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Business News/ Insurance / News/  An investment to mitigate the risks we face
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An investment to mitigate the risks we face

When my son was hospitalized for covid-19, the expenses came to more than ₹2 lakh

An investment to mitigate the risks we facePremium
An investment to mitigate the risks we face

As a child, I loved a Nintendo video game called Oil Panic. In this, a hapless young man hurtles from one side of the screen to another, averting crisis after crisis. Come to think of it, this continues to be a common theme across games even today—fearlessly averting surprises and crises. Real life is no different.

We face risks every single day. Many of the adverse consequences of these risks can be insured away. To illustrate, I describe the risks I face in Delhi, where I live. But other large cities are no different.

15,000+ covid cases a day. I needn’t elaborate because you are all tracking this. A large proportion of people are being treated at home, but for those admitted at hospitals, the medical bills are steep. When my son was hospitalized for covid, the expenses were more than 2 lakh.

1,500 or more persons are diagnosed with acute respiratory, diarrhoeal diseases and tuberculosis every day. Some of these diseases require hospitalization, but others like tuberculosis may require extended home treatment. A close family member’s asthma gets aggravated each year as the air quality dips. A staff member had to leave us and return to her village because of tuberculosis. According to the National Health Profile, there are many other ailments that Delhiites are diagnosed with every day and I have just picked a few.

460 thefts and burglaries each day. These are the officially reported cases and I suppose the number of unreported cases is fairly large. Many of these burglaries involve loss of valuables; cash and jewellery being the most common. My wife runs an eyecare centre and a few years ago, burglars stole all the air conditioners and other appliances worth about 1.5 lakh. Fortunately, the more expensive medical equipment was left untouched.

126 vehicles are stolen each day on Delhi roads. These can cost several lakhs of rupees. Some of these cars are forced open and taken away, but there are a large number of cases in which the vehicles have been left unlocked, often with the keys inside them.

85 fire calls are made every day to the fire department and there are five fire-related injuries or deaths. A number of minor fires go unreported. People suffer burns in these fires and their houses get damaged. Sometimes, such as in the fire at the Natural History Museum, entire buildings get razed.

54 cancer cases are diagnosed each day in Delhi. This is dated information from the National Cancer Registry, but the numbers have not reduced in recent years. Cancer shakes families up. Close relatives have paid up to 20 lakh for the treatment of breast cancer.

15 road accidents took place in Delhi every day in 2019. This would have reduced materially during the lockdown, but is still high.

14 heinous crimes are reported daily as per the Delhi Police’s 2019 records. Heinous crimes include rape, murder and attempts to murder. These crimes almost always result in injury.

Three earthquakes every two days, measuring over 5 on the Richter scale, are felt across the country. Quite a few of these are in north India, according to the National Centre for Seismology. Earthquakes damage property and, in some poorly constructed houses, complete collapse may take place.

These estimates are taken from various sources, across years and are indicative. You could get paralysed and, like that hapless young man in Oil Panic, wait for the next crisis to emerge. Or you could act and buy the most essential insurances that give peace of mind, at least for monetary losses.

The four insurances that you must have are term, health, motor and home.

Term insurance will pay your nominee a large amount if you die. For a 40-year-old, a sum assured of 1 crore would cost 25,000 annually.

Health insurance will pay your hospitalization costs. For the same 40-year-old to cover a family of four with 10 lakh will also cost about 25,000 per year.

Motor insurance for a mid-sized car will be about 7,000. This will pay for road accidents or stolen cars.

Finally, home insurance for a mid-sized property will be 8,000 and will cover earthquake and fire-related costs.

The total insurance cost is about 65,000 per year. That’s a small investment to manage your risk.

Kapil Mehta is co-founder and chief executive officer, SecureNow, an insurance broking firm.

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Published: 19 Apr 2021, 09:22 PM IST
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