The fairer sex scores over men in terms of insurance policies that are tailor-made to suit them
In today’s day and age when the fairer sex has almost everything tailor-made to suit her modern day needs, there is no reason why she should not have exclusive financial products that cater to her. Women are moving away from being just homemakers to breadwinners. So it is evident that they, like their male counterparts, need financial protection and savings.
This makes them primary candidates for insurance products. Women in India however, are grossly under insured as of today. According to data available with IRDA, women constitute only a little over 20% of the total lives covered by the country’s life insurers, including LIC, the largest insurer by premium collected.
Although “women only” products are being marketed with much aplomb by insurers in India today, the fact is that insurance products for women have been in vogue in developed markets for quite some time now. Women in the US are major customers of health insurance and all women aged between 18 and 60 years do have some kind of health cover.
Though the premium differs in terms of age, the coverage is quite extensive. Women also have insurance policies that include comprehensive maternity coverage for the full scope of maternity services from preconception through postpartum.
Internationally women are being wooed by insurers to buy an auto or car insurance. Car insurance for female drivers is substantially low priced and has a much lower premium than that for male drivers, since it has been observed that male drivers commit a higher proportion of road offences, which result in more claims by them than by women.
In the US there has been a considerable rise in the women’s car insurance market due to the increase in the number of women drivers and their relatively lower claims. Women's car insurance policies are designed specifically for lady drivers. Along with the traditional coverage that provides financial protection for all cars, such policies include features like handbag insurance, which cover the policyholder's handbag and its contents if stolen while driving the insured vehicle.
The special services in this policy include ladies breakdown recovery, wherein the insurance company not only compensates for the breakdown but takes responsibility to locate the car and send help at the required destination.
A 24-hour emergency helpline is another added advantage. Women’s car insurance often gives cover for overnight accommodation if the car breaks down in a secluded region. In India, however, such highly customized products are a far cry.
Until now only LIC and Bajaj Allianz and Birla Sun Life in the private insurance sector have insurance products tailor-made for women. However, a clutch of private sector players such as Star Union Dai-ichi, Reliance Life Insurance, Future Generali Life Insurance and TATA AIG have fathomed the potential for women-specific insurance products and are believed to be launching such products by the end of 2009.
Micro-insurance initiatives taken up by several NGOs are also catering to women in rural India. These can’t be categorized as women-only products as they provide coverage for failed crops, loss of crop or cattle, accident and health. There is a definite client base among women for the same.
According to insurance sector experts, insurers earlier shied away from specific products for women because women have more complex health needs than men and in addition need cover for pregnancy and related reproductive health needs.
Women also have a high incidence of chronic illnesses for which they need to undergo continuous medical treatment. Moreover, women are exposed to risks of diseases such as osteoporosis and autoimmune diseases such as lupus, multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis - all of which require long-term treatment.
None of these things were specifically covered under unisex insurance policies. However, with statistics proving that women have a higher life expectancy than men and are making important financial decisions today have been the deciding factor for many insurers who are redesigning their earlier policies and putting in riders to suit the needs of the ladies.
“Women take important decisions in every household and at work. To cater to their special needs, we offer innovative, women-specific plans, which provide investment benefits, savings, retirement solutions and medical insurance. Our special plans help mothers plan for their children's education, save for the future and take care of all medical emergencies in the family,” says a senior official of Bajaj Allianz.
One might argue why should a woman buy an insurance plan, especially if she is a homemaker. Financial planning experts say that services rendered by a home-maker are valuable and can be quantified in financial term for insurance purposes.
Besides, she too needs an independent means of income for her old age and savings for health expenses. Further for a working woman, an insurance policy can bring about big savings on the tax front. Although it is not advisable to buy a life cover just as a tax saving tool, one must be aware of its implications.
Life insurance offers tax benefits under two heads - deduction and exemptions. Deductions are based on the amount invested and are cut from the gross amount. Exemptions can be availed on maturity. Thus, deduction up to Rs 1 lakh is allowed under Section 80C of the I-T Act on premiums up to 20% of the total sum assured.
For a health insurance policy deduction up to Rs 15,000 (Rs 20,000 in case of senior citizens) is allowed under section 80D of the I-T Act. These measures can be used by women as effective tax-saving methods.
