Travel Insurance

Our advantages:

• We offer the widest range of travel insurance programs, including specially designed programs for students who go to study abroad, truckers and manual workers who go to work abroad;
• BTA is the only Latvian insurance company that has its own travel support service. By calling the BTA Travel Support Service at any time of the day, the customer will receive the most competent and detailed consultation in his/her native language about the travel insurance;
• BTA is the only non-life insurance company in Latvia, which compensates, under certain programs, the expenses due to a terrorist act occurring in the territory of Europe not only for medical expenses, but also for cancellation of the trip and travel interruption.

When choosing a Travel Insurance programme, you should take into account the potential risk probability in your destination. Programmes with a broader coverage of risks provide larger sums insured for each of the risks included in the programmes, therefore, going further abroad, we recommend you to choose a programme with a broader risk coverage. To find detailed information about each of the risks included in the policy, read the Terms and Conditions of the BTA Travel Insurance.

Travel Insurance policy is valid in the specified territory outside the Republic of Latvia. You can obtain the Travel Insurance policy indicating the following operating areas:

• Europe (all European countries, including Turkey, Tunisia, Egypt, Israel, Crete, Cyprus, Canary Islands, Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan),
• Baltic Sea territory (the policy is in effect in Estonia, Lithuania, Poland, Finland and Sweden),
• Russian Federation or Belarus,
• The whole world. 

You can purchase your travel insurance policy depending on the length of your planned trip or travel with a duration ranging from one day to 365 days.

If you have regular business trips, we offer to purchase a Travel insurance policy with the duration of one year, which will ensure protection of all trips during the year. In this case, you can indicate the maximum duration of each journey. Upon your choice, maximum duration of one trip may be 30, 60 or 90 days.

EHIC, i.e. European Health Insurance Card, is a document common for all European Union and European Economic Area countries (Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein) and the Swiss Confederation, which entitles citizens of these countries to receive state-funded emergency and necessary health care to the extent ensured for inhabitants of each relevant country. The EHIC can be used in foreign clinics that are members of the National Sickness Fund and that have accepted the usage of the EHIC. Therefore, before seeking medical care abroad, we recommend you to inquire in advance whether the relevant clinic accepts the EHIC.

All residents of the Republic of Latvia may receive the EHIC card for free, therefore, when traveling abroad, be sure to obtain the EHIC card. For more information about the possibilities of receiving the EHIC card, visit the website of the National Health Service.

Why do you need BTA Travel insurance if you have the EHIC card?

• The EHIC card does not cover the costs and fees for client’s transportation, repatriation, emergency/ rescue services, which can amount to very significant expenses.
• Even in the case when the client enters a foreign clinic that accepts the EHIC, the customer will be charged to pay the fees mandatory in the relevant country. Although in Latvia patient fees are relatively low, in Europe they can be even more than 10 times higher.
• When using the EHIC, the foreign clinic receives the payment from the Latvian State budget within two years, therefore in most cases private clinics, including dentists and ski resort clinics, refuse to accept the EHIC.
• The EHIC card does not provide protection against other risks which may occur during traveling or foreign trips.

An example showing the necessity for the EHIC and Travel Insurance:  

State of health of a resident of Latvia suddenly deteriorated while visiting a country in the European Union. As a result, the woman was placed in a clinic. When her health condition slightly improved and it was possible to evacuate her to her country of origin, the bill for medical services amounted to EUR 24 000.

Given that the Latvian resident had the EHIC, she did not have to pay the entire amount from her own personal funds. The EHIC covered 75% (EUR 18 000) of the medical expenses, the remaining 25% (6 000 EUR) would have to be covered by the woman herself, if she had not had the BTA travel insurance policy. Medical evacuation costs that were not covered by the EHIC amounted to EUR 4 300.

If the woman, additionally to the security provided by the EHIC, had not purchased the BTA Travel insurance, she would have to pay EUR 10 300 for the medical services received in the foreign clinic and medical evacuation to Latvia from her own personal funds. In this case, this amount was covered by BTA.

In case of an accident abroad, take the following measures.

Call the BTA’s 24/7 Travel Support Service:

• (+371) 26 12 12 12

We will provide operative assistance and consultation on what to do in the specific situation.

In case of a sudden disease or accident in one of the following countries, you can call our partners in the specific country:

• Turkey * (+90 242) 310 44 44
• Egypt * (+20 122) 104 27 43
• Bulgaria (+359) 569 180 04
• Thailand, Indonesia, Bali: (+34) 931 702 286
• Russian Federation (+7) 495 989 11 20 
  
  * If you are in Turkey or Egypt, in order to avoid possible problems, ask for medical assistance only in our contractual organisations.

