"Buy Insurance when you don't need it, because when you need it you won't get it"
Often we research on various life insurance plans before we buy one instead of just....
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Health insurance covers medical expenses that arise due to an illness....
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Suppose you are driving your car along the highway. Suddenly the electrical systems....
Continue ReadingThings to know before buying a Life Insurance Policy
Often we research on various life insurance plans before we buy one instead of just trusting an agent. And more often we ponder a lot on getting the right set of benefits that we would receive from a life insurance policy. But seldom have we asked ourselves if a life insurance policy even worth it! Have you?
A simple response to that flickering query in your head can be answered by another simple realization. If you have a family or spouse who is financially dependent on you, then absolutely it is worth buying life insurance plans. But even if you are single and do not have a dependent, the benefits from a life insurance policy that you get over the lifetime is worth every penny.
Points to consider:
If you are in a state of dilemma whether to buy a life insurance policy or not, consider how your dependents or family would fare if some unfortunate event occurs and you are no longer around to support them with their needs, your child’s educational expenses or their day to day needs. Almost every individual would agree that in their absence, their family would face certain financial crunch. A life insurance policy is thus a one-stop and affordable solution to all your family’s financial needs in your absence. It secures them in your absence, although loss of a family member would hurt more than any financial instability.
Life insurance plans provides various supports to your family in your uneventful demise. Some of which are:
The primary idea is to save your family from depleting any of the lump sum saving greatly in meeting the ancillary expenses apart from day to day needs, which it definitely supports.
For individuals who are unmarried, life insurance plans would still help your co-applicant from paying off any mortgage, debt or even a car loan that you leave behind. However, for married individuals, a life insurance policy is always important to cover spouse and children who depend solely on your earnings.
Various life insurance options:
1. Term life insurance: a term life insurance provides you with coverage for a specified period of time. Term life insurance is usually designed for tenure of 10, 20 or 30 years. Your family gets all the benefits in an event of your unfortunate demise. However, if you outlive the insurance term period, the benefits are not reaped as it is meant to be a true protection policy. However, there are term plan wherein you can opt for return of premium plans by paying some additional premium.
If you buy life insurance term plans it comes with various riders too which provide adequate support during the lifetime of the policy holder and not just on death. Riders like waiver of premium which waives off the premium to be paid for the policy in an event of complete or partial disability of the policy holder. Similarly, a critical illness rider covers the policy holder in an event of diagnosis with a critical illness, right from the time of detection.
2. Whole life insurance: If you buy life insurance whole life insurance plans not essentially come with lucrative riders, but it covers the policy holder and the dependents for the entire life. In case of any unfortunate event leading to the death of the policy holder any time, the dependents get a lump sum amount from the policy, upon claim, as a benefit.
If you buy life insurance it also helps you save your taxes – Tax rebate on premiums paid upto Rs 150,000 a year can be claimed under Section 80C of The Income Tax Act 1961 - thus adding another feather to the benefit cap of life insurance policies. So what are you waiting for? If you buy life insurance policy that would be the best financial decision ever made to financially secure your family and it is totally worth it.
Car Insurance
Suppose you are driving your car along the highway. Suddenly the electrical systems of the car fail and it results in a small fire in the engine bay. Seeing the smoke, you might immediately pull over, open the car bonnet and may pour some water on the fire to put it off. Absurd as it may sound, such things do keep happening from time to time.
Unless you are someone who is incredibly blessed with luck always, you are prone to minor incidents on the road. You cannot always hope and pray that no such incidents happen to you. The easier option then is to opt for car insurance. A car insurance policy would keep you safe from such random occurring.
Since the Motor Vehicle Act was introduced in the year 1988, all vehicles must have insurance to make them road legal. A car insurance not only helps you achieve, but also provides a lot of value for your money. Here is all that you get for your money when you buy a good Car Insurance Policy.
Loss or damage to the vehicle
If there is any damage to the car or in the worst case it is stolen, the policy kicks in. It gives your car coverage against any damage caused by
Third Party Liability
Your car insurance policy also gives third party liability. In the event that an accident caused by you results in the injury of a person or property damage of a third party, the policy protects you in such times. The company will pay for the damages incurred.
Accidental Cover
This clause would compensate for any damage or death, summing up to Rs.2 lakh, arising out of an accident.