Women today have a bunch of insurance products to choose from. The country’s premier insurer LIC offers Jeevan Bharti which is a money back policy for women. Besides, the life cover and periodic payments during the policy term, the plan covers women against critical illnesses and congenital disabilities in the newborn. These benefits are in-built and come at an extra cost.
Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance offers two different policies for women - Bajaj Allianz House Wives and Bajaj Allianz Working Women. Both these policies are designed specially for women and cover critical illness benefit, reconstructive surgery benefit for breast cancer, congenital disability benefit and complications of pregnancy benefit.
However, there is a cap on the amount of cover. In case of reconstructive surgery benefits due to breast cancer, a patient gets only 30% of sum assured (maximum Rs 30,000) for one breast and 40% of sum assured (maximum Rs 40,000) for two. The rider also covers the newborn for congenital diseases. The company has a limit of 50% of sum assured (maximum Rs 2.5 lakh) for two children.
Among others, Birla Sun Life Insurance offers a critical illness rider for women. It offers a maximum cover of Rs 10 lakh and covers 29 illnesses. Among non-life policies there is Birthright insurance, a mediclaim policy by New India Assurance that covers women between 18 and 40 years of age. Any expectant mother (up to three months pregnant) can buy this policy for coverage against specific congenital anomalies at the time of birth or within two years of delivery.
Experts, however, advise women to check out the features of the policy and read between the lines, before being taken in by the marketing spiel of insurance agents. Before buying, one must read the policy document carefully, particularly the exclusions. Does it really offer you something that an ordinary insurance policy will not? Or is it the policy which luring you into making a sub-optimal choice?
Let’s consider an example to illustrate better. LIC’s Jeevan Bharati policy is a case in point. It is a money-back policy aimed at women. A 25-year-old woman needs to pay an annual premium of Rs 7,345 for a cover of Rs 1 lakh for a 20-year term. The premium for a simple money-back policy with the same cover and tenure would be far less, at Rs 6,273.
The Rs 1,072 extra charged for Jeevan Bharati goes into providing cover against certain critical illnesses and even congenital deformities in children born after buying the policy. If a policyholder is diagnosed with any of the specified critical illnesses — including breast, ovarian and cervical cancer — she will get 50% of the insured amount immediately.
The money thus received may help her foot the fat medical bill of cancer treatment. That’s a real benefit, no doubt. But not every woman may require such a benefit, especially if she already has health insurance or has no plans to raise a family. The critical illness benefit in Jeevan Bharati is not optional — it comes bundled with the policy.
So anybody who sees a benefit in the health rider must also accept the abysmal 6% to 7% returns of money-back plans. That’s why women-specific plans work better as optional riders that can be attached to a base policy.
Another advantage that women get is they have to pay low premium on life cover. In life insurance, the younger you are the lower is your premium.
So a 38-year-old woman ought to pay a premium equal to what a 35-year-old man pays for a similar life cover. This is because the average life expectancy of a woman is around 67 years while for a man it is around 65 years.
Most of the other private insurers, even if they don’t offer special plans for women, offer them discounts on premium rates due to higher life expectancy in women compared to men.
Companies usually take a setback of two years while calculating the mortality charge. As per the company website, a 29-year-old woman has to pay Rs 3,188 per annum for Birla Sun Life’s Rs 10 lakh term insurance (20-year policy term), while for the same a male will have to shell out Rs 3,254.
However, while some companies do offer discounted premiums to their women customers there is evidence that the fairer sex is not getting a fair deal despite conclusive evidence of higher life expectancy.
Thus, while there are many benefits offered to women as of today as far as insurance products are concerned; there are several loopholes that need to be addressed. However, that is not an excuse for women not opting for insurance products.
Whether you are working or non-working, a life cover is a must. A term policy can be bought to fulfill this need. Beyond that, your financial health should decide whether they should buy a specific plan. Riders and plans do have some merit as they cover women-specific diseases, which normal health plans don’t. And they cover pregnancy-related expenses after a waiting period.
Before buying do check if you are already covered for the diseases mentioned under a group medical cover provided by your spouse’s or your own employers. With these few basics in mind, buying a women specific insurance product does make sense for the modern woman today, whatever be her role in the society.
Source: Nirmal Bang
Life Insurance Policy
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In today’s day and age when the fairer sex has almost everything tailor-made to suit her modern day needs, there is no reason why she should not have exclusive financial products that cater to her. Women are moving away from being just homemakers to breadwinners. So it is evident that they, like their male counterparts, need financial protection and savings.
