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| Marriage cover | | INSURANCE |
| Amar Pandit / Mumbai Nov 23, 2008, 00:10 IST |
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Yes, it is a great feeling when you are all ready to get married. But there are several things that could go completely wrong. There are a large number of risks like accidents, fire, thefts, food poisoning and so on that can spoil the entire occasion.
And after putting in all that effort, time and money for executing, that “perfect marriage” can go completely haywire. While there is no compensation for the physical effort and time lost, you can certainly insure the monetary loss that could happen.
True, insuring a wedding can be the last thing on your mind, but it is certainly a hedge against any risk.
| COVER-TO COVER |
| * Low Cost: As premiums are low it is a good idea to opt for one |
| * Save: If the venue already has cover for fire, public liability and so on, premiums will be lowered |
| * Bills: Unavailability of bills can lead to delay in claim settlement |
Generally, a wedding insurance policy covers every event pertaining to a wedding. The policy covers monetary losses that are incurred due to any damage to property, fire, cancellation or postponement of the marriage, accident to the bride and groom or any blood relatives within 7 days of marriage date, public liability and burglary. In fact, minute details like damage to wedding photographs, musicians not turning up are also covered.
There are 6 different heads under which cover is offered
A. WEDDING CANCELLATION/ POSTPONEMENT: While , there might be no insurance for a “Runaway Bride” kind of a situation, where actress Julia Roberts gets cold feet just before the marriage, but the insured can gets cover if the marriage is cancelled or postponed. The policy basically covers advances paid out to the marriage venue, caterer, decorator and card printing expenses.
B. DAMAGE TO PROPERTY : Any damage to the venue (seats, stage, wardrobe and so on)
C. PERSONAL ACCIDENT Accident of the bride, groom and any blood relative is covered.
D. BURGLARY : Theft of money and jewellery.
E. PUBLIC LIABILITY : This covers situations such as accidents at the venue, food poisoning and so on.
At present, Bajaj Allianz and ICICI Lombard are the two general insurance companies that offer these products. ICICI Lombard offers this under “Event Insurance”.
Bajaj Allianz's plan gives you four options of different sum assured starting from Rs 20 lakh. The premium is Rs 2,250 for Rs 20 lakh policy. This policy comes with preset limits of Rs 2 lakh each under different heads, as explained above. The public liability component, however, is higher at Rs 10 lakh. This policy even covers appliances given by in-laws and blood relatives. Of course, there is a co-payment or deductible that needs to be paid by the policy holder under each head. The deductible is normally 5 per cent of the claim amount subject to some minimum amount.
ICICI Lombard Event Insurance: Just like the Bajaj Plan, this policy also provides cover for most heads given above. However, there are no preset limits for various heads and for sum assured. The premium is 1.5 per cent of the sum assured. That is, the premium for Rs 20 lakh cover in this case would cost around Rs 3,000.
Given that the costs are not at all high, there is certainly a good idea to go for the cover. But like always, before you sign on the dotted line, check if the wedding venue already has cover for fire, public liability and others. This would save you some premium.
Also, understand the exclusions and deductibles under the policies and the claims settlement process.
Important exclusions would include, marriage under duress, criminal acts, misconduct, misrepresentation, willful negligence, insolvency and influence of drugs or alcohol. Nuclear perils, radioactivity, war and war-like perils also come under exclusions. The fine print has to be read because damage to electricity through short-circuits or self-heating deprives you of policy benefits.
Claims settlement is an integral part of any insurance policy. In a marriage insurance policy, you must retain all the bills to get your claims settled on time. Bill unavailability can lead to a delay in terms of claims settlement and hence, you must be very thorough with your paperwork.
At the same time, understand that there will be some co-payment or deductible towards different heads. In the event of a fire, the first Rs 10,000 will have to be borne by the policyholder. Except for personal accident where there is no deductible, all other heads will have deductibles of approximately 5 per cent of the claim amount (subject to a certain minimum).
When an unfortunate event occurs and the wedding is cancelled/postponed, you are likely to incur a lot of expenses. These expenses could range from reprinting of cards, to cancellation of venue and any advances paid out. Considering that wedding is a big budget item for lot of Indian families, opting for such a cover might be a good idea.
The writer is director, My Financial Advisor
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