Travel China – Travel Agencies Liability Insurance

When travel to China, your domestic health care plans may not be designed to provide coverage while you are out of the country. Whether you travel for business or pleasure, international travel involves risks and of course that includes traveling in China. Obtaining a travel insurance policy is always a very good idea. Having travel insurance is possibly the best way to protect you against medical costs related to illness or injury, and against theft or loss of possessions and other accidents that may occur during your China travel.

With this in mind, it is recommended that you purchase necessary travel insurance, which provides coverage for international travelers. Coverage depends on the type of insurance that you buy. You should ask for details on any policy before you decide to make a purchase. In addition, buy travel insurance as early as possible before you start your China trip.

Travel Agencies Liability Insurance
At current time, most of the International Travel Services in China only provides 'Travel Agencies' Liability Insurance' to their foreign clients. This may be not enough for any sudden problems that may arise during a tour. Therefore, some other kind of personal accidence insurance, purchased in your own country, is also necessary.

China National Tourism Administration (CNTA) issued a regulation in May 2001 which instructs all travel agencies to provide 'Travel Agencies Liability Insurance' to protect tourists' rights and interests, effective from September 1, 2001. This insurance policy replaces the original Personal Accident Insurance and becomes the new legal based practice in China.

You may want to know the difference between the current Travel Agencies Liability Insurance and the previous Personal Accident Insurance. The most important difference is that the former policy places primary responsibility for the policy-holder, the insurant and the beneficiary are all on the travel agency. In other words, for any losses, theft, injury or death directly caused by travel services, they take the duty to claim compensation for their clients from the insurance agency. By contrast, in the current policy, the travel agency just serves as the deputy of the tourist in case of accidents. Travel agencies do not have any direct liability. Moreover, this policy only insures against personal accidents, excluding possession loss and other losses.

Policy Coverage
The policy coverage of Travel Agencies Liability Insurance includes the following accidents if caused by the travel agency:

-Compensation for the injury or death of tourists during their tour.
-In case of the 'a' situation, the fare related to the injured party's treatment, or the disposal expense of decedent's body.
-Necessary aid to the injured, sometimes the family's visitation and minor parties' repatriation fees, payment for doctors, and logical amends for the delayed or cancelled tour.
-Loss, damage or theft of the traveler's belongings
-Legal fees if a lawsuit arises because of the travel agency's liability.
-China travelers who take part in a tour arranged by a China travel agency should confirm that their physical conditions allow for participation in planned tour activities.

Any expenses caused by connatural illness will then be the traveler's responsibility. In addition, the insurance policy does not include any compensation related to travelers' personal offences. The policy also does not take responsibility for any losses after the tour ends, outside the guided tour or during designated free time.

Compensation Standard
The National Tourism Administration also regulated the compensation standards for different cases. For domestic travel inside China, the maximum amount is RMB 80,000 Yuan (US$9,700). For Chinese people traveling overseas or foreign visitors to China, RMB 160,000 Yuan (US$19,400) is the maximum.

The administration also stipulated compensation limits for tourism agencies. A tourism agency's annual compensation must be within 2 million Yuan (US$243,902) if it specializes in domestic trips, while an international tourism agency's limit is 4 million Yuan (US$487,804).

If tourism agencies launch highly risky travel services, they must coordinate with relevant insurance companies about related compensation standards and limits.