Add-Ons
For all those individuals who seek to enhance the coverage of their Car Insurance, they can opt for the various add-ons available. The following are some of the riders that you can opt along with most of the Car insurance.
If you have provided your car for service or repair and the same extends beyond 3 days, this add-on comes into effect. The Insurance company will pay you a fixed daily allowance towards cab services or hired transport services till you have your vehicle.
Quite a few of us like to explore new places with our car. If you are one such driving buff, a road side assistance add-on will give you complete peace of mind to push your car to the limits. Should your car breakdown or meet with any accident, you can pick something up from the various benefits available, such as:
If you are worried that your no claims bonus will go with the wind on claims, this add-on is for you. The add-on allows you to retain your NCB even if you opt for certain types of claim of your insurance.
You can also buy your car insurance online or even renew the policy online. However, the above are some of the features that may or may not be available with all the Car Insurance policy. Therefore, you should check for the exact features of the Car Insurance Policy that you are buying
Choosing Right Health Insurance is Key to Planning for Emergencies
Health insurance covers medical expenses that arise due to an illness. These expenses could be related to doctor consultation fee, cost of medicines or check up at the diagnostic centre or hospitalisation. Life insurance health plans are the most less known insurance plans even though a study shows that Indians spend around 70% of their accumulated savings in various medical expenses or treatment of critical illness.
There are basically two basic types of health insurance plan in India:
Mediclaim Plans
Mediclaim plans are the basic health insurance plans. These plans generally cover the cost of treatment when you are admitted in a hospital. The payouts are made on actual expenses during hospitalization by submitting original bills to the company or through cash less route, wherein the company settles the bill directly to the hospital.
Critical Illness Insurance Plans of Life Insurance
Critical illness insurance plans cover specific life threatening diseases – Some of the common diseases or critical illness in India is - Heart Attack, stroke, Kidney failure, major organ transplant, paralysis and Liver Disease etc.
These diseases could require prolonged hospitalization and treatment at home and hospital for long period of time. Life Insurance health plans cover provides a lump-sum payment if the policyholder is diagnosed with a serious disease which is covered under the specified policy.
How the health plans work
Life Insurance health plan makes you a lump-sum payment if you are diagnosed with any of the critical diseases or other ailments which is covered under the policy.
Unlike Mediclaim plan where the insurer reimburses all your hospitalization expense, a life insurance health plan will give you a lump sum payout on detection of a critical illness and for this you don’t have to be hospitalized. A Medical certificate obtained from a doctor or hospital which confirms the critical illness diagnosed to you is good enough to process the claim.
Why health plans are important
Treatment cost of one critical health disease can drain out all your savings which you would have planned for meeting your other financial goals like, your children’s education or your retirement. If you do not want your family’s dreams to get shattered just because of an illness, it is beneficial to take a health insurance plan.
While the Mediclaim policy covers the hospitalization cost, the lump sum payment from Life Insurance health plans helps you tide over the financial crisis arising due to the critical illness. You can use the money to cover further medical expenses or even to compensate your loss of pay etc.
Why choosing the right health plan is important
Though there could be a huge number of health plans available in the market, you should choose a right health plan for you. But how do you know which health plan is suitable to you? You should consult your family doctor on this. Though, you can be diagnosed with any disease for reasons not known to you, there are some diseases which are hereditary in nature. For example – Heart disease. Therefore, you should choose a health plan which covers the entire spectrum of this critical illness, like first heart attack, stroke resulting in permanent symptoms, open chest surgery or bypass, open heart replacement and repair of valves etc.
Once you have chosen the right plan, you should choose the sufficient cover based on your lifestyle expenses, your income level etc. As the claim proceeds received from health plans works as replacement of loss of income, you should buy a sufficient amount of cover which can take care of your expenses during the recovery period when you are not earning.
Conclusion - The kind of stress under which you work on a day to day basis and the lifestyle you maintain, it has made us prone to a lot of critical illnesses, sometimes even at a very early age. The cost of treatment or procedure of these diseases are very expensive and can make a serious dent in your family savings. Life insurance health plans are a definitive way to cover your medical expenses. This benefit is over and above the benefit you avail from a mediclaim policy
Having a life insurance health plan is a big benefit, where you get money when you are in dire need of it. One health disease can drain out all your savings which you would have saved for achieving your financial goals and thus having a right health insurance safeguards you from this.
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