Page 100 - Ebook health insurance IC27

The Insurance Times

it is imperative that the age disclosed at the time of enrolment is verified through
submission of an age proof. There are two types of Age proofs -
(i) Standard Age Proofs - School Certificate, Passport, Domicile Certificate

etc. And
(ii) Non Standard Age Proof - Ration Card, Voters Id, Elder Declaration,

Gram Panchayat Certificate etc.

(c) Financial Documents - Knowing the financial status of the proposer is particularly
relevant to benefit products and to reduce moral hazard. However, normally the
financial documents are only asked for in cases of high sum assured coverage or
where the income and coverage shows a mismatch.

(d) Medical Reports - This depends on the norms of the insurer, and is usually
determined by the age of the insured and sometimes by the amount of cover opted
for. Sometimes, the proposal form may contain some information that leads to
medical reports being called for.

(e) Sales Reports - Sales personnels can be considered as grass root level underwriters
for the company as the first hand information given by them in their report can
form an important consideration. However, since the sales personnel have an
incentive to generate more business, there could be a conflict of interest, which
has to watched for.

Q7. Explain the important methods of health insurance underwriting
Ans. The common forms of underwriting are as follows :
(a) Medical Underwriting - In individual health insurance, medical factors can

determine the acceptance or declining of a risk. However, medical underwriting
involves high costs in terms of receiving and examining medical reports. Also,

104 Guide for Health Insurance