General Insurance: Bhargav Dasgupta

I will be abroad for two months in the US. I may extend my stay, as I have a six-month visa. I have taken a travel insurance policy for two months. Can it be extended?
Travel insurance can be extended easily if you need to extend the trip, as long as its total duration does not exceed the maximum duration allowed under the plan. The travel policy can be extended online through the company's website while you are abroad. You can also extend by calling customer care of the company.

I bought a fully-automatic, front-loading washing machine. I also took an annual maintenance warranty. Should I still include it in my householder's policy?
The annual maintenance warranty for the washing machine will cover only the mechanical breakdowns. You can include the machine in the householder's policy for covers against fire and perils like earthquake and burglary.

Do health policies only cover treatment taken in a hospital?
Primarily health policies cover treatments taken in a hospital. However, there are some which cover outpatient treatment expenditures (OPD), too. OPD treatments comprise the doctor's consultation charge for day-to-day treatment, dental and optical treatments, including pharmacy. ICICI Lombard also offers coverage for OPD treatments in its product called 'Health Advantage Plus'.

In addition, there are health policies that pay a a lump sum in case of diagnosis of an illness included in the pre-defined list or incidence of an unfortunate event. These policies do not require treatment in a hospital. Typically, these are available for critical illnesses such as cancer, renal failure and heart diseases.

Since the rupee is falling, will the price of travel policies increase, as they are priced in the dollar? I am abroad on a holiday and I paid around Rs 2,000 for a $500,000 plan. Will I be asked to pay a higher premium if I make a claim now?
Since you are insured, you will not be affected by the currency fluctuations, and no additional premiums will be charged. However, for fresh travel insurance policies, there could be an upward revision in the premium rates in the near future, specially if the rupee continues to depreciate.

I have a householder's policy that paid me Rs 25,000 after a theft in my house. Is this sum taxable?
Since a claim amount is not considered as income, this will not be taxable. You have had a financial loss due to the theft. Insurance is compensating you for that and not providing any additional income. Thus, there is no tax payable.

The writer is MD & CEO, ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company. Views expressed are his own.
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