No medical cover for ayurvedic treatment

I want to buy a mediclaim policy for myself and my wife. My wife is a bronchitis patient and gets treatment from an ayurvedic clinic. We spend as much as Rs25,000 per annum on the treatment. As most medical insurance plans don’t cover non-allopathic treatments, what are the options that are available to me?  Is there any mediclaim policy that covers non-allopathic treatment?
— Hansraj, Pune

Firstly, you should be clear about what a mediclaim policy covers. Even if it was to cover non-allopathic treatment, it would still only cover expenses incurred in a hospital (non- allopathic) and not the regular treatment expenses on medicines or consultations.

So, even where some policies have a small sub-limit available for non-allopathic treatments, it will still only cover hospitalisation expenses.

As you are looking for a fresh mediclaim policy, any pre-existing disease will not be covered for certain number of years and this would vary from company to company. Moreover, under the permanent exclusion clause of any insurance company, non-allopathic treatments are not covered.

I am 28 years old, my husband is 30 and our son is one and a half years old. I have a mediclaim policy with New India Assurance for the past four years and after marriage I have got policies in which my husband is included as well. I have got an offer from a new private insurance company for a higher premium but includes valuable services like vaccination for kids, maternity claims etc. Please suggest whether I should continue with New India or change to the new company.
Now that your policy has completed four years, you are now allowed to cover your pre-existing diseases. It is not advisable to switch to a new company at this point of time as this will result in losing your ‘no claim bonus’.

Moreover, with the new company, you will have to wait for another four years to cover your pre-existing diseases, if any. You can consider a new insurance company if you are looking to enhance your medical cover.

You can consider switching next year after the portability guidelines come into effect.

Harsh Roongta is CEO, Apna Paisa, a price & features
comparison engine for loans, insurance and investments.
He can be reached at hrdna@apnapaisa.com.


My father-in-law and sister-in-law purchased a flat and procured home loan for the same through my sister-in-law’s staff loan from Saraswat Bank. The amount is `5 lakh and tenure is 15 years, of which 7 years are almost over. Now my father-in-law wants my husband and me to purchase the same flat and repay only the loan amount of `5 lakh along with whatever extra interest is due. My queries are:
Can I approach the same bank for a loan for the same flat?
Can two loans be taken on the same flat?
For stamp duty and other purposes, what is the cost of the flat? (The present cost is between `30-32 lakh. The purchase cost was `9-10 lakh.)
You can try and get an add-on loan against the same property from the same bank, but your father-in-law and sister-in-law will need to be co-borrowers for that as well. Alternatively, you can buy the property from them.
You can get a loan to buy your in-laws’ house based on your income. Your in-laws will have to foreclose the loan that they have taken and you will be given a fresh loan. If the bank is the same the process is likely to be easier than otherwise. Since the transaction is between close relatives, the bank will verify the genuineness of the transaction as well as the valuation closely. Also, note that your in-laws may have to pay foreclosure charges and you will have to pay processing fees for your home loan
Payment of stamp duty is based on the value of the property as per the agreement or stamp duty ready reckoner applicable for your property, whichever is higher.
Is there any holding period for house property on loan? If the loan was taken in June 2008 and we prepay and sell the property in June 2011, are there any penalties from tax point of view?
If you sell a house within a period of three years from the date of taking possession of it, the difference between the cost price and the net price shall be treated as short-term capital gains and will be included in your other incomes and taxed accordingly. If the home is sold after three years after the gains, if any, will be treated as long-term capital gains and treated alternatively.
In case you sell the house purchased within a period of five years from the date on which it was purchased with a loan and you had taken the tax benefits under Section 80 C in respect of principal amount of loan repayment, all the deductions allowed in respect of such property will be treated as income of the year in which this house is sold. Please note that there is no such provision of treating the interest benefits claimed earlier as income of later year in which such property is sold.