Are These General Insurance Policies in Your Financial Planning Checklist?

Life is an uncertain rollercoaster ride and ups-and-downs are a part of that journey. While you decide to live your life in particular fashion, it is important not just to have a strategy, but also a ‘Plan B’ at all times. Similarly, financial planning is crucial in today’s day and age. While money may not be a benchmark of success, it is essential requirement for survival. Hence, it is important to plan it though thoroughly. As your life progresses and changes, your and your family’s financial requirements change. These can be in different forms like saving up for a house, your child’s education to finally retirement corpus. A strong financial plan will help you in create a diversified portfolio of investments that caters to your corpus requirements keeping in mind the risk constraints. However, a financial backup must always exist, even for your investments. An insurance policy is the perfect backup plan for adversities that may derail your financial planning. It can be a health contingency, motor accident, damages to your home, and many more. For these situations, general insurance plans come to the rescue. While a life insurance policy covers the death of the insured, a general insurance policy covers all other situations that are not part of life insurance policy’s coverage. Here are some of the general insurance policies that must be included in your financial planning checklist:

• Health insurance

While availing a life insurance cover is essential for the securing the future of your dependents, a health insurance plan helps tackle medical exigencies. A slightest medical inconvenience can bring life to a halt in addition to the mental stress it accumulates. Moreover, paying hefty medical bills at such times can be even more stressful. That’s when a health insurance policy comes to the rescue. These insurance plans not just cover the period of hospitalisation, but also pre and post hospitalisation costs. Ambulance services, maternity benefits, annual health check-up, convalescence benefit, domiciliary cover, day-care procedures are some of the notable advantages of a health insurance policy. There are various plans that can be bought considering the medical requirements like an individual plan, family floater policy, critical illness insurance, senior citizen cover and more. *

• Motor insurance

The only insurance cover that is mandatory by law is a motor insurance policy. The Motor Vehicles Act makes it mandatory to buy this insurance coverage for all motorists. There are two types of insurance plans—third-party plans and comprehensive policies. Third-party bike or car insurance policies cover legal liabilities whereas comprehensive plans have a 360-degree coverage which include third-party liabilities as well as own-damages. Using a motor insurance policy, compensation is available for repairs that may be required due to an accident or collision. Apart from compensation for repairs, motor insurance policies aid in burning a hole in your wallet that may be required for the expensive repairs to your vehicle. *

• Home insurance

Home is where the heart is. It is the ultimate truth and any damage to your home is heart shattering. However, a home insurance policy is handy way to ensure the safety of your home. Just like prioritising your health is important, similar is the case for your beloved house. A home insurance policy is not just designed for homeowners, but also for those living in a rented accommodation. The damages to house do not come cheap and often run in to lacs of rupees. Hence, it essential to buy a home insurance policy and make it an essential part of your financial plan. *

• Travel insurance

Travelling abroad is an expensive affair. In such places, any unplanned medical emergency or loss of baggage can mean additional financial loss. Hence, a travel insurance helps to cover for these unexpected expenses helping you in tough times, especially in a foreign land. One thing to remember is that a travel insurance policy is not only available for international travels, but also domestic travels. * * Standard T&C Apply These are the different types of insurance plans that must be a part of your financial plan helping you safeguard your investment in the long run. General insurance plans are way to protect your investment. Thus, make sure to thoroughly understand what is general insurance and the type of policy that you can take advantage of. Insurance is the subject matter of solicitation. For more details on benefits, exclusions, limitations, terms and conditions, please read sales brochure/policy wording carefully before concluding a sale.