With the advent of the monsoons, there are high chances of waterborne or viral diseases breaking out. Automobiles are prone to engine seizure due to vehicles getting stuck in floods and your house is subject to physical damage in case of flooding caused by heavy rains. In such a scenario, it is important that you buy the right insurance policies to avoid financial losses.
Protect your health
Diarrhoea, dengue, viral fever, typhoid fever, malaria, asthma, Hepatitis A, leptospirosis and chikungunya are the most common ailments seen in rainy months. Nowadays, insurance companies have started offering disease-specific plans. Dengue is one such disease for which there are maximum retail insurance plans available in the market.
If you already have a health insurance plan, you can look to further guard yourself by buying dengue-specific cover. These are fixed benefit plans that will cover medical costs as well as loss of income due to hospitalisation. Otherwise, dengue-specific covers are also available at marginal costs. Some examples include products offered by Apollo Munich (Dengue Care), Bajaj Allianz (M-Care) and DHFL (Pramerica Dengue Shield).
These policies mostly cover expenses for ailments requiring 24-hour hospitalisation, pre-hospitalisation expenses for 60 days and post-hospitalisation expenses for 90 days. However, they have a 30-45 day waiting period from the commencement of the policy. Hence, one must buy it at the earliest to avail the benefits when needed.
Experts also advise people to buy a separate personal accident plan as protection against all financial eventualities due to accidental injury/death caused due to overcast sky and potholed roads. A personal accident insurance cover will pay the pre-decided sum assured based on injury and disability and the entire sum assured is paid in case of death.
Protect your automobile
Water ingression in the vehicle engine is common during monsoon months. Thousands of vehicles get damaged either due to flooding or because they were driven through water-logged areas. A standard motor insurance policy does not cover damage to the engine due to water seepage. Hence, it is recommended that consumers should protect their cars with add-on covers as follows:
- Engine and gearbox protector: This add-on cover provides protection to the engine and electronic circuit within the car, especially during monsoons when water-logging increases the risk of damage to the engine. The advantage of this add-on is that the insured gets coverage for the monetary loss which he would otherwise incur due to engine damage.
- Zero Depreciation cover: This helps reduce the cost of losses which the insured would have to bare due to the wear and tear of replaced parts like plastic/rubber, fibre, metal and paint.
- Emergency roadside assistance: With this ad-on cover, the insurer will provide certain emergency services like refuelling, towing, change of flat tyre, mechanic’s services, etc in case the car breaks down due to water-logging /heavy showers.
Protect your home
Rigorous rains cause floods, as seen in Bihar this year. With water inundation, the probability of damage to the structure of the house and its content increases. In this situation, a home insurance policy comes in handy to manage the financial losses incurred. Consumers can buy covers for residential buildings up to the age of 25-30 years. Moreover, a buyer can also cover the contents within the structure under one policy. Nowadays, the average premium for insuring a house worth Rs 50 lakh comes to around Rs-2,200-2,600 annually. If you opt for a more comprehensive policy that covers the contents of the house, too, like furniture, home appliances, etc, then the policy can cost you an annual premium of up to Rs 7,500.
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