Travel Medical Insurance Dubai

Amongst the plethora of insurances available in the market, undoubtedly one of the most significant ones is medical insurance. Health insurance is one of the most essential insurance covers out there in the market. One can handle all other kinds of emergencies one way or the other, but medical emergencies can't wait for anything and anyone and always require an immediate backup. This is why, irrespective of where you are and what you are doing, you must always have health insurance plans ready right there to support you in any unforeseen mishap. And here, the travel medical insurance plans come into the picture. As part of generic travel insurance plans, travel medical insurance Dubai is solely concerned with providing you with medical support in health-related emergencies. So, scour through the below article to know everything about travel medical insurance in Dubai.

What is Travel Medical Insurance?

Travel health insurance plans or travel medical insurance plans are a sub-type of travel insurance plans that only deal with the medical part of a travel policy. Travel medical insurance plans come in handy to deal with expenses that occur in medical emergencies. For example, this plan may include your hospitalisation expenses, travel insurance medical evacuation expenses, repatriation expenses, etc. Needless to say, a travel medical insurance plan is the perfect shortcut to have every vital thing covered when you go on a trip, whether for business or leisure purposes.

Why Is It Important to Buy Travel Health Insurance?

Travelling to a new place and exploring it with all the excitement in the universe with your family is all fun and games until you find yourself stuck in an emergency. Financial and other kinds of emergencies can still be handled somehow. However, medical emergencies can be the fun police and turn the happy trip into a very stressful time. Therefore,  you should not even think of planning a trip without travel health insurance and always have proper medical insurance for travelling abroad. This insurance cover ensures that you receive proper medical attention as and when required and saves you from incurring sky-high medical expenses. Over and above, travel medical insurance plans are not just about protecting you from health-related urgencies; they also come with several other small benefits like baggage loss cover. This additional benefit of lost baggage cover means that you get to have a backup for medical pickles and travel-related hardships as well. 

Key Features of Travel Health Insurance

• Covid-19 Coverage: Most travel health insurance plans also offer Covid-19 cover now. It covers expenses for RT-PCR and other mandatory tests as well as mandatory quarantine if you catch Covid-19 infection when on the trip. Over and above, most plans cover quarantine stays of 7 to 14 days.
• Illness Cover: The most significant benefit of travel health insurance is its extensive emergency medical benefits cover. The plan holders are entitled to receive any kind of medical treatment if required in an emergency. However, you must note that treatment for pre-existing diseases is not covered here. Apart from that, emergency treatment is covered for all cases up to the assured sum of the plan.
• Lost Baggage Cover: Travel medical insurance plans may provide compensation if you happen to lose your checked-in baggage. Moreover, some plans may also cover compensation for baggage that was lost while you were travelling in a foreign country. However, lost baggage cover may come with time duration limits, and compensation is provided only when these time duration limits are met. 
• Travel Insurance Medical Evacuation Cover: If you are stuck in a remote area and find yourself in a medical emergency, you can use your travel medical insurance Dubai for rescue. There, the insurance provider will help you get to the nearest hospital. However, if the nearest hospital cannot provide you with the required treatment, the evacuation benefit may also be used to get transferred to a different hospital. Some comprehensive travel medical insurance plans can also be used to get evacuated to your home country. 
• Personal Accident Cover: Personal accident cover of a travel medical insurance plan allows you to get treatment if you meet with an accident. It also offers other generic benefits that all personal accident covers offer. Apart from that, other included benefits can be compensation for disabilities incurred in an accident as well as death benefits. 
• 24x7 Assistance: Travel medical insurance Dubai is there for you at all times. You just need to dial the customer helpline number of your insurance provider to get assistance. Whether it is about your lost luggage, accidental liabilities or medical emergencies, travel health insurance plans are available to protect you 24x7. 
• Global Coverage: Travel health insurance plans will offer you protection all over the world, no matter where you decide to go. General exclusions do apply, but apart from that, you can receive medical cover whenever and wherever you need it. 

