Covid vaccination certificate not compulsory for buying term insurance
All insurance companies saw an increase in Covid claims during the first two months of the financial year
With the second wave of Covid-19 ebbing in the country and vaccination drive gaining momentum, only a few insurers are reportedly asking for Covid vaccination certificates, which is on the case to case basis, before selling term insurance policies. All insurance companies saw an increase in Covid claims during the first two months of the financial year. During this period, there were reports stating insurers have started asking for the vaccination certification before issuing a policy. According to statistics, the number of Covid claims has been four times the claims registered during the entire last year. But experts believe it to be a short-term phenomenon and expect that with more people vaccinated there will be a reduction in Covid claims.
What are insurers saying?
“We have not changed our underwriting practises. We are following the same underwriting policy which we were following during the pre-Covid time. For us, there is absolutely no panic. When we are onboarding customers we are doing proper underwriting which had been followed in the past also. So for us, nothing has been triggered because of Covid,” Anuj Mathur, MD and CEO of Canara HSBC OBC Life Insurance, told Money9.
Mathur added: “We will not put any artificial barriers when people want to buy insurance. The government is also taking many proactive steps to increase vaccination among people which is required. We will not put such artificial restrictions to buy insurance.”
Expert views
Experts feel the vaccine status also helps in underwriting people with co-morbidities such as diabetes and hypertension, and in that case, Covid-certificate may be required on case to case basis. But the certification is not mandatory for buying the policy.
“Yes, a Covid certificate is not mandatory for buying term insurance and it is a good step as insurance is an essential commodity in today’s time, and rejecting policy based on vaccination wouldn’t have been the right practice. However, in case the insurance service provider finds anything susceptible in the medical reports or statements furnished by the applicant, then, in that case, the insurance company may ask for a covid vaccination certificate,” said Naval Goel, Founder & CEO, PolicyX.com.
“Different insurers follow different practices when it comes to Covid vaccination certification. There are few insurers who still ask for the certificate on case to case basis,” said an official with an insurance aggregator on condition of anonymity.