Group Travel Insurance

Travelling is a bliss that is enjoyed even more when you share the experience with your family and friends. At the same time, due to the possibility of facing unexpected difficulties at locations away from your home, insuring your trips is one of the most important things to do when you are setting up your travel plans. However, if you are travelling with a large group of travel companions, buying individual travel insurance plans can be a hectic thing, not to mention expensive. 

This is where group travel insurance plans come into the picture. Designed to insure all your travelling companions under a single policy, these plans are convenient to solve your travel insurance requirements swiftly. In that light, let’s have a look at some of the significant aspects of group travel insurance.

What is Group Travel Insurance?

A group travel insurance plan is a type of travel insurance plan designed to cover a group of travellers under a single policy. With a group travel insurance, you can find similar benefits as any generic travel insurance plan. If you are travelling with group of people with the same travel itinerary, you can take a group travel insurance plan instead of taking multiple individual ones. 

The only condition here is that all your travelling companions must clear the eligibility criteria and have the same travel dates too. There is a minimum number of travellers required to get a group travel insurance plan. However, the great feature here is that you can obtain a group travel insurance plan for both personal reasons and group business travel insurance plans

International Group Travel Insurance:

These group travel insurance plans are designed to cover your international trips outside the UAE. The benefits included in these plans can be medical benefits, trip-related benefits, and luggage and flight-related benefits. 

Domestic Group Travel Insurance:

As the name suggests, a domestic group travel insurance plan is made to cover all domestic travels within the UAE. Notably, some plans may cover a few other gulf regions as well. The benefits included are pretty much the same as the international group travel insurance plan. 

Personal Group Travel Insurance:

A personal group travel insurance plan is made to cover your private trips with friends and family. The coverage is similar to that of the other two types of group travel insurance explained. You can avail of a personal group travel insurance plan for both international and domestic travel. 

Group Business Travel Insurance:

Group business travel insurance plans are designed to cover the trips taken for work or business purposes. A group business travel insurance plan is given especially for business-related trips only, and you and your colleagues on the trip can get this insurance cover from your company. Group business travel insurance plans, much like generic business travel insurance plans, offer cover regarding expenses tied to medical situations, luggage, flight, etc.

Best Group Travel Insurance Online

Here is a comprehensive list of cheap group travel 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 >>

Features and Benefits of Group Travel Insurance

Emergency Medical Cover: All types of emergency medical treatment required during your travels are covered by group travel insurance plans. Unless it is a pre-existing disease or a critical condition, the emergency treatment for your injuries and illnesses will be covered by your travel insurance plan. 

Trip Cancellation Cover: If you have to cancel your trip due to an unforeseen emergency, your group travel insurance plan would cover all the expenses that went into the pre-booked activities and things. This includes flight tickets, accommodation bookings, and other pre-booked activities. 

Trip Curtailment Cover: If you have to cut short your trip and come back to the UAE in the middle, your group travel insurance plan will not only cover the expenses of pre-booked things that cannot be utilised but also cover the emergency flight expenses. 

Cover for Luggage and Travel Documents: Your luggage is your mini-home when you are travelling to a foreign country. Additionally, your travel documents are the most important thing you will require to go back home. Losing either of these two things could make for an immensely unpleasant situation. Your group travel insurance plan would offer compensation to get essentials if you lose your luggage. Moreover, reimbursement is also given for the expenses made to get a replacement passport if you lose your original one. 

Cover Against Hijack and Other Disasters: Apart from natural disasters like a thunderstorm, man-made disasters can also strike mid-travel, with hijack being one of the major instances. Your group travel insurance plan covers you against all such man-made and natural disasters. Depending on the disaster at hand, you can get the pre-allotted compensation. 

Hassel-Free Claim Process: Submitting claims against your group travel insurance plans is swift and incredibly easy. All that you have to do is gather the necessary documents, submit a properly filed claim form and documents, and wait for the approval. The settlement money will be sent to your registered bank account. 

Instant Coverage: Most group travel insurance plans provide instant coverage for benefits like trip cancellation and postponement. Moreover, the rest of the benefits are available from the moment your trip begins. This provides you the assurance that you can rely on your travel insurance plan in UAE to protect you from all possible emergencies and problems. 

Insures Large Groups of People: With a group travel insurance plan, you can easily insure a large group of people under one policy. Most group travel insurance plans take at least 10 people as insured members. 

Best Travel Insurance Partners in UAE

Why Do You Need Group Travel Insurance?

Affordable Travel Protection:

As these travel insurance plans cover the whole group under a single policy, the coverage becomes significantly more affordable compared to individual plans. This advantage is present whether it’s a group health insurance plan or a family health insurance plan. Bulk coverage turns your plan into a cheap group travel insurance plan, allowing you to enjoy almost all the benefits offered by an individual plan at a lesser price. 

