The FINANCIAL — Foreign tourists in Georgia who are not insured in local agencies need to expect extra expenses in case of personal injury or possession damage.
The majority of insurance companies worldwide have no representative offices in Georgia, industry professionals claim. Local travel companies say that the lack of local insurance significantly reduces the number of incoming tourists. That is why insurance companies have started issuing special insurance packages focused on foreigners, including those taking part in extreme activities.
Georgia is proud of its low crime statistics as the country is now considered safer than Great Britain and Belgium. However embassies of some western countries still advise travelers to be careful while visiting Georgia.
Georgia, which recently experienced a war with Russia, has two breakaway regions where the central government does not control the situation. These territories (Abkhazia and South Ossetia) border with the most ancient places in Georgia, which are often visited by foreigners, as well as famous Black Sea resorts.
“Foreigners are not getting any financial reimbursement of their treatment in Georgia and this somehow decreases the number of tourists coming into the country,” Imeda Laklakishvili, guide of Georgia, told The FINANCIAL.
Many tourists from Azerbaijan, Armenia and Russia prefer to travel with their cars having no international insurance. Roads in Tbilisi are still in a poor condition that frequently causes car accidents.
“Tourists coming from developed countries, where insurance service is on a high level of development don’t have problems related to loss reimbursement. Customers don’t pay money for repairs from their own pocket and therefore they later don’t have to worry if the insurance company will reimburse them,” Devi Khechinashvili, Chairman of the Board of Georgian Insurance Association, said.
The issue is more problematic in the cases of tourists coming from neighboring countries.
“A significant number of tourists visiting Georgia have no insurance. So if any problems occur they should expect extra expenses,” Khechinashvili added.
To overcome the problem Georgian insurance companies offer a special short service of health insurance to foreign tourists.
The insurance company Imedi L International has recently offered an ‘Open Doors’ service to foreign and local tourists. The company provides short-term insurance with a maximum coverage of 35,000 EUR.
One day insurance for a standard tour costs 3 EUR whereas for extreme tours it is 10 EUR.
For locals, the prices are less as one day insurance for a standard tour costs 1 GEL and for an extreme tour 10 GEL.
“The product is new, but interest in it is already quite big,” Natalia Vardzelashvili, Manager at Imedi L Internatioal, said. “Foreigners already have insurance policies in their countries, but for them this service in Georgia is quite difficult which is why we suggested this new product. Therefore, if needed, tourists can get proper medical service all around Georgia.”
An insurance policy for tourists isn’t a new idea for the company Aldagi BCI. The company has already insured about 300 tourists.
“The greatest demand for the package occurs mostly in summer and winter,” Nutsa Koghuashvili, Deputy Director General, said. “The main services we have to offer are emergency ambulances, emergency hospital services and emergency dental services, but we cover any kind of expenses including transportation.”
“We haven’t had any claims yet,” Koghuashvili claims.
“Most tourists coming into Georgia already have a health insurance policy, but additional local insurance during the tours, especially extreme tours, is important,” Giorgi Aliashvili, Managing Director of Georgian Discovery Tours, said.
The agency is bringing in tourists from European countries and the USA, most of whom are already insured. Aliashvili recalls a case in which a motorcycle crashed into two Spanish tourists on Rustaveli Avenue causing the tourists multiple fractures. They were getting treatment for two weeks in a Tbilisi hospital. The problem was that the doctors didn’t know what kind of documentation was necessary, for refunding the expenses, from their insurance company in Spain.
“Later this problem was solved and they got reimbursement from their insurance,” Aliashvili stated. “We help our tourists to gather such documentation, translate it and get notary certification. They always get refunds from their insurance companies.”
“But I know a case from another tourism agency when some Jewish tourists didn’t have insurance policies and had problems at the hospital. Therefore local insurance for tourists is never a bad idea,” he added.
Khechinashvili explains that another problem related to foreigners’ insurance is the unregulated system of car owners’ insurance. Civil responsibility insurance of car owners isn’t obligatory in Georgia. Therefore the country is out of the Green Card international insurance system, which regulates the loss reimbursement at an international level, specifically when a citizen of one of its member-countries is involved in a car-accident in the territory of another member-country.
“In Georgia, car accidents cause additional problems for insured foreigners and their insurance companies,” Kheschinashili said. “This problem won’t be solved while the law regarding Motor Third Part Liability isn’t enacted and the country isn’t involved in the Green Card system.”
Georgian insurance companies offer policies to the foreigners living in Georgia as well. The service offered by Aldagi BCI includes: 24 hour telephone service, emergency, private doctor, ambulance service, reimbursement of the price of medicines, hospitalization, dentistry, pregnancy and giving birth and also life insurance.
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