BackNo instant term insurance for covid survivors
To balance policy issuance with claims, many life insurers are now insisting on a three-month wait period for covid survivors who want to buy a term insurance policy
PremiumCovid-19 cases have been surging over the three weeks and there's a lack of clarity around the after-effects of omicron. Amid this ambiguity, getting a term insurance might take longer for those who have recovered from covid. To balance policy issuance with claims, many life insurers are now insisting on a three-month wait period for covid survivors who want to buy a term insurance policy.
Yogesh Aggarwal, founder at Onsurity, said, "The recent trend of insurance companies insisting on a waiting period varies between a minimum of one month to three months for covid-19 infected people." He further said, "The second wave has been a catastrophic event with the profound economic and social loss for all of us, leading to larger pay-outs for insurance companies as well. The year 2021 witnessed a substantial increase in the number of policies sold. To balance policy issuance with claims and to ensure that there is no misleading information on the declared health condition, the insurance companies have put risk assessment practices in place for safeguarding genuine customers' interest while keeping a check on the rising life insurance premium cost."
Sajja Praveen Chowdary, head, Term Life Insurance, Policybazaar.com, said, "Term insurance policy covers your life for a considerable amount at a nominal premium. In term policies, underwriters across the world are paying extra attention for ages now in case of any medical condition occurred six months prior the policy application date."
Therefore, insurers are also demanding extra medical tests to assess the risk and severity of infection for those who have not purchased the term policy yet.
"Pre-Covid, the number of individuals who had any health issues with themselves or family in the past six months would have been small. But, given the way omicron Covid infection cases have been, this number has automatically increased because many have turned positive in recent days. As a result, the term insurance policy proposal gets into the zone of inspection where extra medical tests are inquired for or might get postponed for three months. And as people are getting cautious of stepping out of their homes due to omicron Covid infection, it is understandable from their viewpoint that they don't wish to go out for medical tests or let somebody come to their homes to collect samples. Conversely, it becomes challenging for the insurer to accept the risk and issue a term insurance policy without assessing the risk accurately in the absence of fresh medical reports," said Chowdary.
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