Travel Insurance Claim Rejected? How to Fight Back for Trip, Baggage, and Medical Claims

Who this guide is for

This guide is for Indian travellers — or their families — whose travel insurance claim has been rejected or substantially reduced by their insurer. It covers three distinct claim types:

• Trip cancellation or curtailment — you could not travel (or had to return early) because of illness, death in the family, natural disaster, or another covered reason, and the insurer has refused to reimburse the non-refundable costs.
• Baggage loss, delay, or damage — the airline lost, delayed, or damaged your checked luggage and the insurer is refusing the claim, often because of missing documentation.
• Medical emergency abroad — you sought emergency hospital treatment while travelling outside India and the insurer has rejected or reduced the medical reimbursement claim.

The guide applies whether your policy was bought from a private insurer (HDFC ERGO, ICICI Lombard, Bajaj Allianz, Tata AIG, and similar) or a public-sector insurer (New India Assurance, Oriental Insurance, National Insurance, United India Insurance). The appeal process is the same for all; the RTI angle differs slightly and is explained in its own section below.

If your health insurance (not travel) claim was rejected, see the sibling guide on health insurance pre-existing disease claim rejection. For a general overview of insurance complaint processes, see how to file an insurance complaint with IRDAI.

What you can do this weekend

Friday evening

Locate your rejection letter — if the insurer sent it by email or SMS, download and save it. If you only received a phone call, send an email to the insurer's customer service address asking them to confirm the rejection in writing with the exact reason. Pull out your policy document and read the relevant section: Inclusions, Exclusions, and the Claims Procedure section. Highlight the specific exclusion or procedure the insurer cited. Check whether the rejection reason actually matches what your policy says — you may find the insurer has applied a wrong or overreaching exclusion.

Saturday

Gather every piece of supporting evidence (see the Documents checklist below for your specific claim type). Photograph or scan each document. Drafting your appeal letter is also a Saturday task — use the template in this guide. For trip cancellation: obtain a formal cancellation letter from the airline or hotel and any medical/official document confirming the covered reason (e.g., treating doctor's certificate, death certificate). For baggage claims: locate the PIR (Property Irregularity Report) the airline gave you at the baggage desk on arrival — if you do not have it, contact the airline's baggage division immediately and request the reference number and a copy of the PIR filed. For medical emergency: compile all original hospital discharge summaries, diagnosis notes, and itemised bills; get a certificate from the treating doctor confirming the treatment was an emergency.

Sunday

Finalise your appeal letter and send it by email to the insurer's Grievance Redressal Officer (GRO) — the GRO's name, email, and address are required by IRDAI to be published on every insurer's website. Send with all scanned documents as attachments and mark the subject line: "Formal Grievance — Claim [Claim Number] — [Trip/Baggage/Medical]". Keep a copy. Note the date of sending — the insurer is required to acknowledge grievances promptly and respond substantively. If you are still short of a document (e.g., waiting for PIR from the airline), send the letter anyway and state that the missing document will follow within a specified number of days.

Documents and evidence checklist

Understanding the three claim types — what rejection reasons mean

Trip cancellation claims

Travel insurers only cover trip cancellation for specifically listed reasons — typically serious illness, injury, or death of the insured or an immediate family member; a natural disaster at the destination; or a government-declared travel ban. If you cancelled because of work commitments, a change of plan, or a reason not listed, the rejection is likely valid and your best recourse is the airline and hotel's own cancellation policies. However, if your reason does match a covered event but documents were inadequate, that is a winnable appeal. Insurers also commonly reject when the airline or hotel has already made a partial refund — in that case, the insurer generally only owes the non-refunded balance, not the full ticket price.

Baggage loss, delay, and damage claims

The single most common reason baggage claims are rejected is a missing or invalid PIR. You must obtain the PIR at the airline's baggage desk before leaving the arrivals area — it is your proof that the loss or damage was reported to the airline immediately. The insurer also needs to see the airline's own correspondence confirming the issue. Note that most travel policies have a per-item limit and a total limit for baggage claims — if your rejection mentions that the claim exceeds policy limits, check the exact figures in your policy schedule. Valuables like jewellery, cash, documents, electronics, and prescription medicines are often excluded or separately sub-limited; check the exclusions page of your policy before appealing.

