First, Govt./IRDAI has rolled out extensions that you should be aware of. Listing them down for each type of insurance.
2/n
Life Insurance extension.
Additional grace period of 30 days in case your policy was due for renewal in March and April.
Total grace period depends on the premium frequency of your policy:
Monthly premium mode: 45 days
Annual and all other modes: 60 days.
3/n
Health Insurance extension:
Only if your policy is due between 25th Mar to 14th Apr you can pay the premium due by 21st Apr and get cover without any break - this means if there is an unfortunate claim on a health insurance policy due during the lockdown, it will get paid.
4/n
I am clueless, but Health Insurance ideally should have ideally be given equal extensions to life insurance.
Hopefully, we will see additional extensions in a few days. I will update this thread in that case.
Car Insurance extension:
If your policy is due between 25th Mar to 14th Apr - you can pay the premium due by 21st Apr and your third-party cover will continue without break. There is no relief for the own damage cover in your motor policy.
5/n
Here's a summary of all the extensions given by IRDAI/Govt. for insurance in the last few weeks.
6/n
With or without extensions, it is important to keep your term and health insurance covers afloat. Here's what you can do. If any industry expert is reading this, please add to these suggestions.
You can convert your term life insurance policy to monthly/quarterly frequency at the time of renewal and reduce the burden of paying a large premium at one go.
7/n
For Health Insurance, many insurers and aggregators have EMI facilities for making premium payments. You can also pay renewal premiums by any credit card and convert the due to EMIs by calling your bank’s call center.
8/n
Reduce your sum insured (applicable for only health insurance) only when there is no other way around. Don't touch your health insurance coverage if you have crossed 40 years. In fact, try to upgrade it if possible.
9/n
Most importantly, do not lapse your parents' health insurance for sure! 🙏
It would be very difficult to get a health insurance cover for them later.
10/n
I am hopeful that the industry will work with the regulator and come together with more extensions, other innovative ways to ensure covers that provide long term financial protection are intact.
Agent vs Online - whom do you buy health insurance from?
A debate more complex than Android vs iPhone
I found a reasonable answer to this question through countless interactions with customers over 15+ years of working in insurance distribution.
Here's what I realized.
Online platforms are great for transactional products.
Products where the cognitive load to make decisions is low - where stakes are low, where decisions are reversible.
Simple UX and an efficient call centre do the trick.
But this same thing is not true for complex insurance products like health insurance.
These products have serious nuances that cannot be understood easily.
Personalization, right declarations when buying the policy
Paperwork, follow-up, and dispute management when making claims
4 myths regarding parents' health insurance through an employer you must know.
On the face of it, employer parent's health insurance looks like a no-brainer
✅ No medical tests
✅ No waiting periods
✅ Cover all diseases
✅ Faster claims
To problem kya hain? Read on 😅
𝗠𝘆𝘁𝗵 𝟭: I will remain employed for a good time. So I will always have parents cover
Not really
Note, parents' coverage with those lovely benefits causes major losses to insurers The policy is hence prone to:
a) price hikes
b) reductions in benefits
I have witnessed companies that start with fancy benefits for parents, free.
Then renewal comes
When they realize there is a huge premium hike, the CFO walks in, and rest is history
Just check the pricing history of parents insurance in your company for last 5 years.