Group vs Individual Travel Insurance: Understand the Difference Between These Plans

Individual travel plans cost more than group plans but offer more customisability. Here are various factors to consider when deciding between individual or group travel insurance.

Travel insurance policies are offered in two configurations—one for individuals, and one for groups or families. 

As you’d expect, individual travel insurance only covers one person, whereas group plans offer coverage to several persons at once. 

And in case you’re wondering, family travel insurance plans are simply another name for group travel insurance. Some of the best insurers don’t even require the insured persons to be related, but there are others who offer more family-oriented benefits and market them as family plans.

At their core, both individual plans and group plans work the same way, offering the same scope of coverage and benefits. However, there are some crucial differences in the way both work, which can make choosing one over another not as straightforward as initially expected.

Let’s dive in for a closer look. 

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Table of contents:

• What is Individual Travel Insurance?
• What is Group Travel Insurance?
• Difference Between Individuals and Group Travel Insurance
• Family Group Travel Insurance Vs. Group Travel Insurance
• So, is Group Travel Insurance Cheaper than Individual?
• Ways To Save On Your Group Travel Insurance
• Get the Best Travel Insurance Plan for You Today!

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What is individual travel insurance?

Individual travel insurance is a personalised insurance policy designed to cover one person's specific needs during their travels. 

This type of insurance is tailored to the unique itinerary, health conditions, and preferences of the traveller, offering a comprehensive range of coverage. From medical emergencies and trip cancellations to lost luggage and personal liability, individual travel insurance ensures that solo travellers are well-protected against a wide array of travel-related risks and uncertainties.

Key benefits of individual travel insurance plans

The primary advantage of individual travel insurance plans lies in their customisability. This means that travellers can adjust coverage limits and select travel insurance add-ons that precisely match their travel plans, whether it involves high-risk activities or destinations with specific health risks. 

Another significant benefit is the dedicated policy limit for each traveller, ensuring that the full range of benefits is available without sharing with others, thus offering maximum protection. 

Moreover, individual policies often come with the flexibility to cater to pre-existing medical conditions, providing a safety net for those with health concerns. 

The ability to tailor every aspect of the insurance, from duration to specific coverage options, makes the personally managed individual travel insurance an attractive choice.

Who is more suited for individual insurance?

Individual travel insurance is ideally suited for solo travellers, business professionals on work trips, and anyone with specific travel needs or health conditions requiring tailored coverage. It's also a perfect fit for adventurers engaging in high-risk activities not typically covered by standard group policies. 

Individuals looking for a detailed and flexible insurance plan that can be customised to include coverage for unique risks or extended durations, or those seeking travel insurance for pre-existing conditions, will also find individual travel insurance to be the most beneficial. 

What is group travel insurance?

Group travel insurance offers a consolidated policy that encompasses protection for several individuals travelling together, making it an ideal choice for various groups, whether they are friends, family members, or colleagues. 

Unlike individual policies tailored for singular coverage, group travel insurance extends its protective umbrella to cover multiple travellers under one policy. This type of insurance simplifies the process for groups of 10 or more, ensuring that everyone has uniform coverage for common risks experienced on trips, such as lost luggage, medical emergencies, trip cancellations, and more, without the necessity of being related.

Key benefits of group travel insurance plans

The beauty of group travel insurance lies in its capacity to cater to the collective needs of the group, allowing for individual claims or collective claims if an incident affects the entire group, thus offering a comprehensive safety net for all types of group travels.

This comprehensive coverage typically includes protection against trip interruptions or cancellations, lost, stolen, or delayed baggage, medical emergencies, including necessary evacuations, and more. 

One of the standout features of group travel insurance is its simplicity and cost-effectiveness for covering multiple travellers, providing a straightforward solution for group travel protection. Additionally, the uniform coverage ensures that all group members are equally protected, making it easier to manage and claim should any member of the group encounter unforeseen issues during their travels.

Who is more suited for group insurance?

