The perception around travel insurance has changed considerably after the Covid-19 pandemic, a new survey by ICICI Lombard has revealed.
In fact, there is a keenness to buy insurance, particularly while travelling abroad. According to the survey, 76 per cent of customers surveyed said they bought travel insurance for international trips after the pandemic. This is a significant increase compared to a pre-pandemic level of 50 per cent, the survey added.
Out of those who are planning international travel, 94 per cent said they will be buying a travel insurance policy for their trip.
“Surely, the pandemic has converted travel insurance from a commodity to a necessity,” the survey said.
The survey cites three purposes for travelling abroad after the pandemic, namely, business, medical reasons, and education.
According to the survey, for the three categories, the increase in instances of buying travel insurance were as follows:
For business: Increased from 22 per cent in pre-pandemic to 30 per cent post-pandemic
For medical reasons: Increased from 2 per cent pre-pandemic to 4 per cent post-pandemic
For education: Dropped from 73 per cent pre-pandemic to 69 per cent post-pandemic
Incidentally, the main reason behind opting for travel insurance was due to the “COVID medical cover” offering, a reason cited by 25 per cent of customers who bought the insurance.
In terms of the purpose of travel, 67 per cent of customers travelling for business opted for the cover, compared to 74 per cent of those travelling for holiday, and 72 per cent for education.
The survey also suggested that 72 per cent of customers bought this insurance to get the benefit of medical expenses for COVID-19. Despite the decline in cases, this reason is likely to encourage customers towards insurance in the future, the findings revealed.
Other reasons for buying travel insurance included emergency hotel extension (59 per cent), and trip cancellation (56 per cent), especially among frequent flyers.
The survey further revealed that 64 per cent of customers opting for travel insurance were consciously looking for it. Only 22 per cent customers bought it, as it was mandatory with the ticket.
“This supports the larger observation of people being more self-conscious about buying travel insurance cover today, compared to the pre-pandemic scenario,” the survey said.
The survey comprised 798 people – 453 men and 345 women. Of these, 581 belonged to the 25-35 age group, and 215 were in the 35-45 years age group. The sampling process was divided into four zones - North (197), South (205), East (200), and West (196).
The survey aimed at understanding and analysing two key aspects, namely, understanding the travel behaviour of customers, and their future intentions towards travel insurance.