Covers Multiple People:

Most group travel insurance plans cover a minimum of 10 travellers at once. So if you are travelling with a large group, you can easily get one group travel insurance plan to cover everyone. Group travel insurance is, thus, essential in your shopping list if you are indeed planning with a large group. 

Basic Yet Comprehensive Coverage:

If you and your fellow travellers only require a basic level of coverage for your journey, group travel insurance plans can be your go-to thing. The coverage offered by these plans may appear basic but is comprehensive enough to satisfy all your travel needs. 

Helps in Medical Emergencies:

A group travel insurance plan comes in handy when you find yourself in a medical emergency. Dealing with medical emergencies is difficult even when you are at home. It becomes even harder when you are away from home in a foreign country or even the same nation where you are not as familiar with the surroundings and due procedure to follow in a medical emergency. Additionally, getting medical treatment is often expensive. This is why you need a group travel insurance plan to ensure that besides getting a hospital that can offer due treatment, you can also have your expenses covered. 

Saves from Financial Losses:

Travelling is highly affected by uncertainties, as even the smallest unforeseen situation can change or cancel your travel plans. Such changes can result in considerable losses even if you plan a solo or pair travel. However, when cancellation or change of plans occurs with a large group, this results in massive financial losses for you and your travel companions as well. With a proper group travel insurance plan in place, you can get compensated for all your pre-booked activities without worrying about any losses. 

Covers Multiple Non-Medical Emergencies:

In addition to helping you with medical emergencies, your group travel insurance plan also helps in handling non-medical emergencies during your travels. This can include stolen or lost luggage items, shortage of money, emergency curtailment of trips, etc. 

Who Should Opt for Group Travel Insurance?

Given the certain level of conditions and restrictions applying to this type of travel insurance plan, only a certain type of travellers can fully appreciate and enjoy the benefits that they offer. Group travel insurance plans are only suitable for people who plan to travel in groups of at least 10 people and have the exact same travel itinerary. 

Besides that, people who are yet again travelling as a group of at least 10 people need only basic travel insurance coverage. So if you don’t expect any specific issues on your trip, you can take such plans as most group travel insurance plans only provide a basic level of coverage. Additionally, if you want to add a little more convenience to your travel planning, you can again choose to get a group travel insurance plan instead of getting individual plans. 

Travel Insurance by Age Group
Travel Insurance for over 65	Travel Insurance for over 70	Travel Insurance for over 75

Inclusions of Group Travel Insurance

The basic general inclusions of a group travel insurance plan can be divided into 3 basic parts – trip-related coverages, medical coverage, and baggage-related coverage. Given below is a brief of all the benefits included in these three categories:

Trip and Flight Related Coverage

• Trip Cancellation Cover: This benefit offers coverage if your trip is cancelled due to an unforeseen reason. However, this benefit only covers cancellation if the reason for the same is genuinely unforeseen or unexpected. Previously known or suspected reasons for cancellation are not covered. 
• Trip Curtailment Cover: If you are required to cut short your trip due to an emergency at hand, the group travel insurance plan will cover the travel expenses as well as all pre-booked activities and accommodation. It should be kept in mind that the trip curtailment benefit generally comes into effect only if at least half of your trip is still remaining. 
• Flight Cancellation Cover: If your flight happens to get cancelled due to weather complications or other unforeseen complications at hand, your group travel insurance will cover the flight expenses for you. 
• Flight Delay Cover: In case you have to wait at the airport for a delayed flight, your purchased group travel insurance plan offers compensation for your waiting time. The compensation is divided as per the number of hours you wait at the airport. A minimum waiting time may have to be covered to attain the eligibility for compensation. 
• Missed Connection Flight Cover: If your trip includes a connecting flight that you miss due to a delay at the airport you started from, the group travel insurance plan will cover the cost of the missed flight. 
• Hijack Cover: Allowance is provided if your flight gets hijacked mid-air. The group travel insurance plan allowance, in such cases, is given as per the hours spent being hijacked. 
• Financial Assistance Cover: Several group travel insurance plans also offer financial assistance or cash allowance if the insured person runs low on funds. 

