Wedding Insurance

From a sudden cancellation to stolen gifts, wedding insurance helps protect you against the unforeseen circumstances and gives you great peace of mind

Wedding is that auspicious event that marks a new beginning rather than a new chapter of life. Two people who plan to unite and stay together tie the pious nuptial knot. This special day is all that a couple dreams about and all that they can’t stop worrying about. And though they might not think about it but disasters can strike the wedding.

Only you know how important it is to ensure the happiness and satisfaction on this big day of yours. To avoid major bloopers on this day, opting for wedding insurance is catching on.

Now the question that might pop up in your mind is that what exactly a wedding insurance will do to you, from a sudden cancellation to stolen gifts, wedding insurance helps protect you against the unforeseen circumstances, and also can afford you great peace of mind.

Basically, wedding insurance protects a couple’s investment from circumstances beyond their control, and reimburses the expenses that they incur on it. For example, what if the reception space goes out of business a month before the wedding and you lose all your deposits and have to book another space, what if your designer wedding dress is lost in airport baggage and you have to buy a new one a day before your wedding? These are the types of big day financial losses that wedding insurance can help to protect.

Coverages

- Burglary of valuables

- Any damage to building and contents due to fire or allied perils

- Accidental death in family or that of close family friend

- Police action apart from child marriage case or cases that are criminal in nature also gets insurance protection

- Legal liability and third party damages

- Cover against food poisoning, loss of wedding ornaments

Money kept in safe

Coming to the point of premiums, wedding policies come at a very meagre premium. There also may be a provision for taking wedding insurance only for selected items. The compensation for wedding insurance comprises expenses, securities and advances based on actuals. The loss of property is calculated on actuals and perils.

Subsidiary marriage functions can also be a part of the policy. To clear a wedding insurance, it is essential to give a proper break-up of items.

For example, if there is damage to some property then amount lost, sets, other charges and every such things should be mentioned very clearly. Another question that might come out of wedding insurance query could be whether a unique situation wherein the bride or groom changing mind at the venue of wedding would be covered or not, the answer for which is that insurers call it a cold feet issue and thereby it will not be covered then.

Our big fat Indian wedding calls for lot of investment and in such a situation if any mishap takes place then it is going to take the whole event on a toll and therefore it is essential that you transfer your risk to the insurers and indulge into the madness of the wedding season that is approaching.

-Narendra Anand
The author is senior vice-president & Head GI, Bajaj Capital Ltd. 

Waiting period in health insurance

You will have to serve a waiting period when you sign up for a Health Insurance Policy or enhance your level of coverage.  Waiting period is necessary to keep the health cover fair. A waiting period protects the insurer by ensuring that individuals are not able to make a claim shortly after buying a Health Policy.

Waiting period also called the cooling period. It is the time after the purchase of policy under which no claim paid other than in the situation when claim has resulted due to an emergency. It varies (from 30 days to 90 days) from insurer to insurer.

Pre existing, waiting periods and Exclusions in a health Insurance policy 

Pre-existing are the diseases from which a policyholder suffers from before taking a health insurance policy. Most of companies in industry provide coverage to these pre-existing diseases after four continuous years of coverage.

Waiting Period for Pregnancy (Maternity waiting Period) 

Maternity benefits paid by certain health insurance policies/providers. However, most of them have a waiting period of 9 months to 48 months. It just means that health insurance plan needs to be planned much ahead of planning your family to cover all the expenses involved in the same and it cannot be taken after conceiving.   

Top Health Insurance policies from the Top-Insurers in India

Everyone wishes for good healthy life. However, bad time comes without knocking. We expect best treatment in the best hospitals for our loved ones. Good treatment incurs big cost. This is why Health insurance comes into picture, which helps us to maintain financial losses due to hospitalization.

Buying the right health insurance policy is very important but it’s difficult, as it’s not something that We do on daily basis, and the information and pricing can be complex.

When we endeavor to find the best-suited health insurance policies, it includes as much information as possible. We cannot show everything but we can show you many things.

Following is the list of Top HealthInsurance policies offered by top insurers in India with the complete plan details, which can really help you get the right health insurance plans to secure the happiness of your loved once.

