Business
Buying or waiting for the perfect insurance product is like getting into a marriage, where we can wait till eternity and yet end up not getting married to the perfect person.
Updated : Mar 18, 2018, 03:04 AM IST
Shruti Sharma, 36, (name changed to protect identity) is married with two kids and was diagnosed diabetic last year. For the past six months she has been in search of a health product as her friends are pushing her to buy one. This is a common mistake many of us do; not buying health insurance unless we find the immediate need of it.
But, buying or waiting for the perfect insurance product is like getting into a marriage, where we can wait till eternity and yet end up not getting married to the perfect person. Likewise, when it comes to buying a health insurance product most of us are like Shruti because we think, ‘Now I am healthy, I will buy one when I need it’. But, one should keep in mind that the basic idea behind getting insured is to protect financial well being in the case of an unexpected loss.
So, don’t wait for the right time to buy health insurance because, according to Mahavir Chopra, head - e-business and personal lines at Medimanage, a dedicated health insurance broking firm, “If insurance companies were to provide everything that a customer required, the cost of health insurance products would be way higher and unaffordable. People have careless attitude towards medical insurance, they wait to fall ill before actually bothering about getting insurance.
Things to keep in mind
According to Dr Amarnath Ananthanarayanan, managing director and CEO, Bharti Axa General Insurance, “The important exclusions to watch out for include (a) those which are completely excluded and generally not covered even upon payment of additional premium like diseases/injuries caused by war, nuclear weapons, radioactivity, etc; (b) those conditions which are covered after a certain time (pre-existing diseases); (c) those which are generally excluded but can be covered from day 1 upon payment of additional premium like outpatient treatment and dental treatment.”