Insurance planning: life, health and accident cover

Insurance is there to protect your family, not to grow your money. We work out the cover you actually need, check what you already hold, and tell you what to keep, add or leave.

We sell no insurance and earn no commission, so our only interest is in the cover being right. Your insurance plan is part of SahajMoney's fee-only financial plan, for a fixed ₹15,000 for the first year, including GST.

You have dependants or loans and are not sure your life cover is enough.

You rely on your employer's group health cover alone.

You hold endowment, money-back or ULIP policies and wonder whether to continue them.

Your parents' health premiums keep rising and you are weighing what to do.

Life cover: how much term cover your family needs, based on the income they would lose and the loans outstanding, and for how long: usually until your last big responsibility ends, around retirement.

Health cover: a personal base policy, a super top-up above it, and a separate health fund for costs a policy will not pay, such as consumables, sub-limits and waiting periods.

Personal accident cover: whether you need it, and how much, to cover lost income after a disability.

Your existing policies: each one reviewed, keep, make paid-up or surrender, judged by what staying in will cost from here, not by the premiums already paid.

What to check before you buy: room-rent limits, co-pays, exclusions and waiting periods, and the claim ratios worth comparing.

The plan recommends cover amounts and policy types; it does not name specific insurers or policies, so you can compare freely.

We keep insurance and investing separate, so each can be judged on its own job.

For health, a moderate base policy with a super top-up usually costs less in total premium than one very large policy, and protects you from the bill that would otherwise turn into debt.

First year: ₹15,000 per couple, including GST. Your written plan within 2 weeks of approving the initial analysis, a cover check at the 6-month review, and email questions throughout the 12 months.

Renewal: ₹7,500 a year, including GST, with a cover check at each of 2 reviews a year. Renewal is optional.

Not included: buying policies for you, help with filing or disputing claims, and motor, home or travel insurance.

We don't suggest mixing the two. A pure term plan for protection, with investing done separately, keeps costs and choices clear.

Enough to replace the income your family would lose and repay your loans, for as long as people depend on you. Someone with no dependants and no loans may not need it at all.

We wouldn't rely on it alone. It can end with the job, and buying your own policy later gets harder once a health condition appears.

It depends on what the remaining premiums could do elsewhere compared with what the policy will pay if you continue. Your plan works this out for each policy.

No. We are paid only by you, a fixed fee, and earn nothing from any insurer.

Abhishek Kumar on insurance

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