Yulia Alcheyeva
Director of EUROINS Travel Insurance branch
Usually, most vacationers do not pay much attention to using the insurance plans during a tourist trip. Some travellers believe that there is no need to insure at all, and others are sure that getting insured benefits is a great problem requiring a lot of time. EcoTourism EXPERT talked with Yulia Alcheyeva, Director of EUROINS Travel Insurance branch about insurance plans, and found out how justified these fears are and why and against what risks it is recommended to insure going on vacation.
- And why do you need a health insurance during a tourist trip?
A tourist trip, first of all, involves the same risks that an ordinary person faces in daily life. A traveller can fall ill, catch a cold, break his or her leg, and so on. The tourists can insure themselves against these risks, of course, but it should be taken into account that a vacation trip is also associated with certain outdoor activities that can result in the occurrence of an insured event to an insured person.
- Is this important when travelling in Russia and abroad?
As for trips abroad, if people travel to Europe, the European Union has the requirement that no Schengen visa is issued if there is no travel sickness insurance. This happened because in the early days of the development of the Russian tourism abroad, people “spoiled” by the mentality of the Russian free medicine came abroad where they received there some medical treatment when they fell ill, but they had no money to pay for this treatment! And they went back to Russia with no compunction.
It is clear that in those cases, such a “forgetful” tourist was not put on the international ‘wanted’ list, so a change was introduced later: those tourists want to come to Europe for their vacations should have a foreign travel health insurance.
Although, of course, there are still tourists who travel to the countries where health insurance is not needed. And when they have an insured event in this country, they start crying “help, save, send us back home”.
- So, it is clear about medical insurance while travelling abroad. And what about medical insurance while travelling in Russia?
In Russia, the situation is basically the same. The only difference is that we have compulsory health insurance (CHI) in Russia that covers all health care costs relating to hospitalization, regardless of where you are. The CHI also embraces the emergency medical services. But in other force majeure situations, compulsory health insurance is not included in the travel insurance, and this is exactly what the supplemental health insurance (SHI) is needed for.
- Please give an example what force majeure situations can occur?
For example, if travellers missed the plane because they fell ill, or (God forbid!) died; or their trip was canceled due to the illness of their child or relative. In fact, there are a huge number of risks that the CHI does not cover, but which must be insured.
By the way, the State Duma is considering amendments to Federal Law No.132, under which organized tourists will be provided with health insurance - at least, something should be done to start with.
- How popular are travel health insurance plans in Russia?
In Russia, I must say, few people use the travel health insurance. As for travelling abroad, 10 mn to 15 mn trips are insured annually. As for our country, it is maximum 2 mn - 3 mn trips.
At the same time, there have been much more organized trips within the country in recent years. And if the financial and insurance culture in this segment develops, the tourist will become more conscious.
- What do the Russians mostly insure against, and what are the exotic types of insurance in the tourism segment?
Firstly, of course, the Russian tourists purchase a health insurance policy, and then comes a trip cancellation insurance policy. If a tourist or his/her relatives fell ill, other circumstances superimpose. Previously, there was a highly-demanded risk of non-issuance of a visa, it has practically disappeared now from the insurance offers. By the way, during the Covid-19 pandemic, on the contrary, everyone was insured primarily against trip cancellation, and the health care insurance became less important. And the Covid-19 pandemic, by the way, has instilled in many people the habit of insuring themselves; tourists continue to choose trip cancellations insurance plans.
- Are there exotic insurance plans? For climbers, for example?
In this case, the situation is ambiguous. There are insurance companies that mainly insure only the risks relating to “popular” mass sports and they apply the appropriate coefficients. And they don’t insure people who go in for extreme sports or extreme tourism.
There are those insurers who insure against almost all risks. I personally really like the joke that “a drunk and pregnant girl on skis is our best client”.
- And do such insured events occur?
Of course not! But this joke says that it is possible to insure against almost any high and extreme risk. Of course, there are certain insurance plans for such cases and certain risk factors are used that reach level 9.
- And how much does it cost on average to insure?
There are a huge number of tariffs. For example, insurance coverage in the amount of 2 mn roubles for a 2-week vacation, including health care and transport costs, flight delays and even baggage insurance (against loss), can cost a little over 800 roubles (one person).
- It’s not expensive! What about extreme sports enthusiasts? For example, I am a scuba diver and go diving in Egypt from time to time.
For you, the cost of a 2-week insurance policy with insurance coverage in the amount of 50 thousand euros at EUROINS can will be a little more than 5,600 roubles. And, by the way, it will also include a pressure chamber that may be required in case of a diver’s disease.
- And the last question: to your opinion, what are the prospects for travel insurance in our country?
I believe that travel health insurance will develop further. If we see a provision regarding insurance in Law No. 132 on tourism, the market will also cover organized tourists. And individuals will join later, because in any case, if a person encounters - at least once - a situation when insurance would be useful, he or she will definitely purchase it for the next trip.
It must be understood that the same people travel both abroad and around Russia, with rare exceptions. And those who are already accustomed to buying travel health insurance policies for themselves do this every year.
Now, the population’s financial and insurance awareness is increasing. In addition to this, a curious generation thirsty for knowledge is growing up that have a proper and right attitude to financial and insurance services.
