Currently, all overseas Mediclaim policies have an in-built health cover, besides travel inconvenience benefits like baggage loss/ delay, passport loss, etc. Hence, there is really no choice that the customer needs to make, except which is the most comprehensive cover.

General Insurance: Gaurav Garg

Business Standard

A new group life insurance cum terminal benefit scheme for&nbsp;rubber tappers working in the small-holding sector was&nbsp;launched by Sheela Thomas, chairperson, Rubber Board. The scheme is&nbsp;implemented in collaboration with Life Insurance Corporation of India.

Group life cover scheme for rubber tappers

Barring the Apollo group, cashless health cover services have been restored in all other corporate hospitals, after their managements agreed to the standard treatment rates negotiated by the public sector health insurance providers.

Cashless insurance back in all private hospitals, except Apollo

General insurers will have to wait a little longer than their life insurance counterparts to come out with initial public offers (IPOs).

IPO guidelines for general insurers in 2-3 months: Irda

There is no limit to the number of policies, but most insurers follow underwriting guidelines that restrict the total sum assured, depending on your age and annual income, to avoid anti-selection. Therefore, it is important to disclose details of earlier policies and annual income, when applying for a new policy.

Life Insurance: V Philip

My daughter is getting married in November. I want to get her jewellery insured.

General Insurance: Bhargav Dasgupta

These are meant for students travelling abroad for further studies. Universities abroad mandate that a student must be insured. While some universities (like in Canada and New Zealand) include insurance charges in the tuition fee, others (like in UK and US) accept insurance bought in the home country. The latter, however, must approve the coverage amount. Companies like Tata AIG General Insurance, Bajaj Allianz General Insurance and ICICI Lombard offer insurance, mostly for those between 16 and 35 years of age. Policies offered by the latter are accepted in US universities. Student plans either cover or do not cover the Americas.

What are student insurance plans?

Aegon Religare, which was the first insurer to introduce an exclusively online insurance plan in October 2009, is planning to introduce more such products.

Aegon Religare files for more online insurance plans

Aegon Religare files for online health plan

Reading any statement &ndash; whether of a bank, a mutual fund or a unit-linked insurance plan (Ulip) &ndash; can be a nightmare. Often, the jargon can stump a customer, Nitin Desai discovered.

Understanding the jargon

I need advice for my sister. She is physically challenged due to spinal muscular atrophy. This has slowed down her leg and hand movement to 25 per cent, but the rest of her activities are normal. Currently, she takes help of a wheelchair. She has a job and travels to office daily. She is not sure if the employer&rsquo;s group insurance/hospitalisation plan will cover her medical/physiotherapy expenses. She wants to have a life/medical cover for herself from her income.

General insurance: Ajay Bimbhet

The controversy over regulation of unit-linked insurance plans (Ulips) has had little impact on the private life insurance industry. Most companies reported profit during the first quarter of the financial year on the back of marginal growth or drop in new sales and reduction in expenses.

Pvt life insurers continue to book profit

Students going abroad for studies need to have an insurance cover. And the good news is that purchasing the cover in India, if the country or the university allows you to do so, is a cheaper option.

Buying a policy in India is cheaper

The life insurance industry is caught in a web of uncertainty. While the regulator, the Insurance Development and Regulatory Authority (Irda), has asked them to launch products adhering to the new guidelines by September 1, several questions have yet not been answered.

Insurers in a cleft over new norms

Embattled Commonwealth Games (CWG) Organising Committee Chairman Suresh Kalmadi has set the ball rolling on seeking insurance against cancellation of the event. The committee will float the tender by September 15, less than three weeks before the Games begin in New Delhi.

Kalmadi sets the ball rolling on CWG cancellation cover

As Irda refuses to budge on guaranteed returns.

Returns on Ulip pension plans set to rise

Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) recorded a 10.99 per cent rise in valuation surplus to Rs 23,478 crore in 2009-10 as compared to Rs 21,152 crore in 2008-09. Valuation surplus is the money available with LIC for distribution after paying all expenses and taxes. LIC paid Rs 1,029 crore dividend to the government.

LIC valuation surplus up 11%

Life insurance companies are going to see a squeeze in margins and profitability, given the prescribed structural changes to be brought to unit-linked insurance plans (Ulips) from September.

New Ulip norms to make cost control crucial for life insurers

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (Irda) will shortly come out with guidelines pertaining to administration of health insurance. &ldquo;The guidelines will basically address claim forms, billing and registration-related issues,&rdquo; Irda Chairman J Hari Narayan said.

Irda to come out with health insurance guidelines soon

ICICI Lombard General Insurance Co, India&rsquo;s biggest private sector non-life insurance company, reported a 13 per cent drop in its net profit to Rs 33 crore in the three months to June 30, compared with Rs 38 crore in the same period a year earlier.

Higher medical claims erode insurers' earnings

Despite Irda&rsquo;s good moves, insurance policies should be bought for cover, and not for investment.

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