The standardised policy mandated by the insurance regulator can serve as a sample, or reference point, using which you can make sense of other policies that are available on the market.
As we saw in the previous instalment of CoverNote, the Arogya Sanjeevani policy serves as that reference point for hospitalisation policies. Each company has to offer this policy mandatorily.
If you had made the effort to look through the policy and what it covers/ excludes you may well be tempted to opt for this policy as it has a standard set of terms and conditions and is a kind of an off-the-shelf product.
The only further effort you have to make is decide which company you want to buy the policy from. The premium rate can be a deciding factor, but my advice would be that you should also take into account any existing relationship with an insurance company.
For example, you may already have a policy from X insurance company. For hospitalisation policies it can only be a general insurance company or a standalone health insurance company and you may have your home or vehicle insurance with them or another health-related policy. In this case, even if you have found that the premium rate is not the best on comparison, you may do well to opt to go with them because this relationship strengthens your position with the company and also with your agent or other intermediary through whom you bought the policy
On the other hand, if you have had negative experiences with them, you may want to opt for a different company. How do you do that? Ask your friends and family for their insurance company and/or agent and how their experience has shaped up. Check company websites for their claims settling ratios – specifically in the category of policy you are shopping for, namely hospitalisation policies – and zero in on the right target.
There is one more situation when you should simply opt for the Arogya Sanjeevani policy. That is when you need to buy a policy urgently. The reason could simply be a long-postponed decision and the tax season drawing near, an improvement in your affordability or triggered by somebody else’s sudden hospitalisation and the attendant expenses.
Whatever that may be, buy the policy and keep it active by making timely premium payments (these days you can even pay premiums monthly). If this was a stopgap purchase you can shift to a different, better suited policy with more of the options that you need. However,get into the act well before your annual renewal date to study and decide which policy you want to shift to because that will be the time when you can do so. Yes, you can do make the switch and preserve the various waiting periods that you have already gone through.
How to choose the new policy? We will get to that in the upcoming instalment of CoverNote.
(The writer is a business journalist specialising in insurance & corporate history)
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