               

Insurer	Apollo Munich	Religare	L&T	Max Bupa
Plan Name/ Features	Optima Restore-Family Floater	Religare Care	My Health Medisure Classic Insurance-Family Floater	Heartbeat -Family Floater- GOLD plan
Room Rent	No Capping	Single private room	1% of sum insured max. 4000 per day ICU 2% of sum insured max. 6000 per day	No Capping
Pre-Existing Disease Cover	After 3 Years	After 4 Years	After 3 Years	After 4 Years
Maternity Benefits	Not covered	Not covered	After 4 years	If S.I. 5 Lacs , Rs 40000, S.I. 7.5 Lacs , Rs 45000, S.I. 10 Lacs , Rs 50000, Upto 2 deliveries (After 2 years)
Ambulance Charges	Upto Rs.2,000	Upto Rs.2000	Upto Rs. 1500	Covered
Cashless Benefit	In network Hospitals	In network Hospitals	In network Hospitals	In network Hospitals
Domiciliary Hospitalization	Covered	Upto 10% of sum insured	Covered	If S.I. 5 Lacs , Rs 25000, S.I. 7.5 Lacs , Rs 37500, S.I. 10 Lacs , Rs 50000
Free Health check up	Not covered	Every year	1% of sum insured (after 4 claim free years)	Yearly at the time of renewal
Tax Benefit	Covered	Covered	Covered	Covered
Sum Insured 5 Lakh/ Age 29 yrs	11149	10265	10782	17403

Insurance comparison is very important to getting the right health insurance policy. Keep following fine prints in mind while looking for the health plan-

·         Find the policy that meets your needs and must compare their features before making purchase decision.

·         Medical cost may vary from tier one cities to tier two cities. So do a check before finalizing health policy

·         Find what suits best - Individual HealthInsurance, Family Floater Insurance, or Critical illness insurance. This defines the investment cost and maximum benefits of the policy.

Hoping the above plan details help you a getting the right health insurance plans from the best insurer in India.

Buy adequate health, home & motor insurance to mitigate any financial loss during rainy season: Experts

The sight of skidded cars and bikes after a drizzle last week was a grim reminder that monsoon is also a season of mishaps and illnesses. Despite knowing this, chances are that you may miss one item in your regular monsoon checklist — insurance covers. You can always take precautions to avoid or minimise the damage, but what if adisaster strikes despite all efforts?

Only an insurance cover can mitigate your financial losses in such a situation. It is prudent to use this monsoon to review your insurance needs. Some of the covers that you opt to buy this monsoon, will start only after a waiting period of, say, 30 days. But, that shouldn't deter you from buying them, say experts. 

Health & Personal Accident Insurance

Rain or shine, you must have a health cover. In fact, you should even get it for all the family members. "Basic hospitalisation indemnity plan accompanied by personal accident and hospital cash covers are essential during the monsoons.

It is also necessary to take care of any illness-related exigency such as gastroenteritis and enteric fevers, which arise mainly during the rainy season," says Renuka Kanvinde, assistant VP, health insurance, Bajaj Allianz. You may not able to claim for illnesses immediately.

"When it comes to healthinsurance, standard exclusions such as 30-day waiting period for all conditions except accidents, pre-existing conditions, cosmetic treatments etc would apply." Acquaint yourself with co-payments, room rent restrictions and disease-wise capping in the policies.

Personal accident cover is another must for earning members of all age groups, say advisors. It covers treatment expenses related to accident, and offers compensation if the policyholder suffers from disabilities or succumbs to the injuries. "Apart from risks that slippery roads pose individuals undertaking activities like rafting during rains also expose them to dangers, and hence, a personal accident cover is a must. In fact, every earning member of a family must buy this cover," says KK Mishra, MD & CEO, Tata-AIG General.

However, do compare the policy features offered by various insurers before buying one. Opt for comprehensive covers that offer compensation for permanent partial and temporary total disabilities too, along with permanent total and partial disabilities and death

Home Insurance

A home insurance will help in case the structure or contents are damaged due to flooding, inundation, storm, cloud burst, lightening and so on. "It can be of help in a city like Mumbai where water-logging occurs quite often during monsoons.

You should go for comprehensive home insurance cover instead of limiting it to just fire and theft," says Mishra. However, go through the fine print carefully before signing up. "It is important to be aware that rain water damages are not covered under fire and home insurance policy," says Arvind Laddha, CEO, Vantage Insurance Brokers.

Auto insurance

"You must have motor insurance cover that takes care of all sorts of damages, since your vehicle is more prone to damages during rains," says Vijay Kumar, chief technical officer, motor insurance, Bajaj Allianz General. "Though the basic motor insurance plans will cover the damages on the body and other outer equipment of the car, there are some claims that are not payable under the basic motor insurance policy.

Source: The Economic Times                                                                                                                  

Dated: 12/06/2014

Compare Individual Health Plans

Not sure, what kind of health insurance coverage you required?  Let us help. We can calculate premium for you with the complete coverage that best suits your requirements.