• By calling the indicated telephone numbers, our employees or partners will help to arrange the formalities associated with medical institutions, will provide a written guarantee of payment of medical services, so you do not have to spend your own personal financial resources; they will also help to solve a variety of other issues.
• If you have had to pay for medical services or any other case of insurance included in the Travel Insurance Policy from your own personal funds, be sure to keep documents certifying such payments (checks, registered receipts). Besides, be sure to keeps other documents justifying the indemnity claim: medical statements, certificate issued by airline about luggage delay, damage or loss, documents issued by law enforcement bodies, etc. A detailed list of documents to be submitted can be found in the Travel Insurance Terms and Conditions or by calling BTA Customer Support Service 26121212.
• Upon your return to Latvia, as soon as possible make your insurance indemnity claim in the My BTA. Having logged in to Customer Portal, you can make your indemnity claim quick and simple without having to leave your home and making any unnecessary phone calls.

Upon the Insured person being diagnosed with COVID-19 (disease, induced by coronavirus SARS-CoV-2) insurance indemnity will be paid only for insured risks “Medical expenses”, “Repatriation”, “Medical evacuation”, “Expenses for the person escorting the injured” as follows:

• only for the above insured risks, which have been specified in insurance contract (policy) as covered;
• not exceeding the Sum Insured for each of the above insured risks specified in insurance contract (policy) with a maximum indemnity in amount of 40 000EUR

Moreover, “COVID-19 illness insurance” refers to the insured risks “Annulation of planned trip”* and/or “Trip interruption”** upon occasions, if insurance policy explicitly specifies that the above-mentioned risks are insured and Optional risk “COVID-19 illness insurance” is insured as well:

In case of the insured risk “Annulation of planned trip” BTA shall cover expenses of the Insured if:

- the Insured or Family member of the Insured (incl. second degree relatives), with whom the Insured planned to go on a travel Trip together, hereinafter – Family member, prior to the beginning of the Trip in the Republic of Latvia was diagnosed with COVID-19 illness and subjected to isolation***, which partially or entirely overlaps the Travel dates;

- the Insured or Family member of the Insured are denied boarding into the Carrier’s vehicle upon exit from the Republic of Latvia in regard to positive COVID-19 test.

In case of the insured risk “Trip interruption” BTA shall cover expenses of the Insured if:

- the Insured is diagnosed with COVID-19 illness and subjected to isolation during the Trip;

- during the Trip, the Insured is denied boarding into the Carrier’s vehicle upon return to the Republic of Latvia in regard to positive COVID-19 test.

The insurance indemnity for the insured risks “Annulation of planned trip” and “Trip interruption” shall be disbursed upon observance of the following:

- without exceeding the sum insured specified in the insurance contract (policy) and maximal amount of insurance indemnity of 1000 EUR for each insured risk;

- if insurance contract (policy) is concluded and insurance premium is paid to BTA in full amount at least 5 days before the beginning of the planned Trip;

- at the moment of insurance contract (policy) conclusion the Insured or Family member of the Insured was not in quarantine**** and/or the Insured or Family member of the Insured are not diagnosed with COVID-19 illness;

- COVID-19 test with the subsequent positive result is performed at least 72 hours before or after the moment of insurance contract (policy) conclusion;

- at the moment of insurance contract (policy) conclusion the Insured or Family member of the Insured was in the Republic of Latvia;

- accommodation expenses of the Insured during the travel Trip shall be compensated, which occurred as of the moment when subjected to isolation and the last day of paid lodging, however, without exceeding 75 EUR per night and altogether without exceeding 10 nights (refers only to the insured risk “Trip interruption);

- restrictions on admission determined in the respective state are observed, which are published on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Latvia, and at the first day of the Trip in the intermediate point of the Trip or in the final destination of the Trip there are no restrictions on admission.

* If you selected Optimal, Optimal+, Gold or VIP programme.

** If you selected Gold or VIP programme.

*** Isolation – complete isolation from healthy people. Refers to persons ill with COVID-19.

**** Quarantine – social distancing, refers to persons that had contacted persons ill with COVID-19, however, they feel healthy and do not suffer from any symptoms. In the framework if this insurance contract (policy) preventive quarantine or social distancing prior to free movement around the state shall not be regarded as quarantine.