Page 10 - Insurance Times December 2020

Section 33(1) of the Act empowers information, as may be sought by the the purpose of carrying on the business
IRDAI, if it considers expedient to do investigating officer. of insurance exclusively outside India;
so, to direct an investigating officer to and • all its branches whether situated
investigate the affairs of any insurer or The investigating officer shall make a in India or outside India.
intermediary or insurance intermedi- report of the investigation and submit
ary and to submit its report on the in- the same to the IRDAI. Upon receipt The Notification defines ‘Minimum In-
vestigation made. of the report from the investigating formation’ to mean the information
officer, the IRDAI, after giving oppor- specified under the Notification that
Section 33(2) of the Act empowers the tunity to give representation, may or- insurers or intermediaries or insurance
investigating officer to cause an inspec- der in writing: • Require the insurer to intermediaries are required to main-
tion to be made of the books of account take action in respect of any matter tain.
of any insurer or intermediary or insur- arising out of the inspection report; •
ance intermediary. Section 33(3) of the Cancel the registration of insurer or
Act specifies that it shall be the duty intermediary or insurance intermedi- The Notification is divided into 3
(three) parts: • Part I stipulates the
of the “manager”, “managing direc- ary, as the case maybe; and • Issue
tor” and “other officer” of the insurer direction for winding up the insurer or provisions that are applicable to all in-
including a service provider, contractor intermediary or insurance intermedi- surers; • Part II stipulates the provi-
of an insurer where services are ary, as the case maybe. sions applicable to the intermediaries
outsourced by the insurer, or interme- and insurance intermediaries; and •
diary or insurance intermediary, to fur- For the purposes of Section 33 of the Part III stipulates the general provi-
nish all such “books of account”, “reg- Act, the expression “insurer” includes, sions applicable to the insurers, inter-
isters”, “other documents” and the in the case of an insurer incorporated mediaries and insurance intermediar-
“database” in its custody, and all such in India: • all its subsidiaries formed for ies.

Care Health Insurance launches triple-advantage Care Shield

Care Health Insurance has launched a new product, Care Shield. The product takes into account rising inflation, cov-
erage of certain medical expenses as well as safeguarding the No Claim Bonus (NCB) benefit from lapsing in case of
moderate claims of up to 25 per cent of the sum insured. Anuj Gulati, Founding Managing Director, and CEO said,
“Medical costs keep rising each year due to annual inflationary pressures. The ongoing pandemic has only exacer-
bated the situation. Moreover, there are certain consumables and healthcare items that may be relevant, but are
typically excluded by insurance policies.” He adds, “The third factor for policyholders is that their No Claim Bonus
benefit could lapse in case of even small claims. Care Shield is an innovative solution that protects our customers from
the aforementioned concerns.”
Among some of the highlighted benefits of the product, the company says it also takes into account the rising treatment
costs due to inflation, which impacts the ability of patients to afford medical care in the future. Therefore, policyholders
buy new policies or increase their existing policy sum insured for keeping the coverage at par with the higher costs aris-
ing from inflation. Once added to a policy, Care Shield increases the sum insured at the time of renewal as per the CPI
(Consumer Price Index) inflation rate for the previous policy year declared by the competent government authorities,
which ensures the customer’s policy sum insured is adequate to meet future treatment expenses.
Another feature of the product is the Claim Shield. While health Insurance policies have a list of 60-plus items such as
Belts, Braces, Buds, Crepe Bandages, Gloves, Leggings, Masks, Oxygen Mask, Spirometer, Thermometer, Ambulance
Equipment and suchlike, which are usually consumed during treatment but generally not covered in the policy, Claim
Shield feature provides coverage for these items in case of hospitalization.
With its other feature No Claim Bonus Shield – a reward is given to policyholders during renewal in case No Hospital-
ization Claim is registered for the policy in the previous year. For instance, if a customer purchased a policy on 01
January 2019 and No Claim was registered during the policy year (between 1st January 2019 to 31 December 2019)
then the policy sum insured is hiked by 60 per cent on renewal at no extra cost. This feature also ensures that any
low-value claim (<25 per cent of SI) does not lead to an erosion of the accumulated NCB. Ensuring customers’ access
to quality healthcare, beyond hospitalization, the insurer has included preventive health check-ups, wellness, doctor
consultations, diagnostics, and home care.
The Insurance Times, December 2020