1. Are there insurance companies in India selling travel insurance to Indian residents travelling abroad?

How good are these companies?

In my case, I live in Canada - is it preferable to get insurance for the visitor from India through a Canadian insurance company, or through an Indian insurance company?

In my case, the person is a mid60s female with stable diabetes and hypertension. Can one obtain travel medical insurance covering pre-existing medical problems?

The largest insurance company in India (govt. owned) United Assurance or something offers insurance for foreing visits. I have not had a chance to utilize the services but since it is govt. run they will hopefully be not a scam. They have an 800 number here in the US for service.

Most short-term insurances do not cover existing medical conditions.

There is also a number of sites where you can get quotes from.
http://www.visitorsinsurance.com/
http://www.jeewanjee.com/

Edited to Add:
The jeewanjee site says that they can provide coverage for cases with pre-existing conditions too.

[This message has been edited by SJC2ISP (edited 08-10-2001).]

1. Does the United Assurance Company of India have a web site - if so, what is it?

2. What is the US toll-free number of the company? Not all US toll free numbers are valid in Canada - I would also appreciate the direct number, if the toll-free number does not work.

www.bimaonline.com (http://www.bimaonline.com)

has comprehensive information.
Try premium calculator and insurance companies.

http://www.bimaonline.com/cgi-bin/insurers/nia.asp

Perhaps the most comprehensive webpage is: http://www.garamchai.com/TravelInsurance.htm

You can also check out the Frequently Asked Questions (http://www.garamchai.com/InsuranceFAQ.htm) (FAQ) section

For my parents and in-laws I have been using Tata-AIG (Tata group and AIG joint venture). Both are reputed companies and it works well for US travelers. Never have to use it but the reports are quite positive about them.

They cover only up to 70 years. No medical certification required. I always used Gold plan which has pretty good coverage....silver has far too less coverage and Platinum is a waste unless you are sure you are going to need it. See following link for coverage and premium info:

http://www.tata-aiggeneral.com/individual/travelGuard.asp?from=Ind


Other popular company is ICICI-Lombard. Earlier they were far less expensive than Tata-AIG not sure now. Lombard is a Canadian company and that is why I was not very sure of their acceptance in US. I will recommend them for people traveling to Canada. They claim that there are no problems and again ICICI and Lombard both are reputed companies. I didn't consider them but doesn't mean you can't because there are a lot of guys out there using them too.

They cover over 70 years also (up to 85 years) but need medical check up and certification in that age group. Go to following link to see their plans and click on plan for premium info:

http://www.icicilombard.com/app/NRIs/Overseas.asp

Few comments here:
1. If your parents have a pre-existing medical condition those generally are not covered unless life threatening situation. Ask specific question on that before buying the insurance.
2. In Tata AIG it is cheaper to buy 3 months insurance and then extend it for 3 months. The catch here is that if you made claim in first 3 months they will not extend it.
3. In many situation they reserve the right to fly the person back to India and treat them there if that save the medical costs are too expensive.

There might be few other insurance providers also but these two are the most popular ones. If you need any other information let me know.