About to go study abroad? Don't miss out on buying Student Travel Insurance. The right coverage can help eliminate financial risks during an unforeseen event while you're away from home.
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Speaker 1: The fall intake for international students is about to begin
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Speaker 1: in September. So if you're someone who's planning to go
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Speaker 1: abroad to study, please keep listening. Hello, everyone and welcome
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Speaker 1: to the insurance Insights podcast presented to you by a
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Speaker 1: trusted brand policy Buzzer. I am your host, Siri. And
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Speaker 1: today we'll delve into a topic. That's of utmost importance
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Speaker 1: for Indian students planning to study abroad. Student travel insurance,
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Speaker 1: studying abroad is an incredible opportunity that opens new doors
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Speaker 1: to cultures, knowledge and personal growth. However, it's true
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Speaker 1: to be prepared against any unforeseen circumstances that you may
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Speaker 1: face during your time away from home. Now, that's where
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Speaker 1: student travel insurance comes into play, providing you peace of
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Speaker 1: mind and a safety net so that you can focus
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Speaker 1: on your studies without worrying about anything to help us
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Speaker 1: gain a comprehensive understanding of student travel insurance. We have
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Speaker 1: a special guest with us today. Please welcome Manus Kapo,
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Speaker 1: the Business head of travel insurance at policy Buzzer. Welcome
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Speaker 1: to the show man. Thank you so much.
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Speaker 1: Thank you. Thank you. So I think we should start
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Speaker 1: by understanding the fundamentals of student travel insurance. What exactly
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Speaker 1: it is? And why is it so important for students
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Speaker 1: embarking on educational journey abroad? Well,
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Speaker 2: student travel insurance is an extension of the normal travel
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Speaker 2: insurance that usually students prefer when they are going outside
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Speaker 2: India to study. It's a very important tool that the
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Speaker 2: students should have in their bag when they are traveling
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Speaker 2: internationally to many destinations like
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Speaker 2: us, Canada, Germany or Singapore and many other international destinations
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Speaker 2: where they are planning to go for studies and improve
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Speaker 2: and enhance their career. Now why student in travel insurance
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Speaker 2: is important? It is a very, very important tool that
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Speaker 2: helps them understand that what it needs to do. When
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Speaker 2: they are traveling internationally, it helps them safeguard their financial
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Speaker 2: emergency situations and also other benefits such as
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Speaker 2: if they get their laptop, if the laptop is lost,
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Speaker 2: for example, or if they have a medical emergency because
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Speaker 2: of which they have to either skip a semester outside India.
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Speaker 2: The curriculum is very fun. If you have to skip
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Speaker 2: a semester, it is easier for us to do that.
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Speaker 2: But how to cover that in terms of monetary benefit.
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Speaker 2: Soon travel insurance comes into picture at that point of time. Now,
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Speaker 2: if the situation comes where a person is outside, they
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Speaker 2: want to call their immediate family members,
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Speaker 2: student travel insurance, help them that also cover that. Also
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Speaker 2: also when if if let's say I am also studying
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Speaker 2: outside India. So I would not only be studying for
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Speaker 2: one or two years I would be planning a trip
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Speaker 2: with my colleagues to outside of that destination. Will the
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Speaker 2: normal insurance cover that probably no. So to student travel
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Speaker 2: insurance helps cover that as well. Just a simple example,
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Speaker 2: if I'm studying in USA, I am planning to go
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Speaker 2: to a trip to Canada or let's say even Mexico
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Speaker 2: student travel insurance helps them cover that as well. And
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Speaker 2: any emergency situation that happens in that area that is
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Speaker 2: covered under student travel insurance. So student travel insurance is
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Speaker 2: a very important tool that students should have there in
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Speaker 2: K when they are going outside India to safeguard themselves
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Speaker 2: from any emergency situation that can arise in an unknown
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Speaker 1: land. Indeed, I think student travel insurance plays a vital
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Speaker 1: role in mitigating risks and providing necessary support
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Speaker 1: for during your time abroad while you're studying. Now you
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Speaker 1: mentioned a few differences between travel, regular travel insurance and
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Speaker 1: student travel insurance. Can you please elaborate on that?
