Travel insurance or “tourist assistance” has been specified on the European level since 1984 when a directive of the European (economic) Union declared it a separate branch of insurance, the branch n° 18. In the bilateral agreement concluded with the European Union regarding direct insurance other than life insurance (1989), Switzerland adopted the European classification including that for travel insurance.

The noted branch of travel insurance is defined as “the assistance provided to people in difficulty during displacement or absence from home or permanent residence. It consists of making, with the help of the preliminary payment of a premium, the commitment to immediately provide help to the recipient of the assistance contract when he/she is in need or suffering a consequence of an unforeseeable occurrence, within terms and the conditions envisaged by the contract”.

The immediate assistance described in the definition generally materializes in form of repatriation, the anticipated return or the medical evacuation of the insured person. Generally, these primary services are accompanied by the coverage of the medical expenses essential to the stabilization of the insured’s health necessary for his/her repatriation. Other additional contributions can be allowed.