Protect what matters

Protection comes before growth

Most families need two policies before anything else: a term life policy for the earning members and a health policy for everyone. Together they stop one bad event, a death or a hospital bill, from undoing years of saving and investing.

Term life insurance

A term policy pays a fixed amount, the cover you choose, to your family if you die during the policy term. With a plain term policy, if you outlive the term, nothing is paid back. That is why the premium is low for the size of cover: you are buying pure protection, not an investment.

Roughly how much cover?

A quick rule of thumb is a multiple of your yearly income. A better figure comes from your own situation:

• Add any loans outstanding, such as a home loan, so your family is not left with the EMI.
• Add big future goals you would want funded anyway, such as children's education.
• Subtract savings and investments your family could use, and any cover you already have (including through your employer).

Choose a term that lasts until your dependants are financially independent and your loans are repaid, usually until around retirement age. The earlier you buy, the lower the premium tends to be, because it is based on your age and health when you apply.

Health insurance

A health policy pays for hospital treatment, up to the cover amount, so a medical emergency does not have to be funded by breaking investments or taking a loan. Medical costs keep rising, so a cover that felt large ten years ago can look small today.

An employer's group policy is useful, but it usually ends when the job ends. It is usually wise to keep a personal policy of your own as well.

What to check before you buy

Two policies with the same cover amount can pay very differently. These are the points we go through with you, line by line, from the insurer's policy wording:

• Waiting periods for illnesses you already have, and for some named treatments.
• Room rent limits, which in some policies can also reduce other charges linked to the room, not just the room rent itself.
• Co-payment, the share of each bill you pay yourself, common in policies for seniors.
• Exclusions, the things the policy will not pay for at all.
• Network hospitals near you, where cashless treatment is available.

Always tell the insurer about your health and habits honestly on the proposal form. Hiding facts can give the insurer grounds to reject a claim, especially in the first few years of a policy.

How Finpotters helps

1. Understand your familyWho depends on you, your income, loans, existing policies and health history.
2. Work out the coverA rough life cover and health cover figure for your family, with the reasoning written down.
3. Explain the policyWe go through its features, exclusions, waiting periods and premium in plain words, so you choose with the full picture.
4. Help with the applicationForms, medical tests if the insurer asks for them, and nominee details, done correctly the first time.
5. Review over timeMarriage, a child, a new loan or a job change usually means your cover should change too.

Claim support

When a claim happens, families are often under stress. We help you with the paperwork and keep following up with the insurer until the claim is settled.

• Health claims: at a network hospital you can usually go cashless, where the insurer pays the hospital directly after approval. Elsewhere you may have to pay first and claim back (reimbursement), so ask the insurer in advance whether cashless is possible. Keep every bill, report and discharge summary.
• Life claims: the nominee submits the claim form, the death certificate and the policy details. We help the family gather documents and track the claim.

The decision on any claim is always the insurer's, based on the policy terms. Our role is to help you file it correctly and completely.

Common questions