Group travel insurance is particularly beneficial for organised groups such as corporate teams on business trips, student groups on educational excursions, large families embarking on vacations, or tour groups exploring new destinations. If you're planning an upcoming group travel, you may find these group travel tips helpful.

This type of insurance is most effective when all members share a common itinerary and destination, streamlining the insurance process by consolidating it into a single policy purchase. This not only potentially reduces the overall cost but also simplifies the management of the policy. 

Moreover, group travel insurance removes the hassle of individual policy management, making it an efficient choice for groups seeking a unified insurance solution for their journey.

Difference between individuals and group travel insurance

Cost per person

Perhaps the strongest factor in group travel insurance’s favour is the potential for lower cost per person. This is due to insurers applying a bulk discount for group policies or, alternatively, allowing you to include family members at no extra charge. 

In this way, group insurance brings down the cost of insuring each person, often ending up cheaper than travel insurance plans for individuals. 

In comparison, individual travel insurance policies usually cost more per person than a group plan—even if the benefits and coverage are similar across both plans.

an a group plan – even if the benefits and coverage are similar across both plans. 

Policy limit

The undeniable advantage of getting a single travel insurance policy is the entire policy limit is available to each individual. That’s to say, if your plan offers S$300,000 in overseas hospital benefits, the entire sum is reserved to meet your needs. 

In a group policy, while each person may be entitled to a stipulated benefit, there is also an overall policy limit imposed. This can drastically reduce the benefit received by each person. This applies to mostly all coverages, including trip cancellation, emergency repatriation or medical evacuation, baggage delay and overseas medical expenses.

Here’s an example, purely for illustration:

Source: Direct Asia

The screenshot above shows Direct Asia’s Family Travel Plan’s benefits offered for overseas medical coverage and medical expenses upon returning to Singapore.

Notice that while the lowest tier of the plan offers up to S$150,000 coverage per adult or child, this is stymied by a limit of S$375,000 for the entire family. 

This is equivalent to 2.5x of the limit accorded to each person, which means that if three or more persons in your travel group require medical attention, the maximum coverage available to each person shrinks to only a portion of the individual limit.

It’s important to stress that this doesn’t necessarily pose a problem, as not every traveller may require the same scope or type of treatment, even if multiple persons meet with injury. 

Still, it is worth noting that because of policy-wide limits, there is a higher potential for a gap in coverage when faced with extreme situations, and this risk increases when more persons are included in the group.

This can be somewhat ameliorated by choosing a higher-tier plan. For instance, going up one level in Direct Asia’s plan will bump up the family limit to S$500,000, allowing more breathing room. 

Another tip is to limit the number of persons included in each policy, splitting up the entire group over two or more policies as necessary. In the same vein, some insurers impose a maximum limit per group policy.

Customisability 

Individual travel insurance plans have got group plans beat for this one. 

Travel groups may comprise travellers with different needs, whether due to:

• Age – older travellers may require higher coverage compared to younger adults and children 
• Health statuses – some travellers may require coverage for pre-existing conditions
• Schedules – some friends may want to extend their trip 
• Preferences – not all may want to go bungee jumping 

As such, a single group travel plan may not be the best way to satisfy all travellers, and trying to fit everyone into a group policy may inadvertently create problems.

Choosing a plan based on common needs only will mean some group members could only be partially covered. Going the other direction and attempting to cover every activity and need may require the group to pay for coverage and benefits that are not necessary across the board, which means wasting money. 

These issues can be neatly avoided by simply going for individual travel insurance policies that are tailored to each traveller’s needs and preferences. This way, every person pays only for the coverage they want.

Convenience and coverage

When it comes to convenience and coverage, individual travel insurance plans generally offer a more streamlined and personalised experience compared to group plans. 

This is because the ability to tailor a policy to one's specific needs, including coverage for pre-existing conditions or inclusion of adventure sports, provides a level of customisation that is particularly advantageous for travellers with unique or specific requirements. Moreover, managing an individual policy allows for direct control and adjustments, ensuring that coverage can be modified as travel plans evolve or new needs arise.

