Published in Mint on Aug 9 2016, Written by Abhishek Bondia
Can I insure the furnishings of my new house? How does it work?
—Monisha Burman
Yes, you can insure the furnishings of your new house under your home insurance policy. The standard fire and special perils policy covers the building as well as its contents. You will need to declare the sum assured of the structure and the contents, separately.
Ideally, provide an itemised list of the contents while taking the policy. This will avoid ambiguity of coverage and ensure a smoother claim process.
Why do we sometimes not get the whole claimed amount in cashless healthcare policies?
—Rajan Khanna
The amount deducted from a cashless health insurance claim could be due to sub-limits in the policy, co-pay clauses or non-medical expenses incurred. A common sub-limit in the policy is room-rent capping. In case the policyholder breaches this limit, then she has to bear the incremental charges of the room and other incremental medical charges that are linked to the room. For example, for the same treatment a surgeon charges more if the patient is in a single room, compared with if she is in a shared room.
Co-pay is another feature that leads to claim deduction. Under a co-pay clause, a specified percentage is to be borne by the insured herself. Co-pay could be applicable for people above a specified age, or for specific ailments, or could have blanket applicability in all situations.
Non-medical expenses include admission charges, registration charges and consumables like cotton. These expenses are not covered by insurance and are to be borne by the insured. That’s why, at the time of a cashless settlement, the hospital asks the insured to pay up this amount.
My husband (39) has a family floater health cover, which covers both of us and our two kids. I am 35 and wanted to buy a mediclaim policy. Should I go for family floater or individual policy?
—Neeta Gupta
Since you have an existing family floater policy to cover your husband and children, you should buy an individual health insurance policy.
If you want to augment coverage for the family, you could look at buying a top-up health insurance policy.
Under a top-up insurance, the policy does not pay any claim up to an initial amount, called the deductible. Once the deductible threshold is crossed, the insurance pays up to the full sum assured. Top-up is a cost-effective way of enhancing coverage.
However, if your current family floater policy has sub-limits like room rent, then buying a second family floater insurance to cover your entire family is advisable.
To see a qualitative assessment of your health insurance plan, you could refer to the Mint SecureNow Mediclaim Rating (http://mintne.ws/2ao7Uwd ).
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