Types of Travel Medical Insurance

Travel medical insurance plans can be divided into several parts based on the type of segregation. For example, given below are all different types of travel medical insurance plans based on individuals covered, geographical applicability and types of trips:

1. As Per the Type of Travellers

• Single-Trip Travel Health Insurance: As the name suggests, this travel medical insurance plan is designed to cover one trip at a time only. The plan coverage begins as soon as you set out on your trip and ends when the specified end date of the trip arrives. The coverage span of single-trip travel medical insurance plans can be extended up to the maximum limit specified by the provider. However, the start date can also be changed and pushed forward if your travel plans change.
• Annual Multi-Trip Travel Health Insurance: These travel medical insurance plans are made to cover multiple trips. The coverage begins and ends as per one-year tenures like health and car insurance plans do. The policyholder can be covered for all their trips within the plan's tenure. Furthermore, annual multi-trip travel insurance plans can be renewed like health and car insurance plans.  

2. As Per Geographical Coverage

• Schengen Travel Health Insurance: Schengen travel medical insurance plans are only international travel health insurance plans designed for Schengen countries. Schengen countries are a group of 26 European countries. Along with that, Schengen travel medical insurance plans are just like any other international travel medical plans but only available to be used in these 26 countries. However, the benefits included are the same as any other kind of travel health insurance plan. 
• Non-Schengen International Travel Health Insurance: As evident by the name, non-Schengen international travel medical insurance Dubai is designed to be used in any country except for Schengen countries. These travel medical insurance plans can be bought as single-trip travel health insurance or annual-multi trip health insurance. The benefits included in these plans are similar to that of Schengen international travel health insurance plans. The only point of difference here is the countries they are valid in.  

3. As Per the Policyholder

• Individual Travel Health Insurance: The individual travel health insurance plans are made to insure one person only. Here, a single policyholder can take these plans and get the coverage. Moreover, individual travel medical insurance plans are available as senior citizen plans, single-trip, and annual multi-trip travel medical insurance plans. Along with that, you can also formulate your individual travel medical plans depending on the requirement of your trip. 
• Family Travel Health Insurance: Family travel medical insurance Dubai is made to insure the policyholder as well as the dependents. For example, most family travel-health insurance plans allow you to insure one spouse and two children. However, the maximum number of members you can include in the family travel-health insurance plans may differ for every provider. Nevertheless, family travel medical insurance plans contain the same benefits like other travel medical insurance plans. 
• Student Travel Health Insurance: Student travel health insurance plans are designed specifically for students travelling abroad for studies. Further elaborating, anyone aged between 16 and 35 years of age can take this type of travel health insurance plan. The benefits included in these plans are in-line with the requirements set by the universities for student travel health insurance. In addition to the basic benefits of the medical insurance plans, student travel medical insurance Dubai may also include features like sponsor cover and study interruption cover. 
• Senior Citizen Travel Health Insurance: Travel health insurance for senior citizens is designed for people older than 65 to 70 years. Still, the minimum age limit may differ for each provider. Moreover, the maximum age limit to get a senior citizen travel health insurance plan also depends on the providers in concern. Along with that, the Senior Citizen Travel Health Insurance plans are available as both single-trip and annual multi-trip plans. 

• Group Travel Medical Insurance: Group travel insurance with medical conditions is specifically designed for corporate companies and employers to buy. Further, all small, mid and large scale companies can buy group travel insurance with medical conditions to insure their employees who travel for work-related purposes. In addition, benefits included in a group medical insurance for travel abroad are similar to those of other travel health insurance plans.

Best Travel Medical Insurance Online

Here is a comprehensive list of cheap travel medical insurance online plans in UAE :

Plan Name	Medical Cover	Max Duration	Starting from	Price
Alliance Insurance	AED 150,000	90 days/trip	AED 33
Orient Insurance	AED 150,000	92 days/trip	AED 183
See More Plans >>

What Does Travel Medical Insurance Cover?

