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Insurance regulator, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai), on Monday pitched standard guidelines for travel insurance with the objective of ensuring uniformity and definition about coverage, exclusions and terms of coverage for domestic as well as international travel. The new guidelines hope to make travel insurance popular with travellers. The guidance will make available a standard travel insurance product with common coverage and policy wordings across the industry, Irdai said while issuing an exposure draft on “Guidelines on Standard Travel Insurance Policy.” The exposure draft, on which the Irdai has solicited comments from the stakeholders by January 6, 2021, includes standard terms and conditions, customer information sheet and use and file format. The draft spells out the coverage and exclusions under domestic and overseas travel insurance. The insurance company will pay as compensation to the legal heirs/nominee the amount stated as sum insured

RBL Bank and ICICI Prudential Life Insurance entered into a bancassurance partnership on Wednesday, December 9, to offer a slew of life insurance products to customers. This alliance will enable more than 8.7 million customers of RBL Bank to access and easily purchase the customer-centric protection and long-term savings products of the firm, in order to gain financial security for themselves and their families. RBL Bank will distribute ICICI Prudential Life Insurance’s protection and savings products through its 398 bank branches spread across 28 states, besides its internet and mobile banking touch-points. Through the partnership, the entire bouquet of ICICI Prudential Life’s insurance plans on the protection and savings platform will be available for purchase to customers of the bank. ICICI Prudential Life Insurance’s protection products provide a strong foundation for a financial plan and the diversified range of long-term savings products are likely help the bank’s customers achie

Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) of India, which offers various insurance plans like endowment plans, money back plans, term insurance plans, also offers pension plans. LIC Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana is one such pension plan being offered by the country’s largest life insurance company. The government has modified rate of pension for Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana and extended the period of sale of this plan for a further period of three years from financial year 2020-21 till March 31, 2023. As per the terms and conditions under this plan, guaranteed rates of pension for policies sold during a year will be reviewed and decided at the beginning of each year by the Ministry of Finance. For the first financial year upto March 31, 2021, the scheme will provide an assured pension of 7.40 per cent per annum payable monthly, LIC said on its website. LIC’s Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana provides immediate pension for senior citizens of 60 years and above. It can be purchased by

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has come out with a clarification that insurers were permitted to change the base premium up to +/- 5 per cent of originally approved premium rates, in order to comply with the guidelines on standardization of exclusions as a one time measure for seamless transition of existing products to ensure viability and sustainability, According to IRDAI, as on September 30, 2020, out of 388 products, premiums were increased by general and health insurers up to 5 per cent of the then prevailing rates only in case of 55 products. Further, the insurance regulatory authority has cleared revision in premium beyond 5 per cent in respect of only five health insurance products of general / health insurers during the year up to November 30, 2020 as part of the periodical modification of their respective products, based on the incurred claims experience.

The beneficiaries of the Atal Beemit Vyakti Kalyan Yojana can heave a sigh of relief as the Employee State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) has announced that submitting the claim on an Affidavit form is no longer required under the scheme. The Ministry of Labour and Employment said in a statement that the ESIC has extended the scheme of Atal Beemit Vyakti Kalyan Yojana from July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2021. Apart from this, it was also decided that the rate of relief under the scheme will be enhanced from present 25 per cent of the average daily earning to 50 per cent of average daily earning. In order to provide some relief to the workers who have lost their jobs due to COVID-19, the eligibility conditions are also relaxed for the period March 24, 2020, to December 31, 2020. The decision was taken after reports of several beneficiaries facing problems in submitting the claim on the Affidavit form had recently emerged. The beneficiaries who have submitted their claims online under the Atal B