Medical Benefits

• Emergency Medical Cover: Group travel insurance plans, as a general rule, cover every kind of emergency medical treatment required when you are on a trip. At the same time, a few exclusions may apply here like critical illnesses, pre-existing diseases, terminal illnesses, and so on. Similarly, this cover is not applicable if you are travelling specifically for medical reasons or against the advice of the doctors. 
• Medical Evacuation Cover: If you find yourself stuck in a remote area without any easily accessible hospitals, your insurance plan will cover emergency evacuation services. These services can be employed to seek transfer to a nearby network hospital. If the hospital you are in cannot provide you with the required treatment, the plan may also cover the expenses of getting transferred to a new network hospital. 
• Hospital Daily Cash Allowance: If you need to stay in the hospital to recover or to receive further treatment after a medical emergency, the hospital may pay an allowance for the hospital stay. 
• Personal Accident Cover: A personal accident cover provides special care for accidental injuries. It also pays compensation if the accident causes disability or death. 
• Compassionate Visit Cover: Some group travel insurance plans pay for one of your blood relatives to come and visit you if you are stuck in a foreign country due to hospitalisation. Importantly, the benefit only covers family members and offers coverage for basic flight tickets and accommodation in some cases.  
• Medical Repatriation: If a policyholder happens to meet their demise during the trip, the group travel insurance plans may cover the expenses required for repatriation of the mortal remains of the policyholder.

Baggage Related Coverage

• Loss of Checked-in Baggage: If the baggage that you checked in at the airport gets lost during transit, the group travel insurance plan will pay compensation for it. 
• Loss of Personal Documents: Loss of travel documents like passports also earns a small compensation that is sufficient to get a new passport on the go. 
• Delayed Checked-in Baggage: If your checked-in baggage gets delayed beyond a certain number of hours, the group travel insurance plan will provide a compensatory amount to cover the waiting time. 
• Luggage Loss: If you happen to lose your luggage while on the trip, the group travel insurance will offer a compensation amount to buy the essentials. 

Exclusions of Group Travel Insurance

• Illnesses and injuries caused when partaking in illegal activities
• Pre-existing diseases unless covered by an add-on or separate coverage
• Self-inflicted injuries or suicide
• Any kind of injuries and illnesses caused due to intoxication, alcohol abuse, or operating under the influence of drugs 
• Medical expenses if the trip has been taken on the doctor’s advice for medical treatment 
• Medical expenses if the trip has been taken despite the advice of doctors
• Any damages or injuries sustained because of war or war-like situations 
• Any damages and injuries sustained due to radioactivity or nuclear explosions 
• Any type of expenses that are non-medical in nature 
• Any medical expenses that do not qualify as an emergency
• Treatments and procedures done for cosmetics reasons 
• Pregnancy-related expenses and any medical expenses related to complicated pregnancy unless covered by maternity cover
• Injuries caused when taking part in professional sports or adventure sports unless covered by an add-on 

How to Make a Claim for Group Travel Insurance Plans?

Baggage and Document Loss Claim

Claim Submission Process

• Contact the local police station and report the lost baggage or the lost travel documents. 
• Get an official report filed and take a copy with you to file claims. 
• Contact the insurance provider and inform them about the lost luggage or the documents. 
• Obtain a claim form from the official website of the provider and duly fill it. Attach the police report and an itemised list of all the stolen or lost items. 
• Send everything to the insurance provider by mail or an online submission as per the availability of the service. 
• Your claim settlement will be given out as a reimbursement amount as per the limits of the plan. 

Documents Required for Baggage and Document Loss Claim

• A copy of your passport
• A duly filled claim form obtained from the official website of the provider
• A copy of the police report
• An itemised list of everything that you have lost and a document to prove ownership of the lost items - original purchase receipt of the lost items can suffice
• If precious jewellery has been lost or stolen, a valuation certificate will be required.
• If your passport has been lost or stolen, submit the receipt for the replacement passport you applied for at the embassy. A copy of the receipt will work as well. 
• If the baggage has been lost by the airline or a common carrier service, receipt or bag slips are required as proof. 

Trip Cancellation Claims 

Claim Submission Process

• Call the provider to let them know about the cancellation of your covered trip. 
• Obtain a claim form from the provider's website, fill it out properly, and attach the required documents related to the bookings of your trip. 
• Submit the form on the official online claim portal of the provider or send it via mail. 

Documents Required for Trip Cancellation Claims 

• All tickets and booking documents for the pre-booked activities, flights, connecting flights, accommodation, and more 
• Receipts for all the essentials things specifically purchased for this trip
• A letter explaining the reason for the cancellation of your trip - this letter must represent the fact that the cancellation reason is an unforeseen emergency, and could not be adjusted
• Properly filled claim for trip cancellation claims

Flight Delay Claims 

Claim Submission Process

• Contact the airline and ask them to provide you with a confirmation letter or some sort of documented proof of the delay in your booked flight. 
• Call your insurance provider and ask them to initiate a claim. Get a reference number if available. 
• Take a claim form and fill it properly as per the required claim. 
• Attach all the required documents and prepare them for submission. 
• Submit the claim form attached with all the required documents via online channels or offline channels. 

