Everyone deserves to enjoy worry-free holidays and travels. To protect yourself and your loved ones while abroad is of the utmost importance. Be it travelling, studying, or working overseas; it is advisable to commit to a reliable travel insurance. In this article, we will be exploring how to select the right travel insurance, followed by some of the best travel insurance packages in Malaysia.
Selecting an Insurance Plan
With so many travel insurance plans in Malaysia, you might find it confusing and challenging to shop for one. Fret not, as we have listed out the main factors to consider while selecting travel insurance.
1. Travel Frequency & Duration
If you’re not a frequent traveller, single trip insurance can be suitable for you. It protects you per trip throughout your travel. Usually, single trip travel insurance charges based on duration blocks up to 30 days. Some policies last for a month, while some others are extendable with weekly renewals. Single trip travel insurances usually are cheaper. However, be sure to check the coverage offered before you opt for the cheapest option.
On the other hand, if you travel frequently, it is best to select annual travel insurance. The annual travel insurance protects you during all of your trips throughout the year. Although the yearly travel insurances are more expensive, they are relatively cheaper than purchasing single trip insurances for each trip. Of course, this claim only applies to frequent travellers.
2. Destination of Travel
We are aware that there are domestic and international travel insurances. While the former includes travelling within Malaysia, the later divides its coverage by regions. Some foreign travel insurance policies only cover the selected countries, and the others take into account all countries worldwide.
That said, if you’re travelling to various countries, you will need to check if your travel insurance covers all the countries you’re visiting. On the other hand, it is worth mentioning that most insurance companies do not cover every country worldwide. To minimize their risks, insurers will exclude coverage for nations that are socially unstable or experiencing wars.
3. Insured Persons
Whether you’re travelling with your family or individually, there are insurance plans that cater to different needs. Once you have determined the number of insured persons, you can select travel insurance based on the purposes of your travels.
Individual insurance packages provide coverage for one person only. There are personal travel insurances that are made especially for travellers, students, and employees. Whether you’re going on a holiday, studying, or working overseas, the individual travel insurances offer comprehensive coverage in different aspects.
Conversely, if you’re travelling with your family, you will need to consider the number of insured persons and their relationship. Commonly, family travel insurance protects the insured person and his or her immediate family members, who are the spouse and children. Therefore, if your family is travelling in a large group that involves more than immediate family members, it is better to purchase a multiple traveller insurance package.
4. Coverage
Different reasons for travel possess different travelling needs. Hence, you will need to identify your travelling needs and make sure that your travel insurance provides enough coverage. In the events of accidental death or total permanent disability, the insured person will be eligible to claim a one-time lump sum payment. Besides, most travel insurances offer coverage on hotel cancellations, travel rearrangements, and unused flight bookings.
Nevertheless, after the lump sum payment, travel insurances do not cover the succeeding medical treatments. Also, if the insured person has more than one insurance plan, he or she can only claim from one insurance policy. This is because claiming from more than one insurance policy for the same event is considered insurance fraud.
These factors serve as a useful guideline in determining which insurance plan best suits your needs. Therefore, keep these tips in mind before you start shopping for your travel insurance.
Best Travel Insurance in Malaysia
Now that you understood how to select travel insurance, it is time to discover some of the best travel insurance plans and companies in Malaysia. To ease your researching process, we have sorted out the top 7 best travel insurances in Malaysia. Let’s check it out!
1. Allianz Travel Care Travel Insurance
This insurance is annual travel insurance that caters to adults who travel frequently. It provides up to RM350,000 coverage for medical expenses, and up to RM500,000 coverage for accidental death and permanent disablement. There is also a maximum of RM10,000,000 coverage on emergency medical evacuation and repatriation.
Besides, up to RM25,000 can be claimed for a deposit or trip cancellation. As for personal luggage/personal effects and travel documents, the insured person can claim up to RM5,000. In the events of luggage delay over 6 hours, up to RM800 can be claimed. When it comes to travel suspension, the insured person can claim RM300 for every 6-hour delay for up to RM2,000.
