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insurance products. The guidelines which sanction insurers offering claims on Covid-linked home quarantine cure. But
to reward consumers in several ways were much awaited such claims coming to insurance companies are very less so
reform. Insurers are now able to give discounts to its far regardless of large number of people opting for home
customers following wellness principles demarcated in the quarantine. It is on account of various factors namely low
policy. This strategy will inspire people to lead a healthy awareness, affordability and so on because many patients
lifestyle and also to choose health insurance products. do not know that insurance companies are taking care of
home quarantine treatments. Medical inflation is high at 14
Due to dreadful coronavirus consumers are demanding for per cent and costs are skyrocketing and in September 2020
wellness related benefits. According to the survey, retail inflation was 7.34 per cent. In India 70 crore people
approximately 60 per cent people anticipate their health are yet to choose a health policy and the health insurance
insurance policy to go outside hospitalization to help them segment is only 0.27 per cent of GDP.
to stay healthy. The crisis has brought superior mindfulness
among people which led to acceptance of digital health, Internationally, many developed countries such as the USA,
wellness and preventive healthcare aspects. the UK, Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia tried and tested
many such plans in the name of vitality programme.
Overall, with the amplified care being given to general
However, they have seen the different levels of success and
advancement of personal invulnerability and
yet to achieve the desired outcome.
cardiorespiratory fitness, the insertion of comprehensive
guidance on wellness and preventive healthcare benefits Quality wellness schemes will need huge investment by
may prove vital for insurers looking to meet the insurers in gadgets and could necessitate a creation of a
contemporary market ultimatums. Therefore, new rules are huge amount of big data, the separation and application of
timely move for the insurance entities to suitably reward which will require investment too.This will influence insurers
the customers who lead a healthy life and are in favor of to formulate products at different price which will have
fitness.
different levels of wellness plans.
On other hand, even if few wellness benefits were offered
before the enactment of new guidelines, lack of crystal clear More importantly, the IRDAI recommendations on
definition of the features and low customer responsiveness outpatient treatment and diagnostics came only this year,
did not make the utilization of privileges attractive. New some insurers are yet to provide these amenities in their
rules may also prompt insurers to launch more products policies.To conclude, policyholders, in spite of many wellness
which may create confusion in the selection of the plans. structures design the policy, should ensure reading the policy
documents judiciously to comprehend the implication of the
Since July 2020, large number of insurance companies began wellness aspects on the premiums. T

Climate Change led to record Insurance payouts in 2020

Covid continues to cause severe economic distress, but natural disasters fueled by a warming planet also took their
toll this year, causing record damage and displacing millions according to two new assessments of insurance claims in
2020. Christian Aid, the relief arm of 41 churches in the U.K. and Ireland, ranked the 15 most destructive climate
disasters of the year based on insurance losses.
Cyclone Amphan, which hit the Bay of Bengal in May, was the most expensive single event, displacing 4.9 million
people and costing $13 billion. Each of the top 10 caused at least $1.5 billion in damages, and five cost $5 billion or
more. Because the price tag to insurers was higher in rich countries, Christian Aid noted, its report likely undercounts
devastation to poorer countries. "South Sudan, for example, experienced one of its worst floods on record, which
killed 138 people and destroyed the year's crops," the report said.
With its relatively high property values, the U.S. topped the list of countries financially impacted by climate change,
incurring $60 billion in damages. Much of that was caused by an unusually heavy Atlantic hurricane season. Altogether,
the 30 named storms caused at least $41 billion in damages and displaced an estimated 200,000 people across the
U.S., as well as Central America and the Caribbean. T

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