Corona Kavach health insurance policy evokes good response: Insurers

Amid spurt in Covid-19 cases in the country, Corona Kavach health insurance policy has evoked good response within days of its launch by almost all insurers.

Corona Kavach, which was launched on July 10 and is being offered by both general and health insurers, is a standard health insurance policy created to meet the treatment requirements for coronavirus.

The term of the policy ranges from three-and-a-half months to nine-and-a-half months, with maximum insured amount at Rs 5 lakh.

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) has given a green signal to all general and health insurers to launch Corona Kavach policy to cover medical expenses of the Covid-19 positive patients.

"The response has been tremendous as people are quite eager to buy these plans. Since these plans have gone live on the PolicyBazaar's website, the company has been selling 300-500 policies per day," said Amut Chhabra, Head-Health Insurance, Policybazaar.com.

Most customers buying these plans are young individuals, he said, adding that "the policies are very much affordable like Rs 208 monthly, which is a fairly cheap amount." Observing that the response to the Corona Kavach is from across the country, he said, the policy is "following the same trend as the corona situation right now in the country with people from Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Delhi NCR showing massive interest in the newly launched plans".

Subramanyam Brahmajosyula, Head, Underwriting and Reinsurance, SBI General Insurance Company, said the provision to cover other members of the immediate family under the family floater option and home care treatment expenses are some of the features which are generating considerable interest.

"Another customer-friendly feature of this policy is the provision to opt for 'Hospital Daily Cash' as an add-on whereby the policyholder will be paid a fixed amount of up to Rs 2,500 per day (for policies with 5 lakh cover)," said Brahmajosyula.

This amount can be utilised as per the discretion of the insured and can come handy to meet sundry expenses incurred during hospitalisation as well as taking care of any loss of income.

Subrata Mondal, executive vice president (Underwriting), IFFCO Tokio General Insurance, said there has been a very good response for the Covid-19 specific products that were launched just a week back.

"Majority of insureds are preferring nine-and-a-half months tenure. This indicates that people, in general, are expecting the current pandemic to last for some more time. Nearly 40 per cent opted for hospitalisation cash," Mondal said.

Officials from different insurance companies highlighted there have been a considerable increase in awareness of health insurance since the pandemic outbreak and it is being reflected in sales of health insurance across the industry.

"It will increase the penetration of insurance as more and more people are being brought under the ambit of health insurance. This trend will continue and with innovative products and ideas, the industry can facilitate inclusive growth," Mondal added.

When asked about the general response to the Corona Kavach policy since it was launched on July 10, Gurdeep Singh Batra, Head - Retail Underwriting, Bajaj Allianz General Insurance said: "We are receiving good response and product is picking up fast".

According to him, people are opting for six-and-a-half months and nine-and-a-half months policy.

The Corona Kavach policy, which can be availed by persons in the age bracket of 18 to 65 years, comes with an optional cover of daily cash benefit of 0.5 per cent of the sum assured during the period of hospitalisation subject to a maximum of 15 days.

Irdai had said that for the purpose of this policy any set-up designated by the government as a hospital for the treatment of COVID-19 should also be also considered as a hospital.

Also, any co-morbid condition triggered due to Covid-19 shall be covered during the period of hospitalisation.

Corona Kavach can be availed for self, spouse, parents, parents-in-law, and dependent children with up to 25 years of age.