Medical emergency abroad claims

Rejection reasons for medical claims usually fall into one of four categories: (a) the condition is considered pre-existing; (b) the insurer was not notified within the required timeframe (most policies require notification within 24–48 hours for hospitalisations); (c) the treatment is classified as non-emergency or elective; or (d) documents were incomplete or in a foreign language without a certified translation. If the insurer cites pre-existing condition, check whether your policy excludes it entirely or only for related conditions — a broken arm, for example, is rarely pre-existing even if you had a chronic illness. If notification was delayed due to the severity of the emergency (e.g., you were unconscious), document this clearly and appeal.

Step-by-step action plan

Step 1 — Get the rejection in writing

Before anything else, ensure you have the insurer's rejection in writing with the specific reason stated. If they told you verbally or only sent a vague SMS, email the claims department and GRO asking for a formal written repudiation letter with the policy clause(s) cited. This document is the foundation of every subsequent step.

Step 2 — Read your policy against the rejection reason

Open your policy document (it should be in your email inbox from when you bought it — check your insurer's app or the aggregator through which you purchased). Read the Inclusions, Exclusions, Claims Procedure, and Definitions sections carefully. Identify whether the reason cited by the insurer is actually stated in the policy, whether it is being applied correctly to your facts, and whether there is a documentation cure (i.e., you can provide a missing document to fix the issue).

Step 3 — Collect the claim-type-specific evidence

Use the Documents checklist above for your claim type. For baggage claims, contact the airline's baggage division immediately by email if you did not file a PIR on arrival — explain that you reported the loss/damage verbally but did not receive a written PIR, and request that they issue one or provide a reference number. Some airlines will do this within a few days if the incident was actually logged. For medical claims, if bills are in a foreign language, arrange for a certified English translation (required by most Indian insurers).

Step 4 — File a formal written appeal with the GRO

Every IRDAI-licensed insurer must have a designated Grievance Redressal Officer (GRO) whose contact details are published on the insurer's website. Send your appeal by email (keeping a sent-mail record) with all supporting documents attached. State clearly: (a) the claim number, (b) the rejection reason given, (c) why you believe the rejection is incorrect or the document deficiency has now been cured, and (d) what you are asking the insurer to do. Use the complaint template in this guide as a starting point.

Step 5 — Await the insurer's response (30-day window)

The insurer should acknowledge your grievance promptly and respond substantively. If you receive no response or an unsatisfactory one within 30 days of your grievance, you are eligible to approach the Insurance Ombudsman or file on Bima Bharosa. Keep note of the date you filed the grievance.

Step 6 — Escalate to Bima Bharosa / IRDAI

If the GRO response is still unsatisfactory, file a complaint on IRDAI's Bima Bharosa portal (bimabharosa.irdai.gov.in). IRDAI does not directly adjudicate claims but will take up the matter with the insurer. IRDAI's toll-free numbers are 155255 and 1800 4254 732. You can also email [email protected].

Step 7 — File with the Insurance Ombudsman

The Insurance Ombudsman is a free, independent dispute resolution service for individual policyholders. There are ombudsman offices across India (managed by the Council for Insurance Ombudsmen at cioins.co.in). You can file online through the Bima Bharosa portal or by post to the ombudsman office with jurisdiction over the location where your policy was issued. The complaint must be filed within one year of the insurer's final rejection or the expiry of the 30-day grievance period. The Ombudsman can handle disputes up to Rs. 50 lakhs in claimed compensation. Awards are binding on the insurer, which must comply within 30 days. Read the detailed process in our guide on the insurance ombudsman complaint format.

Step 8 — Consumer court (eDaakhil)

If the Ombudsman's award is unsatisfactory or your dispute does not qualify, file a consumer complaint in District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission. For claims up to Rs. 50 lakhs, the District Commission has jurisdiction. File online through eDaakhil. The Consumer Protection Act 2019 provides a two-year limitation period from the date of cause of action (typically the rejection). See our full guide on how to file in consumer court in India.

Escalation ladder

Copy-paste complaint template

Replace the text in square brackets with your own details before sending. This template is for the formal written appeal to the insurer's Grievance Redressal Officer (Step 4 above). If escalating to the Ombudsman, use the same facts but address it to the relevant ombudsman office and add a line confirming the insurer's GRO response.

