Coverage Against Loans..!
Those seeking loans to buy a
home or a car now have access to a larger suit of life and general insurance
products, which offer insurance cover against unemployment, critical illness,
personal accident, etc - factors that could affect their ability to repay
loans.
Loan insurance
policy providing protection
SBI General
Insurance recently launched a loan
insurance policy providing protection against the above-mentioned fortuitous
events. The policy covers 13 critical illness with survival period of 28 days
or more.
The personal accident cover
includes death or permanent disability due to unforeseen accidents.
Gunjan Ghai, Senior
Vice-president (marketing and product development) at SBI General Insurance
said, ''In case of loss of employment, three (3) equated monthly instalments
(EMIs) are paid for the outstanding loan.
Other insurers such as Bajaj Allianz General Insurance have
also spotted demand in this space. Its head of product development, Mr.
R.
Suresh Nair, says loan protection covers are popular among customers.
EMIs for loss of job for the
salaried class
Bajaj Allianz also provides
three EMIs for loss of job for the salaried class. Its product has the
provision to cover sanctioned loans up to Rs. 3 crore for customers aged up to 50 years.
The insurer also offers
insurance products to cover car loans. The highest coverage at the moment is Rs. 12.5 lakh, which, according to Nair, might be increased.
Insurance companies usually tie up with banks to offer these products.
Earlier, coverage for loanees was a monopoly of life insurers.
Those taking loans were provided life insurance cover so that in the
event of their death, their family would not be burdened with repayment of the
loan.
Some insurers are also doing away with the need to have medical
insurance under such products.
For instance, SBI General's
policy does not need medical check-up for policies have sum assured up to Rs. 1 crore and / or
age up to 45 years. Here, the sum insured is the same as the disbursed loan
amount.
