“There Is Potential For Domestic Travel Insurance”

As the Indian traveller evolves, the need to have travel insurance is also fast being accepted a necessary travel document amongst the fraternity. Khalid Sohail, head- travel services, Tata AIG, in an interview with Reema Sisodia, highlights the importance of the segment.

How popular is the concept of Travel Insurance in today’s time?

With the Indian traveller becoming more mature about exigencies that may arise during his trip abroad, the overseas travel policies are becoming a must with them. However, even today, the destinations which require mandatory travel policies are Shengen Countries and America. The Far East is still not a mandatory destination for Travel Insurance. Also most of the corporate travelers prefer to be covered with a travel insurance cover.

Please provide information about the growing demand of travel insurance backed by statistical details?

Overall growth in the travel Industry, especially foreign travel is fuelling the growth in India’s Travel Insurance segment. The Indian Market, especially the foreign travel market growth rate is between 15 per cent to 18 per cent and one could estimate the proportionate rise in the travel insurance market. Since its mandatory to have travel insurance for Shengen Countries and America, an increase in the traffic to these countries would result in an increase in the overseas travel insurance.

What does your company have to offer in the field?

We have several products for different segments of the market. Our generic product is called Travel Guard, which has three different plans…Gold, Silver and Platinum with differentiated benefits. Each plan has separate products for America and Non- America and each in-turn are Trip- Band Based (which means that if you travel for 7 days, the price would be different, as compared to your trip being for 14 days or above 14 days. For the Premium market segment, we have a co-branded product with Thomas Cook, called ‘Travel Care’ offering premium benefits which obviously comes at a higher price. For Students, we offer ‘Student Guard’ which is as per the requirements of Universities abroad. For large corporates, we have a customised product, which is a per day pricing product.

What’s unique about your services/products as compared to your competitors?

We are the only company which has an assistance service dedicated to the Americas and Canada. It is an in-house assistance company called “AIG Assist” which knows the medical map better than any other generic assistance company. For Non America, we offer an online policy issuance, which makes it convenient for our producers to issue policies. We also have a Toll Free Claims Assistance number, which can be accessed from any part of the world for faster settlement of Claims.

What is the deal and business understanding with the travel agents?

The travel insurance market is regulated, as far as the commission is concerned, by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA). Hence a product needs to be sold based on its strength and most of all, based on the credibility of the insurance company. The brand names of Tata and AIG need not be re-enforced with the travel agents, as these are very well known in this field. Apart from the brand, our products suit the requirements of different customers, our assistance and claims services are not only customer friendly, but also the very best.

What benefits you as principals provide to the travel agents?

As Principals, we offer our travel agents impeccable service in terms of policy issuance, policy cancellation, understanding the customer’s needs and suggesting an appropriate policy and online policy issuance.

What is your vision about the future of the business in the Indian market?

By far established that India’s travel market is one of the largest growing markets in the world. We not only see the travel insurance market growing but also maturing. We see a lot of potential for the growth of domestic Insurance.

What are the reasons for lower demand for travel insurance in India (as compared to international standards)?

Insurance in the Western Countries is a way of life. The per capita insurance premium collected outside India is more. The risk that one is exposed to, in terms of medical expenses are higher. In India, travel insurance in more need based, rather than a way of life. For Ex. A traveler would have travel insurance if he is travelling to Europe but may not consider it necessary for travel to Malaysia.