When RTI can help

The Right to Information Act 2005 applies to public authorities — government bodies and entities substantially financed by government. In the travel insurance context, RTI can be used in the following limited situations:

• PSU (public-sector) insurers — New India Assurance, Oriental Insurance, National Insurance, and United India Insurance are all government-owned companies subject to RTI. If your travel insurance policy was issued by any of these four insurers, you can file an RTI application to seek: (a) the claim file and the internal noting that led to rejection; (b) the specific policy circular or underwriting guideline under which your claim was rejected; (c) information about whether similar claims have been settled. File the RTI to the Public Information Officer (PIO) at the insurer's head office or the regional office that handled your policy. New India Assurance, for example, has an RTI compliance page on its website with the PIO's contact details. Use the guide on how to file an RTI online and the first appeal guide if the PIO does not respond or partially withholds information.
• IRDAI itself — IRDAI is a statutory regulator and is a public authority under RTI. If you want information about whether your insurer has faced regulatory action for systematic claim rejections, or about the regulations governing travel insurance claim settlement, you can file an RTI with IRDAI's PIO in Hyderabad.
• Government-employer travel insurance schemes — If your employer (a government department, PSU, or bank) arranged group travel insurance for you and the claim was rejected, you may be able to RTI the employer about the terms of the group policy and the basis for the rejection recommendation.

For all RTI filings and first appeals related to insurance matters, see the broader Practical Guides hub and The RTI Playbook for letter-drafting guidance.

When RTI will not help

The vast majority of travel insurance in India is issued by private insurance companies. RTI does not apply to private companies regardless of their size, IRDAI licence, or market share. This means you cannot use RTI to demand the claim file, internal notes, or underwriting guidelines from any of the following (and similar) private insurers:

• HDFC ERGO General Insurance
• ICICI Lombard General Insurance
• Bajaj Allianz General Insurance
• Tata AIG General Insurance
• Reliance General Insurance
• Go Digit General Insurance
• Niva Bupa (formerly Max Bupa) Health Insurance
• Any other private-sector IRDAI-licensed insurer

For disputes with private insurers, your effective remedies are: the insurer's own GRO, IRDAI's Bima Bharosa portal, the Insurance Ombudsman, the National Consumer Helpline (1915), and consumer court via eDaakhil. See our guide on insurance claim rejection recovery in India for a comprehensive overview across all insurer types. For health insurance specifically, see insurance ombudsman complaint format for health insurance.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Leaving the airport without a PIR. For baggage claims, the single most costly mistake is not visiting the airline's baggage services desk at the arrival airport and getting a Property Irregularity Report before exiting through customs. Once you leave, filing a PIR becomes difficult or impossible and your insurer will almost certainly refuse the claim.
• Notifying the insurer too late for medical emergencies. Most travel insurance policies require you to notify the insurer — or their appointed TPA (Third Party Administrator) — within 24 to 48 hours of a hospitalisation abroad. Missing this window gives the insurer grounds to reject even a valid claim. Save your insurer's emergency helpline number in your phone before you travel.
• Accepting a verbal rejection. Always get the rejection in writing with the specific policy clause cited. A verbal or SMS rejection is not a formal repudiation and cannot be effectively appealed.
• Not reading the policy exclusions before buying. Pre-existing conditions, adventure sports, self-inflicted injuries, incidents under the influence of alcohol, travel to war zones or countries under IRDAI advisory, and pregnancy-related claims are excluded in most standard policies. Many travellers only read the inclusions page and are surprised by exclusions at claim time.
• Submitting photocopies of medical bills instead of originals. Indian travel insurers typically require original bills for medical reimbursement claims abroad. If you settled the hospital directly and kept photocopies, your claim may be rejected. Always keep originals and submit certified copies only if the insurer explicitly permits them.
• Missing the Ombudsman's one-year deadline. You have one year from the insurer's final rejection (or from when 30 days elapsed with no response to your GRO complaint) to file with the Insurance Ombudsman. Missing this window means the Ombudsman cannot take up your complaint, and you will be limited to consumer court.
• Claiming the full ticket price for trip cancellation when the airline already refunded part. The insurer only owes you the genuinely non-refunded amount. Always attach the airline's or hotel's refund statement showing exactly what was returned, and claim only the net unrecovered loss.
• Not keeping copies of everything submitted. Insurers sometimes claim they did not receive certain documents. Always email claims so you have a delivery record, and list all attachments explicitly in the email body.