What insurance policy to choose when going on vacation with children abroad, for example, to Turkey? We figured out what typical risks for a holiday in this country are included in insurance, which insurance companies do not charge a higher price for children than for adult tourists, and why it is better for families with children to immediately look for insurance rates on a turnkey basis.
The problem concerns organized tourists, of course, to a lesser extent: after all, they already have policies in the tour package for all participants in the tour – from the insurance company with which the tour operator cooperates on or another direction.
But, as a rule, all these are “basic” inexpensive insurances, and in the vast majority of cases, with a deductible (that is, amounts up to a certain limit – 30-50 euros), the tourist pays for himself. Therefore, many family clients of tour operators often buy a second policy for themselves or their children – with extended coverage and no deductible.
Going on vacation with children, tourists should be especially careful when choosing such an insurance policy. There are several important nuances to be aware of. Firstly, some companies have policies for children that are more expensive than for adults. And besides, insurance with a “low price” may not include all the risks typical for recreation. Therefore, just opening some online aggregator and comparing prices is far from the most practical option.
We will tell you in more detail why this is so, and which travel insurance options tourists with children should take a closer look at.
“SPECIAL PRICE” OF INSURANCE POLICIES FOR CHILDREN ABOVE? WHY?
In Russia, the consumer always has a subconscious expectation that “children's” prices for many services in many cases will be lower than for adults. “Children's” tickets, fares, discounts – all this surrounds us, and we are used to it.
But it is not so in insurance. Quite a few insurers in the Russian market (but, fortunately, not all) believe that a child is a “more risky” being. He moves a lot, indulges, he is not yet aware of the many risks himself, there are specific childhood infections. And therefore the policy on it should cost more.
So, when analyzing insurance policies (we took the same dates – from August 1 to August 11) with coverage of at least 40 thousand rubles, it turned out that a number of large insurance companies have a policy for children under 10 years old can cost from 1, 5 to 2 times more expensive than a similar “adult”.
Some companies introduce increased special rates for children under 3 years old, most – up to 10 years old, but some companies have policies for teenagers (from 10 to 17 years), on the contrary, are even somewhat cheaper.
Of the companies that do not take higher rates for children, we note EUROINS Travel Insurance (formerly ERV), Tinkoff Insurance, Rosgosstrakh and a number of others. They have the same policy price for adults and children. What is the reason for such different approaches of insurers to the issue of children's insurance?
Historically, there are two models of travel risk insurance on the market. The size of the insurance premium, that is, the price of a policy for a tourist, is calculated by some companies from the market and their own accumulated statistics of insured events. Indeed, for children, the frequency of seeking medical assistance abroad is higher than for adults, and therefore some companies charge a higher price for children's risk insurance, considering it “personalized” insurance.
Other insurances, including , for example, “Euroins”, do not argue with these statistics. But they also see the other side of the issue: for the insurer, the price of settling issues with children's appeals is just lower.
“Yes, children get sick and injured more often, but, as a rule, they have minor injuries and short-lived illnesses, they need hospitalization less often, in general, their treatment is just cheaper than that of adults. And adults get sick less often than children, but more severely. And for the insurer, their treatment is on average more expensive. Therefore, we see no reason to allocate some kind of higher rate for children,” explains Yulia Alcheeva, Deputy Director of the branch of EUROINS Travel Insurance (formerly ERV).
< p>Interestingly, the price of a “single” policy by age for all companies that do not charge higher rates for children is also approximately the same – for example, in the region of 1.8 thousand rubles. for 11 days to Turkey for dates from August 1 to August 11 (if you buy without promotions and discounts on company websites). This may seem more expensive than companies that charge adults and children separately.
But… take your time. Not everything, as they say, is “so clear”.
CHRONIC DISEASES, ACTIVITIES, SUNBURN, FURTHER EVERYWHERE
The story with two models of children's risk insurance on the market continues. Two more approaches can be distinguished in the travel insurance market: “optional” (“personalized”, “constructors”) insurance of tourist risks and “package”.
For the first approach, it is typical to show low prices for “basic” or “standard” policies in the calculations, but the number of risks typical for a tourist in coverage may be small. Additional risks are displayed in the form of a set of paid options (as in the sale of some cars – “mats and mudguards for an additional fee”), from which you can choose, as from a “constructor”, by ticking (for example) checkboxes in the list.
< p> the Model quite has the right to life. For business travelers or tourists on short city tours, inexpensive basic options are often very convenient. But for family tourists on beach destinations, this is not always the case. Why?
Firstly, often in inexpensive basic policies for adults (and in more expensive “children's”, also basic ones) the typical, most frequent risks are not included in the main set.
For example, take at least ” leisure”. For a number of insurance companies, this concept, for example, includes not only riding on water “bananas” or on ATVs, or “excursions to the caves”, but also … riding on water slides in the hotel's water park. Or even just “active games in the pool with inflatables.”
However, it is quite obvious that, for example, for the most massive destination, Turkey, the most standard children's vacation in a hotel with water slides (and they are in almost every hotel) necessarily includes riding them. This is not some separate “particularly active”, but the most ordinary vacation, like everyone else. standard, so to speak.
