Now pay your health insurance premiums in instalments 
New Delhi: With sporadic lockdowns in different parts of the country, in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak has impacted businesses across sectors, and one major fallout of this has been employees dealing with pay cuts and job loss.
In a bid to offer some relief to policyholders dealing with liquidity crunch, recently, the Insurance Regulatory and Development and Authority of India (Irdai) asked all general and standalone health insurers to give policyholders the option to pay health insurance premiums in instalments.
Naval Goel, CEO & Founder of PolicyX.com said: “Health insurance on monthly mode is a great move. Earlier it was there in term plan only and currently in online business more than 90 per cent customers prefer monthly mode. So we can expect the same with health insurance as well. This is definitely a good option for customers.”
Bharti AXA General Insurance Co Ltd, Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Co. Ltd, ICICI Lombard are a few of the insurers who have extended the premium payment option for customers.
Recently, Bajaj Allianz has announced premium instalment facility available with their health insurance product “Health Guard”. Health-Guard which is available on both individual and family floater basis will now have the premium instalment option on a monthly, quarterly, half-yearly and annual basis as per the customer’s requirements.
Tapan Singhel, MD & CEO, Bajaj Allianz General Insurance said, “We have been witnessing a rapid rise in healthcare costs year on year and it has become imperative for citizens of our country to have a health insurance cover. Providing the option to pay premiums through instalments for our comprehensive health insurance product – Health Guard, makes the health insurance cover more affordable. This should hopefully encourage more customers to opt for health insurance which I believe should be a critical part of the financial planning of every family, to lead a healthy life and a life of dignity”
How does the payment process work?
If the customer opts for the instalment option, then the receipt of the amount received as down-payment at the time of policy issuance will be sent to the customer. On payment of each subsequent instalment, a receipt for instalment amount paid will also be sent to the policyholder. If the customer is unable to make the instalment payment within the due date, then a 15 days grace period is extended to the insured. If the insured makes the payment within the grace period, he/she would not lose the accumulated continuity benefit with respect to the waiting periods or cumulative bonus accrued.
Payment of claims in monthly instalments premium
If you choose the monthly payment mode for paying the premium of your health insurance cover and after paying just 3 or 4 instalments, you need to file for a claim, under such a scenario, the insurer will be liable to process your claim. However, you will have to either pay the remaining premium in one go to the insurer or the insurer may deduct the remaining premium from the total claim amount payable. The instalment-based premiums will not impact the claim settlement process provided you either pay the remaining premium upfront or the balance premium would get deducted from the claim amount by the insurer.
