Why insurers are wary of term plans for the chronically-ill
Death is the only certainty in life, so it makes sense to plan for it financially, said Suze Orman, an American financial advisor and author. A term insurance is one of the best gifts that individuals can leave behind for their loved ones—It can help mitigate their family’s financial woes. Yet, it is not easy to lay your hands on such a policy if you are chronically ill.
Gaurav Kapoor (34), who works with a financial services firm, is a victim. “I applied for a term plan in 2022 but my proposal got postponed due to an inflammation of the liver. After six months when I re-applied in June this year, I was diagnosed with high blood sugar.
The insurer postponed my proposal for another six months," he says. Financial advisors advocate buying a term plan as early as possible in life, when you are young and healthy. But most people tend to ignore this advice.
By the time they realize its importance, it could already be too late for some of them. Life-threatening conditions, especially chronic diseases, make it almost impossible for many to get a term plan. Chronic diseases are those that last a long time and require ongoing medical attention.
They are a major cause of death and disability. Cancer, heart, or kidney and liver diseases aside, even diabetes, obesity and hypertension are chronic diseases that afflict the young. Take the case of Bengaluru-based communications professional Ashish Kumar (34).
He suffers from epilepsy and asthma but leads a healthy life. All his vitals were in the normal range when he applied for a term plan earlier this year. “The insurer got some additional tests done and I cleared those as well.
Read more on livemint.com
