I am following up with JagoInvestor and believe this is best resource for Insurance. I am monitoring multiple threads, which compelled me put my questions in forum for guidance.
I’ve recently changed my company and working as a consultant now, which means my company is not providing any health insurance. My age is 33 years. I am looking for a family insurance (wife and 2-1/2 yr old son).
I almost finalised…
– Max Bupa Heartbeat Gold
The primary reason was maternity benefit, but if I remove maternity benefit then I like Apollo Munich Optima Restore as most of the benefits are almost same. However after researching more, I got some points where I need your advice…
- If I take Max Bupa Heartbeat Gold today, and after 3-4 years, if I want to switch to Max Bupa Health Companion plan, is it possible? What I found out with research and some reviews changing the plan with less benefits like excluding maternity etc is very tedious and not recommended. Based on some review, they reset all the benefits like waiting period etc as switch is internal rather than from different company. Heartbeat plan is almost 7k costlier than health companion and I don’t think it makes sense to pay life-long extra premium when I may be planning for 1 more kid. Also they only max 50k for delivery.
- Shelling out 50k from own pocket is not a very big deal, so shall I look out for non-maternity benefit plan. What about (1) Max Bupa Health Companion (2) Apollo Munich Optima Restore. Based on my research I find these 2 plans comparable in all the aspects including premium. I’m not getting Max Bupa Health Companion listed on policy bazaar (or any other site) for comparison, so this is my own opinion based on brochure reading. Can I get a help in deciding better policy between these two.
- Reviews and rating is better for Max Bupa on Mouthshut. Also I see company response for most of the complains. So I am making an impression that Max Bupa guys are responsive. I didn’t see a single response from Apollo Munich. Number of reviews are more for Max, also they’re 25% positive reviews, but I don’t see a single positive review for Apollo.
- This may be a additional policy for me, as I may be join another company as full-time employee or open my own venture. But nothing is decided yet. So please advice from long term perspective, as I see switching policies in case of bad experience is not hassle free.
- What should be the ideal insurance amount. Based on some threads, recommendation are to go minimum 10L by age 45. So shall I start with 5L and increase it later.
1. Dont look at maternity benefits as your primary criteria to choose health insurance policy . Its a one time benefit which should not make you compromise on the main benefits . Maternity expenses are something which happens once or twice in life and that you can bear yourself . Rather look at more important things ..
2. Its better to buy the policy which is for long term and dont think of switching from one to another .