Survive from the medical risks

For very long, I see a general apathy of people towards any awareness of insurance as an area. Everybody knows a few agents and a few life insurance companies and sometimes, a few policies and whaow, they think they know all and are ready to fight on all issues. The most dangerous attitude is a blind eye they turn towards the non-life insurance, the most key and varied areas of insurance.

As one of the non-life fellows(of Insurance Institute of India) among a few hundred s available in the country, I have an idea about the unbelievable level of general ignorance about the non-life sector. A bit of awareness has been created in the last few years thro’ the relentless marketing of the private players, but that’s still a drop in the ocean. The car insurance is the most popular because of the strict regulatory requirement (though I have seen fools like a Godrej manager buying a new car and taking only the regulation 3rd party insurance and his car was stolen after 3 months), and the medical insurance is gaining grounds mostly because of the lesions learnt at every steps of life, there is still a long way to go.

In the evening, I came to know about an acquaintance that he had a medical insurance for the last 5/6 years, failed to pay in this February (thought he was a bit tight, he will do it after a couple of months) and had a bike accident in March and since then was in the hospitals and nursing homes for nearly a month, his hapless parents and relatives arranging the money thro’ selling whatever they had. This is not a stray case either, I know of other highly educated people having this strange apathy towards insurance, as if it is like another mutual fund investment, that I will pay when I will be much surplus. The basic concept of avoiding the crippling or fatal risks by insurance against it is lost by this very idea of putting it on a low-priority thread. This was an obvious failure of his agent too that he did not warn against the possible consequences, though sometimes people just don’t want to take gyans. I continuously see students who always want people to give very good jobs and even better salaries but are very reluctant to bring themselves to a level where they won’t have to ask or beg, they can command. They are also very reluctant to take gyans. I hope it is better for them to be screwed first to learn a few things, it feels like a folly to try to save them from that experience.

I always advise people to give the highest priority to Medical Insurance among all investments and expenses even, for the simple reason that a failure to make payment before the date will simply nullify a policy running for many years even and there is no concept (as in life policies) of revival. You have to make a new policy that will not take care of any condition you have contracted in the intervening years and will take them as pre-existing, means any expense on account of those will be excluded from payment from now on. Also I tell them (but who listens) to increase the amount every year (ask fro 20/25% and they will resist and give hardly 10%). It is the same reason that I ask them to increase the amount that the companies resist in doing so. They (and those stupid half-educated agents – that is 90% of the agents and 90% of them always have their selfish motives in their advices) will try to show that you already have got 5% as bonus for no claims. That must be countered as even if you have a bonus of say 45% for no claims for 9 years, that will simply get wiped out in the year of the first claim and you will be left with the original amount, which adjusted for inflation, will essentially be a small amount, in view of the unholy nexus among the unscrupulous nursing homes and the insurance cos. Also, a floater type of policies in case it is done on a family basis, can go a long way to cover any kind of special situation where an extremely high amount may be required for the operation or treatment.

When I used to work for the big MNCs, I was well covered from their side also, even in world-wide coverage of huge personal accident policies, but still at least 2/3 years before I actually left the industry, just when I first started toying with the idea, I made my own insurance side by side and since then I fight every year to increase the sum by at least 20% and finally accept no less than 10% - this is beside the No claims bonus, mind it.

Many people often call me up for advice in insurance matters and I try to help them upto my small knowledge. Many others, even including many of my close friends, do not, which also I welcome. It may be because they do not think of me of any value or anything else. Giving free advice is a very tiring business and I am happy. But when a misfortune strikes and I have to be at their side and share the grief, I get angry sometimes. If people hold me of no account, they should not ask me at the after-effects of the accidents, that could have avoided at the first place. Often the after-effects are the real accidents, not the events themselves.