But companies that profess an “optional” approach will have to pay extra for water slides in the form of an “active recreation” option, as well as for an excursion to a cave or rafting. And your “cheap” policy will immediately rise in price. If you do not do this (mistakenly thinking, for example, that “active recreation” means only paragliding, skiing freeride, or something like that), then the insurance may rightfully refuse to cover the costs of treating your injury later. your child in the water park.
Also, a number of companies have introduced “sunburns” as a separate paid option. And although for the same holiday in Turkey, this risk is generally basic, and not optional, such companies will also have to pay extra for including it in the policy coverage – from 400 to 2.4 thousand rubles. “Inexpensive policy”, as we see, will continue to rise in price.
They may not be included in the price of standard packages without options, for example, and “exacerbation of chronic diseases on a trip.” This is important as this risk is common, especially for adults (parents). So, according to the statistics of the same “EUROINS”, in the summer such exacerbations can account for up to 70% of all requests for medical help.
Moreover, from some companies you can “buy” this risk with an additional payment, and from some – not, since it is an exception in the insurance rules. And then they may not pay for an operation to urgently remove a stone from a kidney (because this is an exacerbation of your disease that existed before the rest – kidney stone disease, which you may well simply not know about). Tip – carefully read about chronic diseases in the insurance rules or check it by phone before buying a policy.
The sets and types of such options can be very diverse – some insurers have a paid additional option, for example, now even covid treatment has become. In general, it may turn out that if you add the options you and your children need to the “cheap” policy, then the price advantage compared to “expensive” policies with initially wide coverage will disappear. Or it will become completely negative.
TURNKEY INSURANCE: IT IS A MATTER OF TYPICAL RISKS
Another approach (which, however, is less common, but it is what we recommend considering on family trips) is the “package”. A number of insurance companies on the market have just a few (usually 2-4) pass-through tariffs with initially wide, already included in the price, sets of risks. And there are very few paid additional options or none at all.
Such an approach in our market is practiced, for example, by the already mentioned EUROINS Travel Insurance, Tinkoff Insurance, and a number of others. Rosgosstrakh also has practically “package” insurance, but here you still have to pay extra for chronic diseases and sunburns in an expanded tariff.
“We think it’s right to initially include all the main and standard risks in our base rate, that is, to do them on a turnkey basis, than to receive negative feedback from tourists later about the fact that some important things were “hidden” from them or “deceived” . Yes, such policies will not fall on the price of the first lines of search engines and aggregators. But they have protection against all standard risks, and it is simply impossible to accidentally forget to check the box in order to purchase the desired option,” says Ms. Alcheeva from EUROINS.
In this company, all the basic tourist risks of “active” recreation (and riding bananas, and ATVs, and even tourist rafting with an instructor, not to mention children's water slides), and exacerbation of chronic diseases, and sunstroke and burns, and bites of insects and snakes, etc. are immediately wholesale included in the concept of “ordinary” rest.
In this case, the tourist can choose the cheapest Standard + tariff. By the way, this year the coverage of such a standard policy has been increased by EUROINS to 100,000 euros (other companies consider such coverage to be “premium” and ask for other money).
» a new policy, by dialing options, you can simply buy an extended Optima package. It differs, when viewed as a whole, in the presence of a number of options for pregnant women, accident insurance already included and limited coverage for incidents if a person has drunk a little.
If a tourist wants to go in for sports abroad (alpine skiing, mountain climbing, paragliding, etc.), then there is a third “package” for him – “Sport”, with its own set of specific risks.
WHY FAMILY TOURISTS SHOULD CHOOSE ALL-INCLUSIVE INSURANCE
Insurances from “package” companies are more expensive than “optional” ones precisely because they imply some kind of “all-inclusive” insurance. But for families with children, this is just a reasonable and justified savings.
Firstly, if companies with inexpensive “basic” policies are given additional risks in the form of options (from covid to outdoor activities and everything else), the price will not differ much from turnkey policies. The difference will either be absent or insignificant.
Secondly, in the case of turnkey insurance, parents do not need to pay an increased rate for children – as a rule, these companies do not put special prices on policies for children.
Thirdly, as a rule, all such insurances immediately go as franchise-free – that is, all 100% of the costs are covered by the insurer, and in case of small expenses, the tourist does not have to urgently look for 30 euros in the night to pay for the child called to the hotel with a sick stomach to a Turkish doctor.
Finally, tourists have no risk, making out, for example, 4 policies for two adults and two children, forgetting to tick the right place. And do not include the risk you need on vacation, and then not receive the necessary reimbursement or treatment fees. All the typical risks of a holiday are already “sewn up” in the basic package and you don’t need to buy anything.
And this is perhaps the most important thing – after all, the price of insurance is negligible when it comes to difficult operations abroad. For the sake of a profit of 200-500 rubles, risking tens of thousands of euros (namely, treatment in a hospital for a serious injury in a water park or heart surgery for a tourist with chronic angina pectoris can cost such amounts) is clearly not worth it. Therefore, it is worth paying for all the basic risks in one package, experts say.