2. SOMPO Travel Plus Elite Travel Insurance
SOMPO Travel Plus Elite protects travelers during physical injuries, disabilities, and deaths caused by accidental and visible means. This insurance policy provides an extensive range of coverage on issues related to personal accidents.
For health-related accidents, there is coverage for accidental death, permanent total disablement, medical expenses, medicine, emergency medical evacuation and repatriation, as well as hospital allowance. On the other hand, coverage for travel-related accidents include travel and baggage delay, travel re-route, deposit and cancellation, hijacking inconvenience, missed departure, overbooking, and loss of baggage.
3. Zurich TravelPAC Silver Plan Travel Insurance
This insurance plan is among the few policies that provide coverage for both Asian countries and worldwide. In this plan, different rides cater to individual, individual and spouse, and family. You can claim varying amounts of money for travel inconvenience, personal accidents, and medical-related issues, depending on which rides you sign up for.
Some examples of the travel inconvenience covered by this policy are loss or damage of personal property, luggage delay, trip curtailment, missed departure and connecting flight or transport, hijacking, as well as travel re-route, suspension, and cancellation. In cases of personal accidents, claimable issues include accidental death, permanent disability, and child education. As for medical-related problems, medical expenses, medicine, follow-up treatment, and outpatient treatment are covered.
4. AXA Affin Smart Traveller Plan Classic
This travel insurance covers personal accidents and medical expenses that occurred to the insured persons while they are abroad. However, issues related to travel inconvenience are not under the coverage of this policy. Two geographical areas are included in the plan, namely Asia and Oceania, as well as worldwide. Unfortunately, countries like Iran, Syria, Belarus, Burma/Myanmar, Cuba, Democratic Republic of Congo, North Korea, Somalia, Sudan, and Zimbabwe are excluded from the coverage.
AXA Affin Smart Traveller Plan covers medical related issues such as medical expenses, compassionate visitation, emergency medical evacuation and repatriation, as well as repatriation of mortal remains. In terms of personal accidents, accidental death and permanent disability are covered.
5. Pacific Insurance Travel Pro Insurance
Pacific Insurance Travel Pro is one of the best insurance policies that cater to domestic travels. It has over 800 panel partners across Malaysia, including hospitals, workshops, and windscreen workshops. Hence, this plan is suitable for individuals who frequently travel across Malaysia, especially by car and flight.
The benefits of this travel insurance include medical expenses, medical inconvenience benefits, emergency medical evacuation, compassionate visitation expenses, repatriation expenses, accidental death, and permanent disablement. Other inconveniences such as travel delay, missed flight, travel misconnection, deposit, cancellation, and loss of personal property are also covered.
6. AIG Student Assist Classic Travel Insurance
This insurance plan is suitable for students who are looking to study abroad. It covers personal accidents, medical-related issues, and travel inconvenience matters. To be eligible for this policy, students must be at least 15 years old. There are single trip and annual trip insurance for this plan. While short-term exchange students can think of single trip insurance, transfer or long-term international students can choose the annual trip insurance.
The personal accidents covered include accidental death, study interruption, permanent disability, and the death or disability of education sponsor. Meanwhile, medical expenses and evacuation are claimable as medical-related issues. As for travel inconvenience, insures persons can claim for the loss of personal belongings and personal liability.
7. Etiqa TripCare 360 Takaful Gold
Etiqa TripCare 360 Takaful Gold covers both domestic and worldwide regions. There are different plans for individual traveller, senior traveller, couple, and family. The prices vary with each category. This travel insurance covers personal accidents, medical-related issues, and travel inconvenience.
International travellers can enjoy extensive coverage for travel inconvenience matters. However, domestic travellers have limited coverage. While travel and baggage delays, loss of personal belongings, homecare, and personal liability are covered, many other travel inconveniences within Malaysia are not included. Some examples are cancellation, curtailment, missed transport, hijacking, and loss of money and travel documents.
This sums up all you must know about the best travel insurance plans in Malaysia. When you shop for travel insurance plans, be it for domestic or international travels, do keep the guidelines in mind.
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