Health and term insurance premium rates rose on average 4.87% during Covid-19: Survey

Health insurance premium rates have gone up on an average by 4.87% on the back of rising Covid claims and wider coverage offered under health insurance plans, shows a survey by PolicyX.com, a web insurance aggregator.  According to the survey, unlike in Q1 2021, their Health Insurance Price Index witnessed a major shift in Q2 2021 with an increase of 4.87%, marking a surge in insurance premium prices to Rs 25,197 in the index value. Compared to this the health insurance index had been constant in the last two quarters (Q4, 2020 and Q1, 2021 at Rs 24,026)

According to the report, after keeping their prices constant for the last few years a few health insurance companies have increased their rates after a radical increase in the number of claims due to Covid-19. Moreover, the additional coverage of several diseases such as mental disorders, genetic diseases, neuro-related disorders, psychiatric disorders, etc, is responsible for the sharp increase in the health insurance premium prices.

“The overall insurance sector is experiencing an escalation in recent times. The unprecedented scenario has laid doubly pressure on the insurance sector which the industry tried hard to manage in the last few months. However, the partial pressure has to be borne by the customers as well”, explains Naval Goel, founder & CEO, PolicyX.com

Segment-wise impact

Analysing the impact segment-wise, the highest surge of 5% is witnessed in the premium prices of the two adults category followed by a 4.3% jump in the two adults and one child category. Alongside, the average premium prices plummeted by 9.3% for the 46 age group and 10 lakh sum insured category.

“Despite the price rise, customers can make the best out of their plans by making the purchase of the suitable policies at the right age. If we refer to these latest findings, then the biggest hike is spotted at the higher age and the delay in the purchase of a policy certainly reflects an impact on the premium prices. Not to forget, the added premium prices of insurance plans now give added benefits and more security, hence the customer always has an edge in buying the insurance policies”, adds Goel.

Term insurance

Apart from health insurance, Term Insurance Price Index has increased by 2.79%, taking the average price of term insurance premium to Rs. 22,524 in Q2 2021. Now, the term insurance average price of Rs 1 crore sum insured has reached Rs. 29,007 in the last quarter. The report states that the unrelenting impact of Covid-19 in India has laid a drastic impact on the term insurance category with an exceptional shoot up in the mortality rate.

Segregating the impact into different categories, males, in the age bracket of 55-years, tops the chart in the list of premium increases by 3.3% i.e. the highest jump among all age groups. Conversely, the average premium for the female age group of 25-years increased to Rs. 9,307 in Q2 2021, accounting for the lowest hike at 1.4%.