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Speaker 2: So a normal travel insurance covers your medical expenses, which
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Speaker 2: has different categories like if there is a sickness or
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Speaker 2: an accidental emergency or expenses. Plus there are certain benefits
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Speaker 2: like for
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Speaker 2: for example, baggage loss, passport loss and certain expenses related
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Speaker 2: to your trip. Like your missed connection, your trip cancellation
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Speaker 2: or your trip delay, which are usually which are usually
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Speaker 2: preferred by people who are going for a leisure trip.
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Speaker 2: But for students, you are going for a longer duration.
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Speaker 2: So the benefits that are curated in the product are
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Speaker 2: specifically designed for that particular segment only. So for example,
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Speaker 2: like I mentioned
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Speaker 2: loss of laptop study interruption benefit. OK? There can be
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Speaker 2: a chance that you are partying at a, at a
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Speaker 2: bar in, let's say Germany and you get in a
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Speaker 2: brawl with some other members. So there are benefits like
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Speaker 2: bail bond legal expenses that covers, that helps you cover
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Speaker 2: for that as well. There is personal liability benefit that
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Speaker 2: can help you in terms of third party damage. There
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Speaker 2: are benefits related to your compassionate
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Speaker 2: is for example, like I mentioned, if you are getting
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Speaker 2: any medical emergency situations and you want to call your
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Speaker 2: immediate family members. So these are certain benefits which are
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Speaker 2: specifically curated, prepared and designed for students specifically for them
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Speaker 1: only. Thank you for explaining that. So well, manus, I
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Speaker 1: think that's a crucial distinction to keep in mind for
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Speaker 1: all of our viewers. Now, what are some key factors
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Speaker 1: that should be considered while purchasing student travel
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Speaker 2: insurance? So
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Speaker 2: if I tell you about the basic factors, there are
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Speaker 2: couple of factors that you need to consider while buying
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Speaker 2: student travel insurance. The first and the foremost is that
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Speaker 2: when students are traveling, they are given that in the
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Speaker 2: in the curriculum itself, they have insurance that is covered
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Speaker 2: now that insurance primarily covers you only for the medical
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Speaker 2: expenses or related benefits. So for example, your dental expenses,
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Speaker 2: you have some
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Speaker 2: problem in your ie so only allied benefits which are
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Speaker 2: related to medical expenses. But is that so when you
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Speaker 2: are inter international traveling internationally in an unknown land, there
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Speaker 2: are so many uncertainties that can happen that even a
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Speaker 2: student cannot even imagine that is why we have products
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Speaker 2: which covers them for benefits which are far away from
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Speaker 2: medical expenses, medical expenses are there as at part which
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Speaker 2: are provided by the universities,
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Speaker 2: but there are additional benefits that can help students safeguard themselves.
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Speaker 2: So that is one thing that students definitely should consider
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Speaker 2: while buying a student travel insurance. And the second is
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Speaker 2: for the duration of time that they are traveling. You
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Speaker 2: should understand that there are a couple of types of
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Speaker 2: students that are traveling. One is those students who are
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Speaker 2: going for an exchange program, they might be going for
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Speaker 2: a one year, one month or a two month or
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Speaker 2: a three month kind of trip to International Waters to
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Speaker 2: study for a particular semester. Plus there are second kind
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Speaker 2: of students who are going for a long term duration course,
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Speaker 2: which is one year, two year and even three year
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Speaker 2: courses for them. It is much more important and crucial
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Speaker 2: to buy a student travel insurance because there will be
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Speaker 2: so much uncertainties, so many unknowns that they could not
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Speaker 2: have even imagined. And those factors are important to understand
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Speaker 2: that what kind of student travel insurance they should want.
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Speaker 2: Finally, I would like to let the audience know that
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Speaker 2: the price is very important factor that students consider they
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Speaker 2: will be spending lacks of amount when they are going
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Speaker 2: internationally to plan for a student uh student uh studying abroad.
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Speaker 2: But what is the cost that student travel insurance incurs
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Speaker 2: it's miniscule as compared to what they are, uh they
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Speaker 2: are spending on their, on their tuition fees. So that
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Speaker 2: is something that they should understand and while
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Speaker 2: a student travel insurance policy, they should consider excellent
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Speaker 1: advice, manus. Thank you for that. Now, what about the
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Speaker 1: process of purchasing student travel insurance? And are there any
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Speaker 1: documents that people should keep
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Speaker 2: handy? So in terms of the process that one should
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Speaker 2: follow is they should identify what are the courses that
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Speaker 2: they are going into and understand what is the duration
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Speaker 2: that they are going into for the course. There are
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Speaker 2: plans that we have on our website covering for two years,
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Speaker 2: but there can be an exchange
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Speaker 2: of up to three years that they can opt for.