• Emergency Medical Treatment
• Personal Accident Cover
• Emergency Travel Insurance Medical Evacuation
• Hospital Cash Allowance
• Emergency Dental Treatment
• Repatriation Cover
• Family Compassionate Visit

Emergency Medical Treatment: Apart from pre-existing diseases, travel medical insurance plans cover emergency medical treatment required for any illness. Additionally, travel health insurance covers medical tests, pharmaceuticals, and hospitalisation expenses.

Personal Accident Cover: Available on a plan-by-plan basis, personal accident cover, if included as a benefit in your plan, will offer compensation and coverage for any accidental losses. Adding to that, Personal Accident Cover includes cover for accidental injury treatment as well as compensation for disabilities caused by accidents. In addition, the death benefit is also included in personal accident cover. 

Emergency Travel Insurance Medical Evacuation: Emergency travel insurance medical evacuation benefit helps you reach a nearby hospital when you are stuck with a medical emergency in a remote area. Even more, travel insurance medical evacuation benefits can also be used to get to another hospital if the current one fails to provide you with the specific treatment you need. In addition, if your travel health insurance plan allows, the travel insurance medical evacuation cover is also available to be used to get back to the UAE when required as per your medical situation. 

Hospital Cash Allowance: The hospital cash allowance benefit of a travel medical plan is similar to that of the hospital cash benefit provided in generic health insurance plans. Having said that, the cash allowance for hospitals can be used to cover your room rent expenses when admitted to a hospital during your trip. 

Emergency Dental Treatment: If you encounter any kind of dental emergency during your trip, emergency dental expenses are there to the rescue and can be utilised for the same. However, most emergency dental covers have sub-limits in the form of maximum sum allowed overall or treat each tooth. 

Repatriation Cover: Repatriation cover can be used to transfer mortal remains of the policyholder back to the UAE if they happen to meet their demise while on the trip. So, if such a situation arises, repatriation cover can help you with the same. 

Family Compassionate Visit: Some travel medical insurance plans also cover the travel expenses of a family member if the policyholder is stuck in a foreign country due to any medical conditions. Generally, only one family member is covered for a compassionate visit.

What Add-On Covers Are Available with Travel Health Insurance?

• Pre-existing Diseases Cover: While all health insurance plans in the UAE cover pre-existing diseases as a primary benefit, travel medical insurance plans do not cover them. However, a separate add-on can be bought for pre-existing diseases coverage. This add-on will make you eligible to get all emergency medical and other healthcare-related services if you require them after falling sick due to a pre-existing disease. In addition, hospital cash benefits and emergency evacuation and repatriation services are also available in the travel medical insurance. 
• Flight Delays: Flight delay cover may often be included as a part of the basic benefits of a travel health insurance plan, while you may have to purchase an add-on for this cover other times. Moreover, a flight delay add-on cover provides compensation if your flight has been delayed. However, compensation is provided only if the pre-decided minimum delay time duration has been covered in the delay. This minimum delay duration may vary as per the provider. Generally, it ranges between 4 to 8 hours and 10 hours in some rare cases. 
• Lost/Delayed Baggage Cover: Baggage delay or/and baggage delay cover offers you compensation if your checked-in baggage is delayed or misplaced by the airline. Again, a minimum delay duration will also apply with baggage delay duration. In addition, baggage loss cover offers compensation when the airline receives confirmation of baggage loss. 
• Personal Liability Cover: A personal liability add-on cover will offer assistance if you happen to incur any kind of accidental third-party liabilities while travelling to a foreign country.

What is not Included in Travel Health Insurance?

Following are some of the most common travel health insurance exclusions:

• Trips Taken for Medical Purposes
• Travel Against Doctor's Advice
• Pre-existing Conditions
• Substance Abuse
• War or Act of War
• Medically Unnecessary Treatments
• Self-Inflicted Damages
• Alternate Treatments
• Adventure Sports

Trips Taken for Medical Purposes: If you are taking a particular trip for medical reasons only, travel medical insurance in Dubai will not cover any of your expenses. Trips taken for medical purposes include trips to receive certain kinds of treatment available in a different country, consult doctors, or get medication.

