Page 30 - Insurance Times October 2020

patient and then seek reimbursement. The hospital reduced burden of policyholders by extending the grace period
the bill to Rs 49,973 after "considerable haggling. for premium payment, the introduction of standard
health policies and Covid-19 health policies and some
New Relexations: insurers even offered to continue cumulative bonus
Regulator IRDAI has permitted health and general benefits.
insurers to obtain consent of prospective policy holders Keeping in mind the increasing medical costs,
through a duly validated One Time Password (OTP), thus policyholders may purchase multiple health insurance
dispensing with the practice of getting wet signature policies across different insurers if there's a need for a
in view of the COVID-19 pandemic. higher sum insured in case it is insufficient under a single
policy. But if you have multiple health policies, there is
The regulator has also exempted the insurers from
mandatorily sending hard copy of the document to no need to worry. You are allowed to use multiple
policyholders. However, the policies will have to be sent policies, such as the group policy from your employer,
through electronic mode on the registered e-mail. your individual health policy and your top-up health
policy, for a single claim.
To help the insurance sector provide basic financial
protection to the people, the Regulator has approached The demands for a more fluid workforce for insurance
the Finance Ministry again with a request to cut GST would increase. At present there is a strong need for
rates on life and health insurance premiums. underwriters and claims investigators to work with data
scientist and analysts. By having a liquid workforce
To promote wellness benefits in life and health component companies can have a right mix of internal
insurance, the IRDAI has issued guidelines on wellness employees, freelancers and technologists. This helps
and preventive features. drive faster innovation and change within the company.

Now, insurers have to notify the rewards accrued to the This trend has been gaining popularity across industries
credit of a policyholder and entitlements of the and we expect it to become prevalent in insurance as
policyholders under the wellness and preventive well.
features.
Insurance companies will offer reward points to Health Insurance as gift:

policyholders who maintain good health and regularly Insurance provides financial stability to the family of the
take part in various wellness and fitness programmes. deceased policyholder. an insurance policy to your loved ones
The rewards could be redeemable vouchers for health is among the best ways of securing their financial future.
supplements, membership in yoga centres, The new plan launched by SBI General Insurance, Shagun,
gymnasiums, sports clubs or fitness centres. The insurer allows you to directly gift a personal accidental insurance
can also provide discounts on premiums or increase the policy not just to your family but to anyone - your friends,
sum insured at the time of renewal. cook, maid or driver. If there are any minors in the family,
Since the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic, the insurance you can directly gift a life insurance plan to them, provided
regulator and industry have helped ease the financial the minor (less than 18 years) is part of the immediate
family (your child/grandchild).

Life insurance works on the principle of insurable interest
and therefore, gifting is usually limited within family. While
one cannot gift an insurance plan outside of immediate
family, Shagun, SBI General Insurance's new product,
overcomes this limitation. SBI's Shagun is like any other
personal accidental insurance product in the market. It
provides the benefit to the nominee of the insured in case
of accidental death of the policyholder. It also covers for
partial/total disabilities, permanent as well as temporary
disabilities resulting from an accident, in which case, the

The Insurance Times, October 2020