Student Cover: Understanding the Importance of Insurance for Students

Last year, in 2024, Maya Thaplial, a 20-year-old student, left her hometown in Chennai to start a university life in the bustling city of London. Full of excitement and dreams, she had sorted everything- her books, clothes, but not insurance. A few months later, a sudden illness landed her in the emergency room. With no health insurance and savings of her own, embarrassed and heartbroken, Maya called her parents. Her parents had no other option but to dip into savings meant for their retirement.  

Maya's story is scary, but also quite common. When it comes to carefree students' lives, insurance is one of the last things that comes to mind. However, with life's unexpected twists and turns, having a student cover becomes crucial to have a safety net.  

Types of Insurance Cover Every Student Must Know  

Having a student cover can give financial backing to different aspects of your life, including health, travel, and so on. Here are some insurances you need to look out for.  

1. Health Insurance 

Tight schedules, shared rooms, energy drinks, late-night study sessions, and much more. Sounds like a perfect breeding space for anxiety and illness. Whether it is a sudden illness like Maya or some mental health support, student health insurance ensures you do not have to choose between your treatment quality and tuition.  

Wondering Why Students Need Insurance?  

  • Students are prone to infectious diseases in shared spaces like hostels, dorms, etc.  
  • Around 80% of the students from classes 9th to 12th struggle with anxiety during exams, which can cause several concerns. 
  • Around 45% of them struggle with body image issues.  
  • Student health insurance, in that case, can help cover hospital bills, doctor visits, mental support, and other medical expenses.  

2. Travel Insurance  

Planning to move abroad for higher studies? Then, consider availing travel insurance. It is specifically catered for students’ needs and has a variety of features like sponsor protection, refund of tuition fee, etc. It ensures you are financially secure to tackle emergencies in a foreign land.  

Why You Might Need It? 

  • Covers medical emergencies abroad, where care can be expensive. 
  • Offers protection against trip cancellations, delays, lost baggage, etc.   
  • Helps in replacing lost baggage, passports, and other essentials.  

3. Renter’s or Dorm Insurance  

Imagine coming from a class and finding out that your laptop has been stolen. Frustrating, right? It becomes more stressful when all your work, documents, and everything relevant is saved on the same device. With dorm insurance, you offer protection to your belongings against such damage from theft, fire, etc. However, before you avail yourself of such a policy, it is important to ask a few questions. This may be related to the safety of your campus, the value of your items, and whether they are replaceable.  

Why You Might Need It? 

  • It allows you to have peace of mind when your academic life relies heavily on your electronic gadgets.  
  • Offers protection to your belongings against theft, accidental damage, etc.  

Factors to Consider Before Getting Yourself a Student’s Insurance

Before you go for your customised student cover, here are some factors you might need to consider.  

1. Understand the Coverage  

When buying insurance, don't simply go for the price. Instead, understand its coverage, inclusions and exclusions. For instance, if your health insurance offers dental care.  

2. Know Your Premiums and Deductibles 

You also need to consider premiums and deductibles. Consider choosing an insurance where you can balance the monthly premiums without much hassle.  

3. Institutional vs Other Plans 

Several universities offer student health insurance and other options. These are convenient too. However, you might compare and see if external insurances are better options for you in terms of coverage, cost, premiums, and more.  

4. Geographical Coverage  

For international students, it is crucial to check the geographical coverage of your policy. See if it covers your home country and the country you plan to travel to. 

Wrapping Up 

Author Bio

Paybima Team

Paybima is an Indian insurance aggregator on a mission to make insurance simple for people. Paybima is the Digital arm of the already established and trusted Mahindra Insurance Brokers Ltd., a reputed name in the insurance broking industry with 17 years of experience. Paybima promises you the easy-to-access online platform to buy insurance policies, and also extend their unrelented assistance with all your policy related queries and services.

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