Travel Against Doctor's Advice: If your doctor has advised you not to take a particular trip, travel health insurance plans will not cover any medical expenses incurred on the said trip. For example, if your doctor has advised you to not travel in your third trimester, travel medical insurance Dubai will not cover any pregnancy-related treatments or complications despite being included as a benefit.

Pre-existing Conditions: If not covered with an add-on, pre-existing medical conditions are not covered by travel medical plans. This includes medical expenses incurred for treatment, tests or pharmaceuticals related to pre-existing diseases.

Substance Abuse: Injuries, illnesses, or other damages caused by intake of intoxicating substances is not covered by travel medical insurance plans.

War or Act of War: Damages caused by wars or any act of wars are not covered by travel medical insurance plans. This includes medical and otherwise damages as well.

Medically Unnecessary Treatments: Any treatments taken for reasons other than emergency medical reasons are not covered by medical insurance for travel abroad. Medically unnecessary treatments include cosmetic treatments, as well as treatments taken for obesity.

Self-Inflicted Damages: Suicide attempts or self-inflicted injuries are not covered by medical insurance for travel abroad.

Alternate Treatments: Alternate medications like homoeopathy or acupuncture are not covered by travel medical insurance in Dubai.

Adventure Sports: Injuries caused when participating in adventure sports are not covered with medical insurance for travel abroad. 

Advantages of Travel Health Insurance

• Immediate Medical Assistance in Remote Areas: Finding emergency medical assistance in remote areas of your home country is already hard enough. It is several times harder when you travel to a foreign country that you are mostly unfamiliar with. Therefore, your medical insurance for travel abroad will ensure that medical help reaches you no matter where you are travelling and in which remote corner. 
• Coverage for all Kinds of Trips: From single trips taken for a vacation to business trips and multiple trips taken back-to-back, there are no kinds of trips that your medical insurance for travel insurance will not cover. In essence, your medical safety is always guaranteed with a proper travel health insurance plan by your side. 
• Covers Covid-19 Expenses: Given the troubles the Covid-19 pandemic brought to the picture, most travel insurance plans now offer cover for Covid-19 related expenses as well. For example, if you test positive when on the trip and have to extend your stay, your medical insurance for travel abroad will cover the test expenses and a few days of quarantine stay expenses. 
• Allows Cashless Hospitalisation: Cashless hospitalisation allows you to get treated and have the insurance company pay the expenses directly to the hospital. This way, you do not have to keep money handy to primarily handle expenses and then get the expenses reimbursed. Over and above, most medical insurances for travel abroad allow you to get treated with direct cashless claims. 
• Handles Repatriation Expenses: Travel medical insurance plans also handle the expenses of transferring the mortal remains of the insured person. 
• Offers Peace of Mind: Most of all, having a proper travel medical insurance plan when you leave for a foreign country will allow you to have peace of mind. Moreover, you will be able to enjoy your trip or perform your tasks stress-free with good travel health insurance backing you up. 

Eligibility Criteria to Buy Travel Medical Insurance

Basic eligibility criteria to buy travel medical insurance in the UAE is incredibly simple. You either have to be a resident or a citizen of the UAE to get travel health insurance. Additionally, people older than 18 years of age can buy a policy under their name. Anyone younger than 18 years and older than 30 days can be added as dependent in a travel medical insurance plan. Further eligibility conditions may apply as per the type of medical insurance for travel abroad you buy. Given below are the complete eligibility conditions as per the type of travel medical plan:

• Individual Travel Health Insurance: Any UAE resident or citizen older than 18 years of age can buy individual medical insurance for travel abroad. 
• Family Travel Health Insurance: Two adults, a policyholder plus one more, and two children below the age of 18 years can be added to a family travel health plan. Further, adults have to be younger than 60 years of age, though. Additionally, the minimum age for child dependents is 30 days. 
• Senior Citizen Travel Health Insurance: Any UAE citizen or resident older than 60-65 years of age can buy senior citizen medical insurance for travelling abroad. However, medical fitness tests may be required for people older than 70 years of age. 
• Student Travel Insurance: Students travelling abroad can get a student travel medical insurance plan for study purposes. For student travel insurance, the students have to be aged from 16 to 36 years, though. Apart from that, university documents may be required as a proof for buying the student travel insurance. 

