Like previous years, Indian railways is running hundreds of special trains from different parts of the country to handle the huge rush of passengers on Diwali and Chhath Puja. Passengers booking e-tickets get an option to choose a travel insurance for just 45 paise. All train classes are uniformly covered by this affordable insurance, which has a death benefit of up to Rs 10 lakh.

Train accidents are often seen in India. Sometimes the train derails, sometimes two trains collide with each other due to signal error. A large number of people lose their lives in these accidents.

Keeping these incidents in mind and to ensure the safety of passengers, Indian Railways provides travel insurance facility, though optional, to the passengers. Passengers can claim this insurance in case of any rail accident or any kind of damage during the journey. The special thing is that the premium of this insurance is only 45 paise and it provides a claim of up to Rs 10 lakh.

However, most passengers are not able to take advantage of this insurance policy due to lack of information. One reason for this is that this facility is only for those passengers who book train tickets online.

Also read: Indian Railways rolls out 7,000 special trains for Diwali and Chhath Puja rush – Details here

Key features of the IRCTC train travel insurance:

-The scheme is applicable only for Indian Citizens who book their e-ticket through IRCTC for passengers of Indian Railways. Citizen of foreign countries are not eligible for this scheme.

-The scheme is optional, however if the option is exercised it will be compulsory for all passengers booked under one PNR number.

-Optional Travel Insurance facility is provided only for CNF/RAC/PartCNF ticket at the time of booking.

-Customer shall receive the policy information through SMS and on their registered email IDs directly from Insurance Companies along with the link for filling nomination details. However, Policy number can be viewed from Ticket booked history at IRCTC Page.

-The travel insurance is not applicable for the children below 5 years of age who book the ticket without berth/seat.

-The travel insurance is applicable for the children of 5-11 years of age who book the ticket with berth or without berth.

-In case of passenger opting for insurance, the claim/liability shall be between insured and the Insurance Company.

-In case of short termination of trains due to any reason, if the passenger opts for the alternate mode of transportation arranged by railway up to the destination station, then this part of the journey of the passenger shall also be covered under the policy taken by the passenger.

How can passengers take railway travel insurance policy?

To get railway travel insurance, while booking tickets online, you have to choose the option of insurance policy. After this, a message is sent by the insurance company to the mobile number and e-mail ID of the passenger. This message contains the name of the travel insurance company and the insurance certificate number. Along with this, a link is also given, through which the passenger can update the name of his nominee. A helpline number is also given in the email by the insurance company, on which the passenger can ask all the questions related to insurance.

Insurance can be claimed within 4 months of the train accident. The injured person, nominee or successor can claim the insurance claim. For this, an application has to be given in the office of the insurance company and the relevant documents also have to be submitted.