Selecting the right insurance policies during Covid

The ongoing pandemic has made people realise how indispensable insurance is while battling with the uncertainties of life. It helps in dealing with the financial stress at the time of emergency and offers support when it is needed the most. Therefore, if you still don’t have an insurance policy the first step should be to buy one. Here are a few steps for selecting the right insurance policy.

Basic or Covid-19 specific policies?

Currently, when the pandemic is still a part of our lives, one of the most common questions asked is should one buy comprehensive or covid-specific health insurance policies? The answer is…you should always go for a basic health insurance policy as the first layer of protection. This is because it provides you coverage against all kinds of illnesses and not just Covid-19 or any other disease-specific policy.

For example, Mucormycosis or black fungus is a rare fungal disease with a high mortality rate that has been declared an epidemic. The cases were found in patients who suffered Covid due to high use of steroids. Now, while comprehensive insurance policies cover Mucormycosis, covid-specific plans which were launched last year specifically for the coverage of the virus do not cover the fungal infection. It is therefore always advisable to go for a comprehensive insurance plan for wider coverage.

A basic unclaimed policy reimburses you the cost of hospitalisation, provided the hospital stay was for at least 24 hours.  Disease-specific plans are mostly the policies that pay a lump sum benefit on the diagnosis of a disease.

Individual or Family Floater?

Another question is to buy an individual or a family floater plan? One can go for a family floater policy, as it covers all the members of the family under one health insurance policy instead of each person buying a policy individually. The policy is usually in the name of the oldest member of the family and includes newborns as well. In case of a claim by one member, the sum assured available for the rest of the family members reduces accordingly. The family floater policy is easy to manage and is much cheaper compared to all members buying individual policies of the same sum insured. It is important to know that most family floater policies cover dependent only up to the age of 25 years, after which you can inform your insurer and buy a separate individual policy for your child.

Term Insurance

The term insurance policy pays the sum insured to the family in case of the sudden death of the policyholder. It is one of the must-have insurance policies as it protects a family from financial stress caused by the sudden demise of a policyholder. How much Insurance cover to buy? One simple way is to get insurance cover of at least 10-15 times your annual salary. It gives the family a cushion of around ten years to adjust to the financial consequences of early death including paying liabilities such as home loans.

Insurance keeps your family protected during testing times. Buy both term and health insurance policy so that you remain fully covered all the time.