Apollo Optima Restore or Optima Standard

POSTED BY Indian_Engineer ON March 21, 2012 3:33 am COMMENTS (8)

Dear experts,

 

I am bit in confusion.

I have Health Insurance from ICICI, for my elder sister (38) and me(27).

I would Like switch to Apollo Munich.(As there is no loading,Life long renewal)

Now, they are offering two options;

1. Optima Standard

2. Optima Restore

Moreover, I shall have separate two policies this time, rather than Family floater with my sister.

Could you please advice which one to go for.

Secondly as the previous policy was claim free, can I get claim-free-bonus in future policy??

 

 

 

8 replies on this article “Apollo Optima Restore or Optima Standard”

  1. Indian_Engineer says:

    Ashal,

    The Policy I have now is a Health Insurance from ICICI Lombard.

    This policy cover both my sister and me, a family floater sum.

    As per the prevailing tax rules I can not get tax benefit on the premium as I have enlisted my sister.

    Can I get no-claim benefit in the new policy I opt this year individually?

    1. Dear Indian Engineer, you mean to say that for this family floater policy, your sister is paying the prem.?

      Thanks

      Ashal

      1. Indian_Engineer says:

        Dear Ashal,

        Question is not about who pays premium.

        What I have now~ A family floater Health Insurance (4 lacs) for myself and my sister~ as per current IT rules Tax exemption can not be claimed for premium paid for siblings.

        So, we want separate health policies for us.

        My question~ This family floater policy is claim free this year.
        If we buy Health Insurance individually from another company, can we claim no-claim bonus based on this policy?

        1. Dear Indian Engineer, Till this point after discussing with you, I understand that you want to go for individual policies for both of you. Health Insurance portability is there but as far as I know, it’s not possible to port a family floater policy in 2 individual policies to a new insurer.

          For the given condition, first try to get individual policies from the existing insurer with the pre existing illness benefit in tact. Once such policies are active, then only you may go for porting of insurance to a new insurer.

          Thanks

          Ashal

  2. Indian_Engineer says:

    The Standard option is normal health insurance ~ not much to explain. (Life long renewal, etc).

    The restore option is offering something more;

    As Medimanage website explains (http://www.medimanage.com/health-insurance-experts-blog/post/2011/12/19/Apollo-Munich-Optima-Restore-Health-Insurance-Review.aspx),

    That website says;

    “Here’s an important point, contributed by one of our readers , which brings more clarity on the Let’s consider following cases with a family floater policy of 5L SA. All cases are for same policy year. AM stands for Apollo Munich.

    1) I get an illness A, cost 3L, get claim. I get an illness B, and cost is 4L. I get 2L from AM and rest 2L from my pocket. No restore, as I had not exhausted my 5L after illness A.

    2) I get an illness A, cost 3L, get claim. Other family member get an illness A/B, and cost is 4L. I get 2L from AM and rest 2L from my pocket. No restore, as I had not exhausted my 5L after illness A.”

    “The medical insurance policy offers a whopping 50% No Claim Bonus (yes, you read it right: 50%) on the basic sum insured. This means, if you have an Optima Restore policy, with a sum insured of Rs. 5 Lakhs, if you don’t claim in the first year, your sum insured will grow by 50% next year to Rs. 7.5 Lakhs. What’s more there is no loading for claims, only your bonus will reduce by 50% of basic sum insured”

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    For 3 lakhs sum assured the difference is almost 1000.

  3. Dear Indian Engineer, the policy from ICICI is from ICICI Pru or ICICI Lombard? Please do post some details also of this policy.

    Thanks

    Ashal

  4. Abhi C says:

    Apollo is a very good option for younger people and those with no particular medical history.You can go forward with porting your policy.Remember that u should notify Apollo atleast 45 days before your current policy expires.

    You should go for an individual policy for the two of you if you can afford a slightly higher premium.
    As far as optima restore is concerned it is a good product but you should know that the restore facility is available only on any new illness or any illness to some other member in the policy.

    I would suggest you to go for a higher sum assured APOLLO EASY STANDARD policy for the both of you.Choose a big enough sum assured so tht it will keep u covered adequately in the future too.

    Lastly i would suggest you to have a good advisor who will assist you in claims etc.I recommend MEDIMANAGE.COM
    I have had a good experience with them and the handle your policy a whole 360 degrees.

  5. Abhi C says:

    Both apollo standard and optima restore are very good options for younger people and those with no current or past ailments.As in your case u donot have any claim history,apollo is a better choice.

    You can get the bonus as enhanced sum assured in your new policy,dont worry.

    Just remember that the restore facility in optima restore is available only for any new illness contracted or illness to another member (in case of floater).

    Go for a comprehensive sum assured so that i will cover you asequately in future

    An important thing to have is a good HEALTH INSURANCE ADVISOR who can help u in claim handling etc..
    I would recommend MEDIMANAGE.COM
    Iv personally had a very good experince

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