Documents Required to Buy Travel Health Insurance

You must have a valid identity proof to get travel medical insurance in Dubai. Your Emirates ID, passport and residents visa may suffice as proof of identity. In addition to that, some types of plans may require you to submit proof of purpose of visit, such as student travel health insurance plans. Although, trip tickets and accommodation booking proof are mainly not required. Still, you must have your travel dates ready with you when you set out to buy a travel medical insurance plan in the UAE.

How to Claim Your Travel Health Insurance?

You can make two kinds of claims for your medical insurance for travel abroad – reimbursement claims and direct claims. Reimbursement claims can be used for benefits like repatriation expenses and compassionate family visits. On the other hand, direct cashless claims can be used for emergency medical hospitalisation and similar benefits. Please note that cashless claims are only applicable when you get treated at one of the network hospitals of your insurance plan.

Given below are claim procedures for both kinds of travel medical insurance claims:

Direct Cashless Claims

• If you are in a medical emergency, contact the emergency helpline of the country you are staying in. Then, please reach the hospital and contact your insurance provider and inform them about the situation at hand. 
• If you cannot perform the aforementioned activities yourself, have someone do them on your behalf. 
• Next, get your treatment approved by the insurance company by submitting the relevant documents at the time of the medical emergency. 
• Once the hospital receives the approval, they will make arrangements with the insurance for direct payments as per the plan's assured sum. 
• You can settle the remaining bill yourself right away, if any. 

Reimbursement Claims

• Obtain a reimbursement claim form from the official website of your insurance company and duly fill it out.
• Attach it with the required documents like the receipts of all the expenses you want to reimburse, medical reports, payment receipts, etc. 
• Combine all the essential documents and mail them to the claim settlement cell of your insurance provider. You can also send everything via mail or submit an online request on the provider's official website. 
• The claim settlement cell of your travel insurance company will study the claim documents and send an approval email to you. 
• Reimbursements will arrive in the bank account you list in your claim form.

How to Buy Travel Medical Insurance?

You can buy your medical insurance for travel abroad via online or offline platforms. Many website providers and Policybazaar offer seamless options to buy your medical insurance for travel abroad online. In addition, you can visit one of the branches of your provider or contact an agent to buy your travel medical insurance offline.

Online Purchasing Process via Policybazaar.ae

• Go to policybazaar.ae and head to the travel insurance column. Then, fill out the lead form with the required information. You will need a few simple details about your upcoming trip as well. 
• Once you have duly filled out the form, you will be led to the page that contains all potential plans perfect for your travel requirement.
• Choose the medical travel insurance abroad that you like the most. Then, compare medical travel insurance prices and benefits on the spot. 
• Now, pick your perfect plans and move forward to buy them. Next, provide your basic details when prompted.
• Also, add your travel details to choose the validity window of the plan. 
• Pick any add-ons if you like and add the required documents for purchasing the plan. 
• Make payments and complete the process. After making the payments, you will receive the confirmation of your purchase on your registered mobile number and the email id. 
• Finally, the policy documents will be sent via email as well.

Similar steps can be followed when buying your insurance plans from the provider's website. However, a few changes may apply as per the pattern and interface of your provider's website.

Offline Process to Buy Travel Medical Insurance UAE

The offline process to buy Travel Medical Insurance UAE is as simple as it was online:

• Contact your agent or visit one of the branch offices of your provider. 
• Either be prepared with the plan of your choice or choose a plan from the list that your provider or agent offers on the spot. 
• Get the application form, fill it out, attach the required documents and submit. 
• Once the form has been processed and approved, you will need to make the payments. 
• Make the payments and finalise your purchase. 
• You will get your policy documents physically via mail or your agent. 

How to Renew Your Travel Health Insurance?

