Travel Insurance Covers For A Cancelled Or Extended Trip

Imagine this: You have finally made it to your dream destined trip, having the time of your life. Right before you leave, tragedy strikes, and you find yourself in the hospital. This hiccup disrupts your whole return trip. What can you do?

Travel insurance policies are purchased to secure you during your trip. This means you stay protected from the time you take off until you return home. Let's look at some problems that could disrupt your trip abroad.

1. Natural Disasters: When you are abroad, you must check weather conditions before travelling to avoid facing nature's fury. Natural disasters like earthquakes, floods, tsunamis, etc., can strike anytime and you need to take necessary precautions. Keep a look out for any government announcements declaring Natural Calamities.

1. Political Unrest and Civil Commotion: Political unrest and civil commotion like strikes and riots can be a scary experience for travelers because it negatively affects your trip. In such situations, staying indoors and away from such events is best to avoid being injured or arrested. You never know how such situations play out, so while on your trip, it is better to be safe than sorry.

1. Emergency Hospitalization: If you, an immediate family member, or your travelling companion have fallen seriously ill requiring emergency hospitalization, then this can affect your trip. Say, for example, you have fallen down a flight of stairs and broken your hip or leg, or you met with an accident while on your trip, then you will seek emergency hospitalization. Availing of medical treatment abroad is costly, especially if you are not covered by travel insurance with a medical plan.

1. Death of a Travelling Companion: Most unfortunate situations might arise where your travel companion might meet with an accident or fall seriously sick leading to their demise. In such cases, you would have to abandon the rest of your trip or extend it due to this emergency.

1. Loss of Travel Documents: What happens if you are at the boarding gate and realise you lost your passport? When you are abroad, you could possibly lose your travel documents, either misplaced or stolen. In such cases, you must report the same to the police and your travel insurance to have you covered. This situation can also cause you to extend or abandon your trip.

So, in such cases, there are two perfect covers that your Travel Insurance offers that cover you financially.

Trip Abandonment

This is a cover that works if you and your trip are incompatible. This means that if you or your travel companion fall sick, are injured, or any unexpected event leads to cutting your trip short, or cancelling it overall, then claiming through the Trip Abandonment cover will help save on additional costs incurred. Unforeseen circumstances can arise anytime, and you need to be prepared for it. In a medical emergency or hostile situations like plane hijacks, strikes, etc., you will inevitably have to cut your trip short or partially abandon it.

To avail reimbursement for money spent on bookings, a Trip Abandonment cover works best for you. This can help you get back to the same financial position you were in before the event occurred. 

Emergency Trip Extension

A Travel Insurance policy covers you during unexpected situations. However, if your policy ends and you need coverage unexpectedly, an emergency trip extension cover protects you further.

If you are stuck abroad due to any political unrest, strikes, riots, or natural disasters like floods, cyclones, earthquakes, landslides, or any disaster posing a danger to your return home can cause your trip to be extended. That is not all. Death of your travelling companion, emergency hospitalization, or even if any of your travel documents (like your passport) get lost, you might be forced to extend your trip. In such cases, use the Emergency Trip Extension Cover of your Travel Insurance to help secure and protect your finances.

Yes, we do! With Digit's International Travel Insurance policy (Digit On the Move Policy), you are automatically covered if any unexpected hiccup disrupts your travel back home. 

To understand this better, read our coverages and exclusions for both these covers.

What is covered?

Under Trip Abandonment cover, one is insured when you unavoidably abandon your trip. You will be covered for: 

• Additional travel and accommodation costs in the same class as your original booking. 
• Unused accommodation costs that each insured person has paid and cannot get back including excursions and planned events. 

What is not covered?

With Digit’s Trip Abandonment, some situations where we cannot cover you are:  

• Any claim for a medical condition if you or your travelling companion were advised against travel, needed diagnosis or treatment for any condition not disclosed or accepted by us, or have a terminal, chronic, recurring illness, or injury. 
• Any claim where you knew, prior to departure on your trip that you may need to return home early.
• Any abandonment due to hospitalization due to a pre-existing disease, childbirth, pregnancy, or related medical complications in your immediate family.
• If your trip is abandoned due to natural calamity not declared by the appropriate government authority.
• Abandonment of the trip either wholly or in part done at the instance of the common carrier or by the travel agent, Air transport Authority or any government body.
• Any claim for Trip abandonment
  • where the hospital or accommodation period is less than 24 consecutive hours.
  • for any insured person, not being treated as an in-patient or confined to their accommodation on medical advice.
  • where there is no valid claim for Emergency Treatment.
• Any claim for abandonment of your trip following a missed connection.
• Other general exclusions mentioned in the policy document.

What is covered?

• Additional expenses for lodging and boarding in the same class/type. 

• Return fare from the port where the trip was extended by the common carrier by the same class/type by the most direct route. 

What’s not covered?

With Digit’s Emergency Trip Extension, some situations where we can’t cover you are: 

• If your trip is cancelled due to Natural Calamity not declared by the appropriate government authority.  

• Any extension due to Childbirth, Pregnancy or related medical complications occurring to you or your immediate family member or traveling companion. 

• Any claim for a medical condition if you or your travelling companion were advised against travel, needed diagnosis or treatment for any condition not disclosed or accepted by us, or have a terminal, chronic, recurring illness, or injury.  

• Other general exclusions are mentioned in the policy document.

While filing a claim for Emergency Trip Extension or Trip Abandonment, one must contact the customer service helpline immediately. There, you will be asked to produce: 

• Medical certificate or Hospitalization records with details of the date of admission and discharge, injury or illness and treatment rendered from the medical practitioner attending the patient.

• In case of Death of a Traveling Companion, the death certificate will be required.

• In the case of a loss of passport, a copy of the FIR in relation to the complaint lodged with the police and passport office having authority for the issue of emergency travel document or duplicate passport.

• Copy of booking as well as cancellation confirmation from hotel/planned event’s organizers along with details of new bookings of your travel with ticket, invoices, and receipts, in case of Trip Abandonment.

An Emergency Trip Extension and Trip Abandonment feature in your travel insurance plan comes into action when your trip turns hostile. It covers you in an unpredictable journey, where you can extend or abandon your trip from the initially scheduled date of return in the case of an emergency. Isn’t that a relief!

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purpose, collected across the Internet and with respect to Digit’s On-the-Move Policy document. For detailed coverage, exclusions, and conditions about Adventure Activities cover, go through your travel policy document carefully.