Group travel insurance, on the other hand, simplifies the process for multiple travellers by bundling them under a single policy, which can be particularly convenient for organising larger travel parties. However, this convenience may come at the cost of individual fit, as the coverage is standardised across all members. This could potentially leave some travellers underinsured for their specific needs or pay for coverage they do not require.

Read this next: What Type of Travel Insurance Should You Buy?

Overall benefits

Evaluating the overall benefits of individual versus group travel insurance reveals distinct advantages in both options, with the best choice largely dependent on the travellers' specific needs and circumstances. 

As mentioned, individual travel insurance shines with its ability to provide comprehensive and customisable coverage. Travellers have the freedom to select benefits that align with their travel activities, health conditions, and risk preferences, ensuring a high degree of protection that is closely tailored to their itinerary.

Conversely, group travel insurance offers significant cost savings, particularly for families or larger parties, making it a relatively cheaper option. The ease of managing a single policy for multiple individuals also cannot be understated, especially when coordinating travel plans for groups where simplicity and cost-effectiveness are paramount.

However, it's pivotal that you consider the potential limitations of group plans, such as shared policy limits that may not adequately cover all members in case of extensive claims. This underscores the importance of assessing the specific coverage needs of each traveller within the group.

Read more: 10 Tips to Buying the Right Travel Insurance in Singapore

Family group travel insurance vs. group travel insurance

Also read: Group Travel Insurance vs Family Travel Insurance - Which One is Right For You?

#1 Persons covered

The most important difference between family travel insurance and group travel insurance is the persons covered. 

As per its name, a family travel insurance plan only covers, well, family members. In most cases, only immediate family – legal spouse, and own children – are included. Some insurers, however, may only require the children to be insured to be related to one adult only. 

This also means that extended family members are excluded from family travel insurance plans. So, if you’re travelling with your grandparents, uncles and aunties, cousins, etc, they will require their own travel insurance policy. 

What about domestic helpers? Well, some insurers may offer free coverage for domestic helpers accompanying the family during the trip. If your chosen insurer does not offer this, a separate plan will need to be acquired for your helper. 

In contrast, a group insurance policy doesn't require any of the insured individuals to be related in any way whatsoever. They only need to be named, and fulfil the eligibility criteria – commonly, age and nationality.

#2 Claim limits

It is common for family travel insurance plans to have different claims limits for adults and children, with the latter covered only for a portion of the sums assured provided to insured adults. 

Not only that, family travel insurance usually institutes an overall cap per family, which adds up to a lower sum than the individual benefits combined. 

For instance, a policy may offer personal accident coverage of S$10,000 per adult, and S$5,000 per child, with an overall cap of S$25,000 per family. This means that the policy essentially only offers full cover to two adults and one child, putting larger families at a disadvantage. 

Of course, travel insurance benefits aren’t meant to be split up like a chicken dinner. However, per-family limits can make it such that the benefits you do receive are insufficient for your needs. 

In contrast, group insurance plans do not have this limitation. All insured persons will have their own individual benefits and limits. 

This may be a more attractive option for some, so you should forego family plans and just sign everyone up for a group plan instead, right? 

After all, some group plans require a minimum age of 16, while family plans cover children up to age 18 or 23, for full-time students. This means you should be able to enrol your 17-year-old under a group policy – and thus gain full cover – correct?

Well, maybe. It is up to your insurer to decide if they will insure you and your immediate family under a group travel plan, instead of a family plan. 

Also, if your children do not meet the minimum qualifying age for a group plan, then you’ll have no choice but to go with a family plan instead. 

#3 Premiums charged

A prominent selling point of a family plan is that children are included for a lower cost, or sometimes completely for free. The idea is to let parents feel like they are getting good value for money. 

Group travel plans, in comparison, are charged on a per-individual basis, with the premium carefully calculated to cover the cost of insurance across all individuals in the policy. Another common practice is to offer a discount on single-traveller plans if multiple travellers sign up together. 

