For the physically challenged or disabled, life itself could be
quite a challenge. From doing daily chores to getting medical care they
require assistance at every step.
Insurance is one ideal way to ensure the physically challenged get
the much needed financial protection for themselves and their families,
to help them lead normal lives like the others. Here are some of the
ways the disabled or physically challenged could get insurance.
Insuring the physically challenged
From visual impairment to mental instability, insurers offer financial cover to the disabled in various forms.
Life Insurance policies
Not all insurance companies permit the disabled to apply for a life
insurance policy. A few insurers permit a disabled to directly apply for
a life insurance policy, subject to certain conditions. Those partially
handicapped and employed can insure themselves with directly on their
names. Otherwise, policies could be applied for through a member of the
family on whom the disabled is a dependent. A few life insurance
policies which the disabled could opt for are from:
LIC’s - Jeevan Anmol 1
Aviva life insurance
Bajaj Allianz
Nature of policies: Life insurance policies that are offered to the
disabled are no different from other life insurance policies. In fact
even the sum assured remains the same.
Medical Examination: A medical examination would be required
mandated to determine the exact nature of handicap and its bearing on
the insured.
Premiums :Premiums may be slightly higher. This however depends on the nature and extent of handicap.
General insurance policies
Insurers such as Bajaj Allianz and Oriental Insurance, offer general
insurance policies for the disabled. Bajaj Allianz provides a motor
insurance policy that offers additional discount for disabled driver’s
vehicles and free road side assistance. Oriental Insurance Company
offers health schemes for the physically challenged.
Policies for Physically Challenged Dependents
Life insurance plans such as the endowment assurance plan of LIC are
designed for the benefit of handicapped dependents. Such plans can be
taken by any individual who has a handicapped dependent. The plan
provides a life cover to the purchaser and the benefits would be for the
handicapped dependent. Benefits under the policy are either in the form
of a lump sum amount or as an annuity meant for the maintenance of the
dependent. The disability could range from blindness, hearing
impairment, locomotor disability or mental retardation or illness. The
dependent could be a spouse, child, parents or brother or sister.
Premiums under this plan are eligible for a deduction u/s 80DD.Please
note that the insured has to be a resident of India. A non-resident
Indian cannot claim deduction u/s 80DD.
Disability insurance policies
When we speak of the broad term of disability insurance, it
generally refers to the insurance policies that offer protection or
cover against risk of any disability occurring due to an accident or
mishap. Disability insurance plans are designed to offer financial
protection in case of any loss of income if a disability were to occur.
Though insurers do not offer a separate insurance policy for disability,
such a cover could be opted for along with regular life insurance
policies as a rider or as add-ons along with personal accidental
insurance policies. These policies compensate you in an event where you
become disabled and are no longer able to earn.
Eligibility conditions of life insurance policies for the disabled
In the Finance Bill of Feb 2013,the Finance minister, announced a
relaxation in the eligibility conditions for life insurance policies for
persons suffering from disability or certain ailments. The permissible
premium rate has been raised from 10 per cent to 15 per cent of the sum
assured, for policies issued after April 1, 2013. This means, a disabled
person would now be eligible for tax exemption even if his premium is
15 per cent of the policy value. Until recently, the deduction under
Section 80C of the Income Tax Act in respect of life insurance premium
paidwas allowed only if the premium paid did not exceed 10 per cent of
the sum assured.
(The author is the CEO of MyInsuranceClub.com, an online insurance
price and features comparison portal. You may contact him directly on
Twitter: @dyohannan)
Source : The NavHind Times , 22nd Dec 2013
