Page 87 - Life Insurance Today July - December 2020

for the treatment of vector-borne dis- India, however, people take it lightly without the physical signature of the
eases like dengue, malaria, and in the initial phase. policyholder. A copy of such
chikungunya. standardised presentation should also
The standard cover entails one base be e-mailed to the policyholder, along
Policyholders would be able to choose cover which will be offered on an in- with the policy document, said the In-
to protect themselves against any of demnity basis and at most two optional surance Regulatory and Development
the diseases or a combination of such covers which will be offered on a ben- Authority of India (IRDAI) in a partial
vector-borne diseases. And, insurers efits basis. Also, the total amount pay- modification of the guidelines issued in
shall set the price for every covered able in respect of base and optional September permitting insurers to do
disease separately and have been ad- covers shall not exceed 100 per cent of away with the mandatory physical sig-
vised by the regulator to offer dis- the sum insured during a policy period. nature for sale of insurance products.
counts as per the underwriting policy
for opting for various disease "The premium payable towards op- If the sale is made by an individual in-
combinations. tional cover shall be specified sepa- surance agent, he should not solicit
rately so as to enable policyholders to non-single premium unit-linked insur-
As per the proposal, the product shall choose and pay based on the need", ance policies for an annualised premium
be offered for a fixed term of one year Irdai said. Under the base cover, the exceeding Rs. 50,000 or single pre-
with a waiting period of 15 days. hospitalization expenses incurred by mium unit-linked insurance policies ex-
The insurance policy will cover the the insured person for the treatment ceeding Rs. 1 lakh, the regulator said
treatment of dengue fever, malaria, of vector-borne diseases will be cov- in a circular. As per the new norms, the
filaria (Lymphatic Filariasis), kala-azar, ered, where room, boarding and nurs- insurer should verify at least 3 per cent
chikungunya, Japanese Encephalitis, ing expenses of up to 2 per cent of of sales to ascertain compliance with
and Zika Virus, it said, adding the sum insured for the sum insured above these provisions, and records have to be
stakeholders can send their comments Rs 20,000 and a fixed amount of Rs shared with the regulator.
on the exposure draft to IRDAI by No- 500/day for sum insured up to Rs
vember 27. 20,000 will be provided. It will also In view of the pandemic, the regula-
cover costs related to medicine, PPE tor said in September that wet signa-
According to a last-year report by the kits, gloves, and masks among other ture can be dispensed with if insurers
World Health Organization (WHO), things. inform customers through text mes-
these diseases account for more than sage about issue of policy document
17 per cent of all infectious diseases. Also, expenses on hospitalization for a electronically, having in place mecha-
Vector-borne diseases cause more minimum period of 24 hours will be nisms to verify receipt of the docu-
than 7 lakh deaths annually, the report admissible. For the intensive care unit, ment, and preserving all e-records.
states. Additionally, in over 128 coun- cost upto 5 per cent of sum insured
tries more than 3.9 billion people are above Rs 20,000 and a fixed sum of Rs Wherever policyholders demand a
at risk of contracting dengue, with an 1000/day for the sum insured up to Rs physical version of the policy docu-
estimation of 96 million cases per year. 20,000 will be covered. Also, ambu- ment/copy of the proposal, the same
lance charge of a maximum of Rs
shall be made available. The exemp-
The cost of treatment for dengue can 2,000 will be covered. tion will be in force till March 31,
range anywhere from Rs 25,000 to Rs 2021.
70,000. Therefore, having a vector- IRDAI tweaks norms on

borne disease plan in place will help sale of life cover without IRDAI extends Electronic
the customers to protect themselves
against the vector-borne disease. Vec- wet signature Consent for Life Insurers
tor-borne diseases such as dengue, Life insurers should provide a standard IRDAI has extended the facility for life
malaria have always been common in presentation on the product being sold insurers to obtain the consent of pro-

"A man who has mastered his heart has mastered his tongue!"

Life Insurance Today July - December 2020 87