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Speaker 2: So they should be clear enough as to where they
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Speaker 2: are going and for duration of the course that they
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Speaker 2: are going into so that they can buy the policy accordingly. Secondly,
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Speaker 2: they should be looking for a plan which covers which
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Speaker 2: have a comprehensive coverage in terms of not only medical
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Speaker 2: benefits but also benefits which are allied to when they
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Speaker 2: are traveling internationally, which we have discussed in detail earlier.
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Speaker 2: So I will not go deeper into that, but
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Speaker 2: they should understand and identify what features are important for
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Speaker 2: them when they are going internationally and what kind of
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Speaker 2: emergency can they can they get into when they are
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Speaker 2: studying abroad? So
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Speaker 1: manus, you just spoke about the cost of student travel insurance, right?
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Speaker 1: How much should students expect to pay for this coverage?
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Speaker 2: They should understand that they are spending lacks of amount
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Speaker 2: when they are trying to study abroad. Whereas the student
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Speaker 2: travel insurance costs in 1000. I'll just give you one
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Speaker 2: simple example.
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Speaker 2: If a student is planning to study abroad in USA,
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Speaker 2: the minimum cost that will be incurred is somewhere between
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Speaker 2: 10 to 15 LACS for a one year course. Whereas
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Speaker 2: if you go for a student travel insurance, that is
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Speaker 2: only 10 to 15, which is not even 1% of
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Speaker 2: what you are paying in the tuition fees. Plus it
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Speaker 2: is important to understand that it will give you a
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Speaker 2: comprehensive enhanced coverage covering your risk in
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Speaker 2: almost all countries. They have a plan which is covered
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Speaker 2: with their student with the tuition fees. Now, will that
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Speaker 2: cover will that give a comprehensive coverage? Maybe not? But
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Speaker 2: definitely student travel insurance is something that gives them a
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Speaker 2: comprehensive coverage at a very municipal price at a very
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Speaker 2: minimum rate that they can offer and they can compare
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Speaker 2: and buy the best plan on policy and also see
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Speaker 2: if it is
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Speaker 2: I think and I believe that it is affordable in
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Speaker 2: their reach.
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Speaker 1: Thank you for explaining that so well. Manus, I found
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Speaker 1: it truly insightful. I'm sure all the students watching this
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Speaker 1: also found it very insightful. Moving on to our next segment,
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Speaker 1: ask TV, where we take questions from our viewers. So
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Speaker 1: today's question is from Pria and she's asking, I'm 25
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Speaker 1: and I'm planning to go to London for my MS
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Speaker 1: C in marketing. What kind of student travel insurance should
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Speaker 1: I consider
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Speaker 2: so? Uh not only to Priya, but all those who
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Speaker 2: are traveling internationally, my recommendation would be to go for
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Speaker 2: a plan which covers comprehensive coverages that offers comprehensive coverages
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Speaker 2: when they are traveling internationally. For, for a peculiar case
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Speaker 2: like uh Priya mentioned to London, they have an NHS
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Speaker 2: scheme that gets covered them under the medical coverages. But again,
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Speaker 2: is that enough? Not
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Speaker 2: if you are going to London, will you be going to,
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Speaker 2: let's say Amsterdam or France? Yes, in all probability. But
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Speaker 2: will that NHS cover you under that as well? Maybe not.
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Speaker 2: So it is very important to buy a student travel
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Speaker 2: insurance from India that will help them safeguard themselves and
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Speaker 2: also help them in other processes which are post sales.
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Speaker 2: Basically when they are going for a claim or for
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Speaker 2: an extension
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Speaker 2: and those benefits can help them uh safeguard themselves from
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Speaker 2: any emergency or uncertainty situation.
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Speaker 1: Wonderful. Thank you for joining us today man. Thank you
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Speaker 1: so much. Thank you. So with this, we have come
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Speaker 1: to the end of today's episode. If you have any
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Speaker 1: further queries that you would like us to address on
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Speaker 1: our podcast, please write to this email ID and please
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Speaker 1: found this useful, see you in the next episode.