While both of these marketing tactics may seem different, they don’t actually matter very much in the grand scheme of things. 

What’s more important is getting sufficient coverage for every traveller, and benefits that are actually useful and necessary, at a reasonable premium.

A prominent selling point of a family plan is that children are included for a lower cost, or sometimes completely for free. The idea is to let parents feel like they are getting good value for money.

Group travel plans, in comparison, are charged on a per-individual basis, with the premium carefully calculated to cover the cost of insurance across all individuals in the policy. Another common practice is to offer a discount on single-traveller plans if multiple travellers sign up together.

While both of these marketing tactics may seem different, they don’t actually matter very much in the grand scheme of things.

What’s more important is getting sufficient coverage for every traveller, and benefits that are actually useful and necessary, at a reasonable premium.

So, is group travel insurance cheaper than individual?

The answer to the question of whether group travel insurance is cheaper than individual policies is not one-size-fits-all; it largely hinges on the specific dynamics and requirements of the travelling party. 

Typically, group travel insurance offers the allure of cost savings, especially for homogeneous groups with similar coverage needs. The bulk purchase inherently lowers the cost per person, making it an attractive proposition for families, corporate teams, and friends travelling together with uniform itineraries and destinations.

However, this apparent cost advantage requires careful consideration. 

Individual travel insurance policies, though potentially more expensive on a per-person basis, offer the benefit of customisation. This bespoke approach ensures that each traveller's specific risks are addressed, potentially offering better value despite the higher cost.

As such, the decision between group and individual travel insurance should not solely rest on cost. Ultimately, when weighing the different options, the emphasis should be on securing adequate coverage that meets the travellers' needs rather than fixating on the cost. In many cases, the premium differences between group and individual policies may be marginal when weighed against the value of appropriate and sufficient coverage. Prioritising coverage ensures peace of mind, safeguarding your travel experience against unforeseen events, which, after all, is the primary purpose of travel insurance.

Ways to save on your group travel insurance

Compare quotes

This goes without saying — the best way to find the best price is to compare quotes from different insurers. Don't just purchase the first travel insurance you land on thinking it's affordable. 

Look beyond the price tag and assess the benefits, deductibles, and exclusions. This ensures that you're not just choosing the most cost-effective option, but also the one that provides adequate protection for your travel needs. Consider factors like medical coverage limits, coverage for adventure activities if you plan to engage in them, and whether the policy covers destinations you're visiting. 

And who knows? You might just be able to find lower premiums for better coverage if you shop around a little more.

Thankfully, you won't have to manually compare quotes yourself. SingSaver has this nifty tool that allows you to seamlessly compare premiums across insurers on the same page!

Do make use of promo codes too! Insurers are almost always offering attractive discounts to maximise savings on your travel insurance premiums!

Consider annual plans

If you have multiple trips lined up for a year, maybe choosing an annual plan might help to shave off some costs, though not all the time.

A general gauge on when an annual travel insurance would make sense is if you are travelling more than about 6 or 7 times within a year. Anything lower than that? Multiple single-trip travel insurance policies might be cheaper.

Furthermore, annual plans often come with added conveniences that single-trip policies might lack. For instance, they may offer worldwide coverage, meaning you won't have to worry about specifying destinations for each trip. This can prove beneficial for last-minute trips or unexpected travel opportunities that arise throughout the year. Also, some annual plans include extra perks, such as coverage for an unlimited number of trips, as long as each trip doesn't exceed a certain number of days. 

Do your research first before committing to a plan! If an annual travel insurance is cheaper then that's great! It also saves you the hassle of purchasing one before each of your trips.

See more: 
Best Annual Travel Insurance Plans In Singapore (2023)
Single Trip vs Annual: Which Travel Insurance Should You Get?

Get the best travel insurance plan for you today!

If you're travelling with a group, you might want to check out some of the best group travel insurance as it not only can help to reduce costs, but it can also reduce the hassle of purchasing a travel insurance plan for everyone in your group. 

Check out the best travel insurance plans in Singapore for your upcoming trip!

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