Documents Required for Flight Delay Claims

• A confirmation letter of delay from the airline stating the reason as well as the duration of the delay - make sure that you get the total number of hours the flight was delayed for 
• If you are filing a missed connection flight claim, you will need this confirmation letter again as a supporting document. It will represent the reason that you missed your connecting flight due to a delay in the initial flight. 
• All invoices and tickets related to your flight bookings.

Trip Curtailment Claims

Claim Submission Process

• If your trip is about to get cut short, inform the insurance provider about the situation at the earliest.
• Tell the insurance provider the reason for trip curtailment. Before that, first ensure that this reason is one of the covered curtailment reasons of your provider. 
• Obtain a claim form and fill out the trip curtailment section properly. 
• Attach all the required documents and prepare the set for submission. 
• Submit your claim documents via the online claim platform or courier them to the claim settlement cell. 

Documents Required

• All flight tickets booked for the actual date of return 
• Flight tickets booked as an emergency return
• All tickets related to pre-booked activities with a section showing the price of the activities
• Accommodation bookings as well as any pre-booked additional service you signed up for

Medical Expenses Claims 

Claim Submission Process

• If a medical emergency has emerged due to an accident, contact the police and submit a proper report. 
• Call ambulance services and reach one of the nearby network hospitals of your plan. Make sure you are aware of the network of hospitals covered by your insurance provider. 
• Contact the provider to inform them about the medical emergency, the hospital you are visiting, and the treatment you require. 
• Once at the hospital, connect with the front desk and let them know about your insurance cover. 
• The front desk will connect with your provider and take the approval for treatment. 
• The treatment will be covered directly by the provider from this point forward.
• You will be asked to fill out a few required direct claim forms at the hospital and submit them at the front desk. The provider will also send a list of required documents required to the hospital. 
• Save the receipts you get from the hospital as well as the police report, as you will be required to submit them to the provider as supporting documents. 

Things to Keep in Mind When Buying Group Travel Insurance

Evaluate Your Requirements:

Figuring out what you require as a traveller is crucial before you start the purchasing process for your group travel insurance plan. Talk to all the group members and figure out the kind of coverage they require, as it will allow you to make a common list accommodating everyone’s requirements. Once this step is completed, now is the time to search for a suitable group travel insurance plan that fits all these requirements on your list. 

Compare the Coverages:

Once you are set to find a good group travel insurance plan, be prepared to draw a series of comparisons. Comparing your top options for travel insurance plans is the best way to find the best available plans for you. Besides circling down a plan with ideal benefits, you will also be able to determine whether it is cost-effective. 

Read Customer Reviews:

Always take some time out to cover the reviews of existing or previous customers of a provider. Search for reviews specific to the plan that you want to buy and see if it is really worth investing in. Buying your group travel insurance solely based on the recommendation of the provider may not prove as beneficial as expected. Consequently, reading customer reviews must be on the top of your list when planning to buy a group travel insurance plan. 

Consider the Flexibility:

Always consider the flexibility of the plan that you plan to buy. Verify if the provider allows you to extend the number of vacation days on your plan. You should also check whether the coverage can be postponed if your travel dates shift further. As you will be insured as a group where you have to take everyone’s needs and requirements under consideration, buying flexible travel insurance is one of the most essential things.

How to Compare Group Travel Insurance Properly?

The easiest way to compare your group travel insurance plans is to make policybazaar.ae your one-stop destination for all travel insurance-related needs. Follow the given steps to compare your travel insurance plans and buy them instantly:

• Visit policybazaar.ae and head to the travel insurance section. 
• Locate the lead form on the right and use your basic information to fill out the form. 
• Once you have filled out the form, you will be taken to the quotes page of the group travel insurance plans available in the UAE. 
• Compare all the available plans and choose a cheap group travel insurance plan that suits your requirements the best. Make sure you compare all the benefits as well. 
• Once you have picked your plan and compared all the available benefits, proceed to make your purchase.
• Fill out the available application form and submit it with the required documents.
  That’s it, you are all set now! 
• Make sure that you have checked not only the plan but also the provider. Compare different providers for different kinds of plans offered and the standard of their services. 
• Read a few customer reviews on our website as well as the provider website to make an informed decision. While buying cheap group travel insurance should be of priority, one must also pay heed to the kind of service provider they are signing on. 

With several people in your group involved, there is a possibility of massive financial losses in case of cancellation of plans or any emergencies. To avoid that, you should be aware of the minutest details of group travel insurance plans. Addressed below are some key aspects and doubts regarding group travel insurance in the UAE.

Group Travel Insurance – More to Know