The number of insurance claims related to treatment for COVID-19 rose to 40 per cent of the total health insurance claims in September, according to an analysis. Based on its analysis of industry data, insurance aggregator Policybazaar.com said “most people filing the claim for COVID-19 treatment are senior citizens of age group 60 years and more, followed by people in the age bracket of 41-45 years”. In September, the insurance aggregator said COVID-19-related claims accounted for 40 per cent of the total health insurance claims. It has been steadily increasing from 8 per cent in May. In July and August, it stood at 23 per cent and 34 per cent, respectively. Overall, coronavirus cases have been on the rise, especially in few states. The recovery rate is also high. During the April-September period, COVID-19 claims accounted for 26 per cent of the overall health claims pie while the non-COVID-19 claims stood at 74 per cent. Other claims were mainly related to cardiovascular and respira

Equity mutual funds witnessed an outflow of ₹ 734 crore in September, making it the third consecutive monthly withdrawal, mainly due to pull-out from multi-cap space. Besides, investors pulled out over ₹ 51,900 crore from debt mutual funds (MFs) last month compared to ₹ 3,907 crore in August, data from the Association of Mutual Funds in India showed on Thursday. Overall, the mutual fund industry witnessed a net outflow of a little over ₹ 52,000 crore across all segments during the period under review, as against ₹ 14,553 crore in August. This outflow could be attributed to withdrawals from liquid, equity and hybrid schemes. As per the data, the outflow from equity and equity-linked open-ended schemes was at ₹ 734.40 crore in September, compared to ₹ 4,000 crore in August and ₹ 2,480 crore in July. Equity MFs saw their first outflow in over four years in July on profit-booking. Equity schemes attracted ₹ 240.55 crore in June, ₹ 5,256 crore in May, ₹ 6,213 crore in April, ₹ 11,723 crore

Life Insurance Corporation (LIC)’s New Jeevan Anand plan comes with a dual benefit of protection and savings. The plan pays the surviving policyholder a lumpsum amount at the end of its term, or pays the nominee in case of death of the policyholder, according to LIVE’s website – www.licindia.in. LIC is the country’s largest life insurance company with provides a range of products, including life insurance plans, pension plans, unit plans, endowment plans and money-back plans. Age Requirement The minimum age for buying the LIC New Jeevan Anand policy is 18 years, and the maximum age is 50 years, according to the LIC website. Term The policy comes with a minimum term of 15 years, and a maximum of 35 years. Sum Assured Any individual can buy LIC New Jeevan Anand policy for a minimum basic sum assured of ₹ 1 lakh. There is no maximum limit for the sum assured. Benefits The policyholder gets basic sum assured, along with vested Simple Reversionary Bonuses and Final Additional Bonus, if any,

image courtesy : freepik.com Each business has to go through transformations as the years pass by. Due to the advancement in the technology and Internet of Things, adapting to these changes is the only way a business can thrive in today’s world. The same applies to the insurance industry. Since the largest working population in India are millennials, the traditional selling models of the insurance industry are no longer effective. Over 34 percent of the Indian population are millennials forming approx. 47 percent of the total workforce. The insurance industry can only thrive if it evolves to satisfy the growing needs of the millennials. In India, many insurance providers still sell products with a traditional approach (via agents). The millennials are a technologically advanced generation, and hence choose online means to buy insurance products. Along with the buying habits, the product preferences, financial objectives, and career journey of the millennials are different from that of

InstantPay, one of India’s largest inclusive and neo Banking platform, has entered into a strategic partnership with Kotak Mahindra Life Insurance Company Limited to reach out to the billion uninsured and underbanked population of India, including the urban migrant. This alliance will not only bring insurance to the first time consumers but will also digitally empower the semi-urban sections of the society. InstantPay will deploy its extensive network of more than 1 lakh merchants to distribute Kotak Life Insurance’s products via the InstantPay portal or app, which have an annual premium as low as RS 200! Piyush Trivedi, Senior EVP – Sales, Alternate Channelat Kotak Mahindra Life Insurance Co. Ltd.said, “The next billion uninsured Indians remains a frontier waiting to be tapped by life insurers in India. It will require the right mix of products, processes and distribution to make a dent in this virtually unpenetrated segment. We believe that Kotak Life insurance has the right set of

