Life insurers get tough on risk assessment as second Covid-19 wave bites

Impose 'postponement period' for recovered Covid patients, tighten underwriting standards

Life insurers are stepping up scrutiny of policyholders’ term plans and are postponing insurance requests of Covid survivors as the deadly second wave continues to batter the country.

“It appears because of Covid, some have tightened their underwriting standards,” said Subhash Chandra Khuntia, former Irdai chairman. 

Term plans insure a person’s life for a huge cover amount but the premium on these policies is small.

Insurers, in turn, insure their risk with reinsurers, who also drive the price and the underwriting norms for such products. Experts said every time a new disease comes up, the underwriting process changes a little in that insurers