Please note that Single-trip medical travel insurance plans expire soon after your trip ends. And only annual multi-trip medical insurance for travel abroad can be renewed. In addition, the renewal process of any annual multi-trip travel health insurance plan is similar to that of other renewable general insurance plans. Worry not, as we have attached a complete list of all the steps included in this process of renewing your travel health insurance:

Steps to Renew Your Travel Medical Insurance Plans Online

• Go to the official website of your provider and locate the renewal portal for travel insurance plans. If you have bought your insurance plan from aggregators like Policybazaar UAE, follow the same steps and locate the renewal portal.
• Log in using your policyholder credentials and open the renewal form.
• Fill in the required details here, including your personal information and the travel medical plan you want to renew. However, if you want to continue with the same plan as before, skip this step.
• Here, add or remove add-ons.
• Now, add the required documents next and recheck everything once. 
• Proceed to finalise all the details and make payments on the payment portal. 
• You will receive a renewal notification on your phone and your registered email id. In addition, the policy documents will be forwarded to your email id as well. 

Steps to Renew Your Travel Medical Insurance Dubai Offline

• Go to a nearby branch office of your provider or contact your agent if you have one. 
• Submit a request for renewal at the branch office or ask your agent to renew your plan.
• You will need physical copies of all the essential documents to renew your medical insurance for travel abroad offline. So make sure you have them.
• Submit the documents at the branch office with the renewal form and make payments. If you have an agent, they will submit the documents on your behalf. 
• You will receive renewal confirmation on your registered mobile number and email id.
• Finally, the policy documents will arrive offline via email, or your agent will deliver them.

How to Choose the Best Travel Medical Insurance UAE?

Choosing the best medical insurance for travelling abroad can be tiresome, especially if you do not know how to go about the selection process. However, choosing the best travel medical insurance UAE is not as daunting as it seems; as you can keep the following essential pointers in mind while selecting your travel medical insurance in Dubai:

• Compare Your Options: Buying the best medical insurance for travelling abroad is not possible unless you sit back and spend ample time comparing the available options. Begin with conducting some online research and shortlist a few options that you find the best out of the lot. Then, spend another few hours comparing the finer details of all the top options. One crucial factor to keep in mind is ensuring that the travel medical insurance plan you choose is the most cost-effective. 
• Buy Online: Purchasing your medical insurance for travelling abroad online has a lot of benefits. For example, you not only get instant coverage but may also score some additional discounts. This is because most providers allow hefty discounts to policyholders who buy their travel insurance online. In addition to that, services like renewal and claims are only a click away for you. Over and above, user experience and ease of buying are also significant parts of finding the best travel medical insurance plan. 
• Read Reviews: When you read the travel insurance with medical conditions reviews left by existing customers of a provider, you get an accurate picture of what being a customer with that provider will be like. Apart from that, you get valuable insights into the services and plans that other people have found helpful and valuable. So always read travel insurance with medical conditions reviews from customers before finalising your travel health insurance plan. 
• Customise the Coverage: Adding a few riders to customise your medical insurance for travelling abroad may come in handy and prove utterly beneficial. For example, add-ons like baggage cover, flight cover and pre-existing cover can be beneficial and open your travel medical plan to cover other aspects of your trip as well. However, be careful and only get the add-ons you need the most, as add-ons come with an additional premium, which will increase the price of your plan quite a lot. 
• Don't Buy Bundle Deals: Many airlines offer travel medical insurance in Dubai and basic UAE travel insurance as a bundle deal with your flight tickets. Although buying your travel health insurance with flight tickets may seem easy, it may not be an intelligent choice. This is because the insurance offered in bundle plans are overly expensive and do not provide the required level of coverage. 
• Choose Plans as Per Number of Trips: Single-trip travel insurance is only applicable when you have just one trip to cover. However, if you are supposed to take multiple trips within one year, taking a multi-trip plan can be a smart choice. Generally, it is ideal for people taking 3 or more trips in one year starting from the initial date of the policy.

Travel Health Insurance FAQs