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
