Travel insurance offers a high sum? Check these limits before you buy | Personal Finance

A travel insurance policy may offer an impressive sum, but it does not mean all medical expenses will be covered. Sub-limits can cap specific benefits such as hospital room rent, ICU charges, surgery, and ambulance expenses.

 

“Travellers often look at the sum insured and premium when evaluating travel insurance, but there are several other aspects that can help them understand the coverage better. Sub-limits are one such feature,” said Manas Kapoor, head, travel insurance at Policybazaar.

 

For travellers, this means the sum insured should not be the only number they check while buying a policy. The premium, overall coverage and limits attached to individual benefits can determine how much protection the policy actually provides.

  

Travel insurance sub-limits

A sub-limit is a maximum amount that an insurer will pay for a particular benefit under the policy. For instance, a policy can have a high overall medical cover, but specify a separate daily limit for hospital room rent or ICU charges.

 

According to Kapoor, travellers should check limits attached to individual benefits rather than focusing only on the overall sum insured. These can include:

 

• Room rent per day of hospitalisation
• ICU charges per day
• Operation theatre and surgery costs
• Anaesthetist charges
• Doctor consultations and follow-up visits
• Diagnostic tests
• Ambulance expenses

Sub-limits can also apply to expenses arising from a particular illness or accident. They are a common feature across insurance products and allow insurers to offer plans at different price points.

 

How much can these limits vary?

The limits can differ significantly between plans. Kapoor’s comparison of entry-level and premium travel insurance plans shows that the caps on individual medical benefits can be substantially higher in premium plans.

 

For example, the room-rent limit is $1,500 a day for an entry-level plan compared with $2,500 a day for a premium plan. The ICU limit rises from $3,000 a day to $4,000, while the surgery limit increases from $12,500 to $22,500.

 

Similarly, the doctor consultation limit is $125 in the entry-level plan and $350 in the premium plan. Diagnostic expenses have limits of $750 and $2,500, respectively, while ambulance expenses are capped at $500 and $1,000.

 

This means two policies with a similar headline sum insured may not provide identical protection when a traveller actually needs medical treatment.

 

Age can change limits

Age is another factor travellers should check. Kapoor said sub-limits may not apply uniformly across all age groups, with some plans introducing specific caps from certain age bands.

 

Sub-limits can start from as early as age 50 in some plans, while a larger segment of insurers introduces them from 56 years onwards. Several plans have specific sub-limits for travellers aged 61 and above, including products designed for senior citizens.

 

For older travellers, therefore, checking only the overall medical cover can give an incomplete picture of the policy.

 

What should travellers check before buying?

Travellers should compare the following alongside the sum insured and premium:

 

Room rent and ICU limits: Check the maximum amount payable per day, particularly because hospitalisation abroad can be expensive.

 

Surgery and hospital expenses: Look for separate caps on surgery, operation theatre and related charges.

 

Doctor and diagnostic expenses: Check whether consultations, follow-ups and diagnostic tests have individual limits.

 

Ambulance cover: Verify the maximum amount payable for emergency transportation.

 

Age-specific conditions: Older travellers should check whether their age triggers additional sub-limits or different coverage conditions.

 

Why this matters for senior travellers

For senior travellers, medical expenses can form an important part of travel insurance coverage. A policy with a large overall sum insured may still have lower caps on individual medical expenses.

 

“Checking limits for benefits such as room rent, ICU, surgery, diagnostics and ambulance expenses can give travellers a clearer picture of how the policy works,” Kapoor said.

 

He added that these limits can vary across plans and age groups, so travellers should consider them alongside the overall sum insured and premium when choosing coverage.

 

Travellers should not compare policies only on the basis of the headline sum insured. Reading the benefit-wise limits and checking whether they change with age can help them understand how much of a potential medical bill the policy may actually cover.