6 Must-Dos If You are Getting Insured

As a buyer of an insurance policy, you too have some responsibilities which are critical to safeguard oneself from any possible contingencies.

*All savings are provided by the insurer as per the IRDAI approved insurance plan. Standard T&C Apply
Shop Around for the Best Deal

It is a must to scan through the options available in the market before finalizing an insurance policy. Compare the price quotes and features provided by each insurer for a particular product. It is similar to the situation where you plan to move to a new city and follow a thorough research related to the house you would be staying in. Buying an insurance plan is no different and needs as much discretion.

Know Your Insurer

One must properly analyse the background of the insurer before committing to buying a product from them. Ignoring the customer-service rating or higher than average complaint ratio can land you in trouble. It is the responsibility of the customer to evaluate parameters like claim settlement ratio, average turnaround time for settling a claim and solvency ratio. These metrics are important and shouldn’t be ignored.

Read the Fine Print

Being impatient and often irresponsible or too trusting, we generally ignore the fine print in legal documents. In the case of insurance, we are satisfied with the inclusions explained by the agent instead of reading the documents and understanding all the features and exclusions present in the policy. Undoubtedly, it is tough to read the document at one go and the detailed legalese can be intimidating.  This is why insurance companies offer a free look period of 15 -30 days for the buyer to read the document and agree to the policy terms. When you buy a product, you do it after cross checking its price, specifications, manufacturing date and expiry date. Similarly, you should purchase the policy only after verifying every detail and being comfortable with it.

Furnish Genuine Details and Avail Benefit's

savings list might vary from one insurer to the other but we need to inform the insurance company about the criteria we qualify for the savings available. Similarly, we need to inform the insurer about our health conditions. Filling up genuine details can help you avail better benefits.  

*All savings are provided by the insurer as per the IRDAI approved insurance plan. Standard T&C Apply
Select an Adequate Sum Assured and Avoid Being Under-Insured

There are no strict rules but a general assumption of people that sum assured for life insurance policy should be 8 to 12 times your present annual income. But in a scenario where an individual is the sole earner for a family of several kids, the sum assured is surely to differ from the one having two earning members and 2 children studying in school. So, it is not solely about the insured’s income but also the lifestyle expenses, the family needs to maintain after the demise of the insured.

Do not Concentrate Only on Price

If we focus solely on the premium rate and settle for a limited plan for a lower price, then we might land up paying more in the long run. There would be a large depreciation in the cover amount and no insurance company can be blamed for the losses we suffer as buyers.
Last but not the least, we shouldn’t wait too long to purchase an insurance policy because the sooner you buy, the cheaper will be the plan and that too with numerous features.