Compare different health insurance plans to find the best-suited insurance cover. You can estimate annual insurance cost and savings or chat live with one of our expert adviser.

Individual health insurance works against the risk of incurring medical expenses among individuals. You can save money by comparing different insurance plans, regular reviewing your health insurance coverage, taking benefits from your employer’s medical coverage and living a healthy life style.

Health insurance is a way to protect you and your family from dangerous financial disaster that could be result of medical expenses or health related issues. Health insurance is the only way, which can help you in such critical situation. There are ways that save money on your health insurance premium like:-

• Compare OnlineInsurance: Compare the different insurance policies with the complete plan details will definitely provide you the best suited health insurance policy as per your need.
• Opt for two-year policies: Health Insurance Companies like Apollo Munich, HDFC Ergo, and Star Health offer two-year health plans. Chances are you will benefit on more than just the premium front.
• Use Top up Health Insurance Plans: If you are looking for higher coverage, you can go with the top up health insurance plans. Enhancement in health insurance policy ensures that you get much improved policy at an affordable premium. 
• No Claim Benefits: With a successful year without the insurance claim means, the premium you would pay in the following years would be lower.

Health Insurance Portability – The Right to Change

The comparison of Health insurance is not just those who are looking for new policy but also for the existing policyholders. If you are not satisfied with the services provided by your existing health insurance company or you think there are insurance plans better than your existing one, you do not need to worry. Your Health Insurance Policy is portable. It means transfer of the credit gained by the insured for pre existing conditions and time bound exclusion if the policyholder wishes to switch.

Benefits of Health Insurance Portability:

·          Switch to one insurer to another if you are not happy with the services.

·          Choose the new insurance plan with the new health insurance provider.

·          Your new insurer has to give you the credit relating to waiting period for pre-existing conditions that you have gained with the old insurer

Following are the few conditions that you kept in your mind while looking for the health insurance portability:

·          Policyholder can switch in between the insurance provider or from one plan to another plan of the same health insurance provider.

·          For health insurance portability, previous policy must be in force without any break.

·          Policyholder should apply for portability at least 45 days before the premium renewal date of the existing health insurance policy.

§  Write to your old insurance company requesting a shift

§  Specify company to which you want to shift the policy

§  Renew your policy without a break (there is a 30 day grace period if porting is under process)

·          Portability allowed to all individual health insurance policies including family floater policies issued by non life insurance companies.

·          The new insurer has the authority to fix a higher premium.

Enhance your Health Insurance policy - Compare & Buy Health Insurance online

Bajaj Capital Insurance

You can enhance your medical coverage at lower premium by using “Top up Plans”.  Enhancement in health insurance policy ensures that you get much improved policy at an affordable premium.  The rising cost of quality care at busy hospital May causes that sum assured of your current insurance policy is not sufficient. 

Top up plans serves as add-ons on your immediate health insurance policy. They are similar to the base health plan, except that they come with a higher deductible limit.

You are concerned about the limited amount of sum assured since medical expenses have increased excessively. Here a condition comes in which you are looking for a sufficient amount of health insurance but worries about the high insurance premium. In this situation, you can consider the option of Top-Up Plans.

Top up plans have “deductible” hence they are cheap. These plans also have threshold limit sometimes as high as the sum insured itself.  

Top-Up Health Insurance Policy: - Top health insurance plans are for those who already have individual, group or family health insurance plan. If the sum assured of your current health insurance policy is not sufficient due to illness or any other reason, Top-up plans takes care of the additional hospitalization expenses.

Deductible: - Deductible means a cost-sharing requirement under a health insurance policy.

Mr. Mohit has an individual health insurance policy of Rs. 4 lakh and a top up policy of Rs 6 lakh with the deductible of Rs. 4 lakh. In case of the serious hospitalization with a claim of Rs. 10 lakh; Rs. 4 lakh will be paid from the primary insurance plan and Rs. 6 lakh will paid from top-up insurance plan.

In other situation, Mr. Mohit has a top up cover with the threshold of Rs. 4 lakh and he hospitalized twice in a year with bills of Rs. 2.7 lakh and Rs. 2.5 lakh respectively, the top-up plan will not trigger. The top-up plan will only trigger if the medical expense crosses the threshold limit of Rs. 4 lakh.

While selecting the insurance plan keeps one important thing in your mind i.e. higher the detectable, the lower will be the insurance premium. Do not opt for an unrealistically high deductible just to save on premium.