Travel Insurance – India fastest growing travel insurance market

One of the fastest growing travel insurance markets is India with total premiums for this year expected to increase by 20%.  This is good news for the travel insurance industry in India which as seen a recent decline in travel insurance sales due to the slowdown in travel especially in the corporate market which makes up 25% of the total sales. However, leisure travel for tourists traveling abroad is expected to increase in the coming years and makes up 60% of all travel insurance sales with the balance of sales from students studying abroad.

According to industry statistics, 14.7 Million travel health insurance policies were sold in 2008 which represented total premium sales of Rs 296 crore or approximately $66 Million Canadian. When you compare these sales with Canadians who spend approximately $1 Billion on travel insurance annually, India is still a relatively small market. Travel Insurance sales in India currently represents 6 per cent of the total health insurance premium sales, but is one of the few profitable lines of business for general insurers.

Typically travel insurance policies sold in India cover emergency travel health insurance up to a maximum of $2.5 lakh or the equivalent of $250,000 dollars Canadian. The average premium for someone travelling to Canada or the USA for 90 days is between Rs 1,900 and Rs 2,500, $46 to $56 Canadian respectively. Compared to the cost of travel insurance for Canadians travelling to the USA for 90 days this does not seem like much, however the average annual income in India is less than $1,000 Canadian which makes travel insurance a very expense purchase for most people in India.

It is estimated that only 15% overseas travellers purchase travel insurance as most people in India are unaware of the importance of travel insurance. This is likely to change over time as more and more foreign hospitals deny access to medical care to non-insured travellers from India. By comparison most Canadian travellers are aware of the risks and consequently 70% will purchase travel health insurance.

Given India’s population of more than 1.2 Billion with a growing segment travellers who are starting to purchase travel health insurance for their overseas trips, it is not surprising that India could become one of the largest travel insurance markets worldwide in the next decade.

Always travel Safe & Secure – travel insured!

Mark Anevich
Travel Insurance Expert
LinkedIn Profile

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