 "When not to buy online mediclaim insurance policy")
These days, a whole range of insurance products (life cover, motor, and travel) are available on the internet. You can easily check them on the insurance companies’ portals and purchase them electronically. Few companies are offering exclusive term plans on the net which are not available with their agents. This also saves to control the operating costs of the organization. Apart from that, there are online websites that can compare the insurance products of various groups. Such websites help an individual in knowing all the options while purchasing insurance.
It is convenient to buy online insurance products in comparison to offline one’s and also they are low in cost. This is the sole reason why such health policies have become instant winners in the market. But, is this low costing premium sufficient reason to buy any online health cover? Not essentially, since many people consider the traditional insurance plans to have limits over their online counterparts.
An agent plays an essential role at the time of raising claims and makes the whole process easy. In case of cashless plan, agent provides an excellent help for the insured. In case you buy an online policy, then at the time of hospitalization the insured person or his family needs to go through the claim procedures, which can be easily handled by an agent in an offline mode. Here are few instances when online health cover is not advised:
When you are suffering from chronic disease:
If you have a congenital medical condition or have any abnormal medical illness or have any pre-existing disease, then you should take the offline version of health cover because in case of contingency you can contact your agent rather than connecting the internet, which is sometimes not possible. Therefore, it is advised that such individuals must take a policy through an insurance company or through an agent after going through a proper medical check-up.
When you are a first time buyer:
Individuals who are the first time buyers are advised to take health cover from insurance company agents. These agents can give full details of the health plan and are capable of solving any queries. In online products, you will get a good variety to choose from, but sometimes full detail is too complex to read and understand from the internet brochure. It is said that you can get the finer details in the health cover document through the agent of an insurance company.
Online policies are a disappointment for senior citizens:
Likewise, in the case of senior citizens, they can go for offline products of health insurance as they will get any insurance only after a thorough checkup of the medical condition. Insurance companies generally don’t provide online health covers for senior citizens. As this age group is highly prone to diseases, risk for the insurer is high.
Large cover is unavailable in online policies:
If you are looking for a large cover, say of Rs 10 Lakhs, you will not be able to find it online. Generally, maximum sum assured offered by different insurers will not exceed the limit of Rs 5 Lakhs.
If looking for specific plan:
If you are seeking a plan for specific disease such as diabetes or want to opt for any specific plan, then yet again online covers will disappointment you. There are minimal differences in features of various available online options of insurance companies.
Online health cover plans are well matched for those who are looking forward to purchasing a generic cover or a standard health policy. So, if you have any specific requirement or are a part of any of the above mentioned points, then don’t opt for online health insurance policy and use the traditional agent way.
Source: InvestmentYogi is one of the leading personal finance websites in India