This makes them primary candidates for insurance products. Women in India however, are grossly under insured as of today. According to data available with IRDA, women constitute only a little over 20% of the total lives covered by the country’s life insurers, including LIC, the largest insurer by premium collected.
Although “women only” products are being marketed with much aplomb by insurers in India today, the fact is that insurance products for women have been in vogue in developed markets for quite some time now. Women in the US are major customers of health insurance and all women aged between 18 and 60 years do have some kind of health cover.
Though the premium differs in terms of age, the coverage is quite extensive. Women also have insurance policies that include comprehensive maternity coverage for the full scope of maternity services from preconception through postpartum.
Internationally women are being wooed by insurers to buy an auto or car insurance. Car insurance for female drivers is substantially low priced and has a much lower premium than that for male drivers, since it has been observed that male drivers commit a higher proportion of road offences, which result in more claims by them than by women.
In the US there has been a considerable rise in the women’s car insurance market due to the increase in the number of women drivers and their relatively lower claims. Women's car insurance policies are designed specifically for lady drivers. Along with the traditional coverage that provides financial protection for all cars, such policies include features like handbag insurance, which cover the policyholder's handbag and its contents if stolen while driving the insured vehicle.
The special services in this policy include ladies breakdown recovery, wherein the insurance company not only compensates for the breakdown but takes responsibility to locate the car and send help at the required destination.
A 24-hour emergency helpline is another added advantage. Women’s car insurance often gives cover for overnight accommodation if the car breaks down in a secluded region. In India, however, such highly customized products are a far cry.
Until now only LIC and Bajaj Allianz and Birla Sun Life in the private insurance sector have insurance products tailor-made for women. However, a clutch of private sector players such as Star Union Dai-ichi, Reliance Life Insurance, Future Generali Life Insurance and TATA AIG have fathomed the potential for women-specific insurance products and are believed to be launching such products by the end of 2009.
Micro-insurance initiatives taken up by several NGOs are also catering to women in rural India. These can’t be categorized as women-only products as they provide coverage for failed crops, loss of crop or cattle, accident and health. There is a definite client base among women for the same.
According to insurance sector experts, insurers earlier shied away from specific products for women because women have more complex health needs than men and in addition need cover for pregnancy and related reproductive health needs.
Women also have a high incidence of chronic illnesses for which they need to undergo continuous medical treatment. Moreover, women are exposed to risks of diseases such as osteoporosis and autoimmune diseases such as lupus, multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis - all of which require long-term treatment.
None of these things were specifically covered under unisex insurance policies. However, with statistics proving that women have a higher life expectancy than men and are making important financial decisions today have been the deciding factor for many insurers who are redesigning their earlier policies and putting in riders to suit the needs of the ladies.
“Women take important decisions in every household and at work. To cater to their special needs, we offer innovative, women-specific plans, which provide investment benefits, savings, retirement solutions and medical insurance. Our special plans help mothers plan for their children's education, save for the future and take care of all medical emergencies in the family,” says a senior official of Bajaj Allianz.
One might argue why should a woman buy an insurance plan, especially if she is a homemaker. Financial planning experts say that services rendered by a home-maker are valuable and can be quantified in financial term for insurance purposes.
Besides, she too needs an independent means of income for her old age and savings for health expenses. Further for a working woman, an insurance policy can bring about big savings on the tax front. Although it is not advisable to buy a life cover just as a tax saving tool, one must be aware of its implications.
Life insurance offers tax benefits under two heads - deduction and exemptions. Deductions are based on the amount invested and are cut from the gross amount. Exemptions can be availed on maturity. Thus, deduction up to Rs 1 lakh is allowed under Section 80C of the I-T Act on premiums up to 20% of the total sum assured.
For a health insurance policy deduction up to Rs 15,000 (Rs 20,000 in case of senior citizens) is allowed under section 80D of the I-T Act. These measures can be used by women as effective tax-saving methods.
Women today have a bunch of insurance products to choose from. The country’s premier insurer LIC offers Jeevan Bharti which is a money back policy for women. Besides, the life cover and periodic payments during the policy term, the plan covers women against critical illnesses and congenital disabilities in the newborn. These benefits are in-built and come at an extra cost.
Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance offers two different policies for women - Bajaj Allianz House Wives and Bajaj Allianz Working Women. Both these policies are designed specially for women and cover critical illness benefit, reconstructive surgery benefit for breast cancer, congenital disability benefit and complications of pregnancy benefit.
However, there is a cap on the amount of cover. In case of reconstructive surgery benefits due to breast cancer, a patient gets only 30% of sum assured (maximum Rs 30,000) for one breast and 40% of sum assured (maximum Rs 40,000) for two. The rider also covers the newborn for congenital diseases. The company has a limit of 50% of sum assured (maximum Rs 2.5 lakh) for two children.
Among others, Birla Sun Life Insurance offers a critical illness rider for women. It offers a maximum cover of Rs 10 lakh and covers 29 illnesses. Among non-life policies there is Birthright insurance, a mediclaim policy by New India Assurance that covers women between 18 and 40 years of age. Any expectant mother (up to three months pregnant) can buy this policy for coverage against specific congenital anomalies at the time of birth or within two years of delivery.
Experts, however, advise women to check out the features of the policy and read between the lines, before being taken in by the marketing spiel of insurance agents. Before buying, one must read the policy document carefully, particularly the exclusions. Does it really offer you something that an ordinary insurance policy will not? Or is it the policy which luring you into making a sub-optimal choice?
Let’s consider an example to illustrate better. LIC’s Jeevan Bharati policy is a case in point. It is a money-back policy aimed at women. A 25-year-old woman needs to pay an annual premium of Rs 7,345 for a cover of Rs 1 lakh for a 20-year term. The premium for a simple money-back policy with the same cover and tenure would be far less, at Rs 6,273.
The Rs 1,072 extra charged for Jeevan Bharati goes into providing cover against certain critical illnesses and even congenital deformities in children born after buying the policy. If a policyholder is diagnosed with any of the specified critical illnesses — including breast, ovarian and cervical cancer — she will get 50% of the insured amount immediately.
The money thus received may help her foot the fat medical bill of cancer treatment. That’s a real benefit, no doubt. But not every woman may require such a benefit, especially if she already has health insurance or has no plans to raise a family. The critical illness benefit in Jeevan Bharati is not optional — it comes bundled with the policy.
So anybody who sees a benefit in the health rider must also accept the abysmal 6% to 7% returns of money-back plans. That’s why women-specific plans work better as optional riders that can be attached to a base policy.
Another advantage that women get is they have to pay low premium on life cover. In life insurance, the younger you are the lower is your premium.
So a 38-year-old woman ought to pay a premium equal to what a 35-year-old man pays for a similar life cover. This is because the average life expectancy of a woman is around 67 years while for a man it is around 65 years.
Most of the other private insurers, even if they don’t offer special plans for women, offer them discounts on premium rates due to higher life expectancy in women compared to men.
Companies usually take a setback of two years while calculating the mortality charge. As per the company website, a 29-year-old woman has to pay Rs 3,188 per annum for Birla Sun Life’s Rs 10 lakh term insurance (20-year policy term), while for the same a male will have to shell out Rs 3,254.
However, while some companies do offer discounted premiums to their women customers there is evidence that the fairer sex is not getting a fair deal despite conclusive evidence of higher life expectancy.
Thus, while there are many benefits offered to women as of today as far as insurance products are concerned; there are several loopholes that need to be addressed. However, that is not an excuse for women not opting for insurance products.
Whether you are working or non-working, a life cover is a must. A term policy can be bought to fulfill this need. Beyond that, your financial health should decide whether they should buy a specific plan. Riders and plans do have some merit as they cover women-specific diseases, which normal health plans don’t. And they cover pregnancy-related expenses after a waiting period.
Before buying do check if you are already covered for the diseases mentioned under a group medical cover provided by your spouse’s or your own employers. With these few basics in mind, buying a women specific insurance product does make sense for the modern woman today, whatever be her role in the society.
Source: Nirmal Bang
Life Insurance Policy
Looking for Best & Cheapest Life Insurance Policy ? Compare Now !
MyInsuranceClub.com/Life-Insurance
Best Child Plans
Get him 50 Lakhs-Invest Rs125 a day Compare Lic,Sbi,Kotak,Hdfc,I-pru
www.bimadeals.com/Childplan
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