High medical costs force people to take health cover: Survey

It said 61% of the respondents invested in a comprehensive health plan while 10% respondents who went for Covid-specific policies.

Hyderabad: High medical costs, fear of Covid-19 and tax-saving benefits were the primary reasons that triggered people to buy a health cover, said an annual survey conducted by Policybazaar.com.

The survey was conducted to understand the impact of Covid on insurance awareness and purchase behaviour of Indians in the last 15 months. It surveyed over 6,000 existing customers who bought term, health, and motor insurance from the platform. The survey was held from June 18 to 21 as part of its efforts for National Insurance Awareness Day.

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It said 61% of the respondents invested in a comprehensive health plan while 10% respondents who went for Covid-specific policies.

Since the onset of the pandemic, there has been a significant increase in porting requests, it said. This is because people are looking for policies with higher sum insured and features like zero co-payment, no room-rent capping, and lower waiting periods.

Many have purchased a term plan as they considered it as a means to protect their family’s financial future and not merely as a tax saving instrument. Many bought a term plan cover ranging between Rs 50 lakh to Rs 1 crore and about 25% of the surveyed chose a cover above Rs 1 crore.

Ideally, the sum assured of term plan should be 15 to 20 times annual income, it said.

“Protection products are becoming the foundation of financial planning especially considering the impact of Covid. The pandemic has accelerated awareness around insurance and the quest to buy the right insurance plans”, said Sarbvir Singh, CEO, Policybazaar.com.

In case of motor insurance, online renewals were preferred by many. In the last 15 months, over 80% of respondents renewed their motor insurance while the remaining 20% chose to skip the renewal. Following which they missed-out on renewal benefits like no-claim bonus and lower premiums, a release said.

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