By Standard Reporter

Kenya Airways and Chartis Kenya have teamed up to provide a travel insurance product.

The partnership will allow Kenya Airways passengers to purchase travel insurance policy as they book their tickets.

The travel insurance policy – Travel Guard – offers coverage for medical expenses up to $0.5 million. For baggage loss, the coverage will insure your personal belongings and valuables up to $10,000.

Flight cancellation coverage would take care of pre-paid travel expenses and accommodation up to $5,000.

"Providing Travel Guard insurance to our customers is a strategic initiative, as it provides peace of mind to the traveler as well as providing convenience during the purchase of travel insurance.

The product has been created after extensive research and competitive benchmarking within the industry," said Mohan Chandra, Commercial Director of Kenya Airways.

Mr Chandra adds, "The airline has established a programme for selling the travel insurance on our website and through KQ’s call centres. The ticketing offices will then issue Travel Guard travel insurance."

Chartis Kenya Managing Director, Japh Olende, says ‘" We are excited to team up with Kenya Airways.

One-stop-centre

The relationship, the first of its kind with a national airline in Africa, showcases Chartis’ innovation and desire to find convenient ways to serve its customers wherever they may be."

The travel insurance policy also includes 24/7 emergency assist services. Travel Guard’s global assistance centres operate around the clock and are staffed with doctors, nurses, multilingual and multi-cultural specialists and a vast team of customer service professionals.

Travel Guard insurance can be purchased online on the airline’s website, www.kenya-airways.com, or through Kenya Airways sales agents while booking for flight tickets.

Initially, the point of sales for the policy will be limited to Kenya, but the project will be rolled out across KQ’s network in the future.

Chartis is a general insurance firm serving more than 40 million clients in over 160 countries and jurisdictions worldwide.

Travel Guard, a Chartis company, has over 20 years of experience in providing travel insurance worldwide and is currently providing similar programmes to airlines across the globe.

Travel Guard is also one of the world’s leading providers of emergency assistance and travel-related services.