There are certain benefits that visitor insurance offers but generally visitors are unaware of them. One such benefit is ‘Repatriation of Mortal Remains’ (RMR). As the name suggests, it means taking the bodily remains of the deceased insured person back to his home country. How much unfortunate it may seem to have a loved one pass away (especially while traveling), it is very critical as well as may be very expensive to have the arrangements to get him back to his home country for final rituals. Therefore, it is beneficial to have this feature in visitor insurance plan.

What does RMR covers?

Under the Repatriation of Mortal Remains is covered:

• The air or ground transportation of the body (bodily remains) to the residence of the deceased insured person.
• It also includes the coverage of expenses incurred to prepare the remains for this transportation.

These benefits are provided by the insurance plan only when the conditions and restrictions in the policy are met. Further, the insurance company are held harmless and shall not be held liable for loss of or any damage or other impairment to bodily remains incurred during the repatriation process or otherwise.

How does RMR works?

For RMM to come into action, the death should have been occurred in the foreign land, i.e. outside the insured visitor’s home country.

In the event of death of the visitor, visitor insurance with RMR benefit is very useful as it takes away the financial burden on the visitor’s family. Often the language in the two countries are different, hence it becomes just too difficult as to how to recover the visitor’s body. Also the local laws and regulations, health standards, transportation arrangements all may become too overwhelming in the already grief-stricken family. But the RMR eases it all.

The transportation to the home country, the costs for cremation (at the place of death) and other necessary formalities need not be handled by the deceased’s family. The insurance company manages and takes care of it all. They handle the health regulations as to how to prepare the body or the ashes to be transported, they arrange for appropriate containers (embalming) as well as manage the customs requirements or government authorizations.The insurance company will pay for covered expenses incurred for either cremation of the body or to return the bodily remains. Burial costs are not included (sometimes this can be included within the visitor insurance on some additional charges).

Local Burial or Cremation

Insurance company will pay for the insured person to be buried or cremated in the country of death in lieu of repatriation of remains according to insurance plan benefits, up to the specified policy maximum. It should be noted that local burial or cremation cannot be used in conjunction with the Emergency Evacuation or Repatriation of Remains benefit and excludes coverage for death in the member’s home country.

We at MCIS understands ‘Repatriation of Mortal Remains’ is a sensitive topic but it is one of the very important benefits of visitor insurance. Please contact us to learn more about this coverage.

Category: Visitor Insurance

December 10, 2015 at 08:41 PM