Image Source- Pixabay Today, Americans are making a conscious decision to work for themselves. The former American dream of climbing the corporate ladder is something that is starting to go the way of the dinosaur with flexibility now outweighing job stability. One consideration for self employed people is health insurance. While an option is group health insurance for self-employed , there are other options too. Keep reading to learn everything you need to know about insurance coverage if you are self-employed. The Federal and State Marketplace A smart way to find good coverage options for those who are self-employed is through the Health Insurance Marketplace. If you are a freelancer, consultant, independent contractor, or another independent worker who doesn’t have any employees, you can enroll through the marketplace . You can choose from several different categories of coverage with plans that include low premiums. The savings you receive are dependent on the projected net inco

Most people have a really hard time understanding motor insurance terms and conditions. Most of it is written in highly legal jargon with the use of abbreviations that you just can’t figure out.   To add to that, there are so many policy papers that you have to get through, it can all be a bit overwhelming. However, if you arm yourself with the right vocabulary, it can all be a lot more manageable. As such, we’ve compiled a list of 5 motor insurance terms that you must familiarize yourself with.   Insured Declared Value (IDV) IDV is perhaps one of the most commonly used terms in vehicle insurance claims. IDV is the standing market value of your motor vehicle. Furthermore, it refers to the maximum sum that an insurer would pay for a vehicle insurance policy. As such, if your vehicle gets damaged or stolen, this is the maximum value you can claim for it. You should ideally seek an IDV that’s equal to or more than your car’s value so that you don’t end up with a lower compensation.   Z

Make Multiple Health Insurance Claims Today’s stressful and fast-paced life contributes to a number of diseases. And this is why investing in a health insurance policy is essential. However, most insurance policies come with a limit on the sum assured, depending on the age of the insured and the insurance company’s underwriting guidelines. In such cases, the insured has no choice but to invest in more than one health insurance policy in case he is looking for a higher coverage. It also likely that you are looking to invest in a mediclaim policy for your spouse or your parent, apart from yourself. In such a case, investing in multiple policies is advisable. However, when you invest in multiple medical policies, it is important to follow the right steps, failing which, you might receive a reduced claim amount. When you fill up a proposal form for a mediclaim policy, is it important to inform the same to the insurer of any other existing medical policy you may have. Not informing your he

India needs an “effective, inclusive and universal” crop insurance scheme to act as a safety net for farmers as frequency of extreme weather events due to climate change is likely to increase in the future, a green body said on Friday. Noting that the new crop insurance policy is a step in the right direction but needs improvements, Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) said that insurance unit is still not at individual farmer level which is a major problem in compensating losses of the individual farmers. The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently approved the new crop insurance scheme — Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojna (PMFBY). CSE said that the new scheme will replace two schemes – National Agricultural Insurance Scheme (NAIS) and the modified NAIS (MNAIS). “Frequency of extreme weather events and slow onset events such as droughts are likely to increase in the future due to climate change. India needs an effective, inclusive and universal insurance sche

Faced with two consecutive drought years, the Centre on Wednesday cleared a crop insurance scheme under which farmers’ premium has been kept at a maximum of 2 per cent for foodgrains and oilseeds and up to 5 per cent for horticulture/cotton crops. To be rolled out from the kharif season this year, the much awaited scheme — Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana — was cleared at the Cabinet meeting, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. PMFBY will replace the existing two schemes National Agricultural Insurance Scheme as well as Modified NAIS which have had some inherent drawbacks. “The cabinet has cleared the Agriculture Ministry’s proposal on new crop insurance scheme,” sources said. It has approved farmers’ premium between 1.5 to 2 per cent for foodgrains and oilseeds crops, and up to 5 per cent for horticultural and cotton crops, they said. The farmers’ premium would be 1.5 per cent for rabi foodgrains and oilseeds crops, while 2 per cent for kharif foodgrains and oilseeds crops. For h