As of January 1 of the current year, citizens traveling to Georgia must obtain mandatory travel insurance for that country. This product is offered by non-life insurance companies operating in our country. Rates vary depending on the number of travel days – from 2 days up to 365 days.
Medianews.az reports that Emil Ağabağırov, a member of the expert group of the Azerbaijan Insurers Association, said this in a statement to Oxu.az.
"Overall, the rates are not very high. For example, if a citizen wants to travel to Georgia for one week, the cost of travel insurance will be approximately 12 manat. As the duration increases, the insurance premium also increases accordingly. Regarding the coverage amount, according to Georgia's requirements, there must be a minimum coverage of 30,000 lari (approximately $11,200 or 19,000 manat - ed). Therefore, our local insurance companies provide coverage of 15,000 dollars for this insurance product. As you know, travel insurance is offered in two currencies – either euro or dollar. 15,000 dollars is enough to fully cover the 30,000 lari," emphasized E. Ağabağırov.
Regarding the risks covered by this insurance product for citizens traveling to Georgia, the expert stated that any health damage resulting from an accident or illness occurring during the travel period is compensated:
"This includes dental services or injuries such as sunstroke, drowning, burns, as well as fractures of the arm or leg, any traumas, colds, and even the widely spread COVID coverage. This includes surgery costs, doctor examinations, medications – that is, all of these are covered by this insurance product during the travel period only. Any chronic illnesses or similar conditions that occurred before the travel period are not covered."
E. Bağırov also pointed out that loss of checked baggage is included among the covered risks:
"In short, all the above-mentioned risks except death are covered by this insurance product. Let me clarify the exclusion of death: death is not included among the covered risks, meaning there is no insurance compensation paid to heirs. Only the costs of repatriating the deceased’s body from Georgia are included among the covered risks. In case of the above-mentioned incidents, special hotline numbers are provided in the contract. If a citizen encounters any of the above incidents during travel, they contact these numbers to inform, are directed to the nearest clinics, or are ensured to be taken by emergency services. All the listed medical services are provided there completely free of charge.
Another possibility related to coverage is as follows. If an insured citizen faces the above incidents, they use the specified medical services at their own expense and later upon returning home, they can submit the receipts to the insurance company to reimburse the costs. The document required when obtaining the insurance product is a general citizen passport."