s description of coverage and realize it is not the right plan. Nor do Indian insurance companies refund the premiums paid when you decide to cancel your plan.

While Indian insurance policies do appear to cost less at first glance, in comparing them to U.S. plans, you will find a great deal more is offered with the U.S. based plans. U.S. based plans are more prevalently recognized in the U.S. and abroad, offer much better coverage, and are more trustworthy and reputable. For more information on American visitors insurance plans, refer to our article Why Buy American Visitors Insurance.