The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDAI) has asked general and health insurance providers to provide their customers with standard personal accident cover products to from April 1, 2021. It has also said that the insurance market has a wide variety of personal accident insurance products.
The IRDAI had also mentioned in its guidelines issued to the insurers, that each of the products had their unique features and that the insured public may find it a challenge to choose an appropriate product. “Therefore, with the objective of having a standard product with common coverage and policy wordings across the industry, the authority has decided to mandate all general and health insurers to offer the standard personal accident insurance product,” it added.
The IRDAI has also specified that the standard personal accident cover product should be named as Saral Suraksha Bima. It also stated that this should be succeeded by the name of the insurance company, with no other name being allowed in any of the documents. In addition to this, it should have a minimum sum of Rs 2.5 lakh and the maximum sum assured can be Rs 1 crore. The sum offered by the personal accident cover product should be in multiples of Rs 50,000.
The minimum entry age for the cover under the standard personal insurance product is fixed at 18 years, and the maximum cover for the cover is 70 years. Insurers are also allowed to use the name of the standard personal accident insurance product for the group policy by adding the word “group”.
The insurance regulator has also directed insurers that the standard product should have the basic mandatory covers under the guidelines. Insurers can offer optional covers along with the standard accident insurance product.
The insurers would also have to provide a death benefit, under the standard accident insurance product. This would provide a benefit up to 100% of the sum insured to the policyholder, if the person dies within 12 months from an accident during the policy period.
The insurers will get benefits equal to 100% of the sum insured, in case of permanent total disablement, if the disablement occurs within 12 months from the accident. Dental treatment, plastic surgery and all-the-day care treatments subject to maximum cap of Rs 2,000 per hospitalization can also be covered under optional covers.