Q: I am working for a multinational company. We are having full medical insurance. My wife and children are also covered under the policy. I am planning to bring in my mother-in-law for Haj. She will be staying here for at least three months. Our insurance company informed us that they cannot provide cover to her. How can we get her covered for medical expenses? A: Most of the insurance companies do not cover parents or people other than the wife and children of members. There is also a restriction in getting the coverage for visitors. However, there are other options but these are a bit expensive and will not give adequate coverage. The best option available to you will be to check with insurers in her home country. They will have medical coverage under their specific policies to cater to overseas travelers. The title of the coverage may differ like overseas health insurance, overseas medical insurance or overseas medi-claim, international, visitors etc. It is cheaper and you can get adequate coverage. Other option available to you is to buy standard travel insurance with adequate medical coverage. There are different packages available depending on the sum insured and the length of stay. Plan her stay first and then try to buy the cover for her accordingly. Q: I had purchased a brand new Lexus and got it insured under comprehensive insurance. Last month the car roof got damaged as I was entering a parking area. My claim was denied by the insurer on the ground that it was not an accident and that the damaged occurred due to my negligence. Later on I requested them to cancel the policy and refund the premium. They refused my request, saying I have a claim in the policy. A: Lack of right interpretation of the policy conditions is one of the major problems insurers face. Unfortunately, the victim is the client. The claims personnel might have interpreted the word “collision” in their favor and denied the claim. The insurer system shows that a claim is lodged against your policy, hence under normal circumstances the technical personnel will refuse to refund any premium to you. Your claim was not paid to you, hence you are definitely entitled to get a refund on short-period scale. In such a situation you should press your case and talk to the right person, especially the branch manager or regional manager and if necessary give in writing that you do not intend to pursue your claim. Also in future please make sure that you buy Comprehensive All Risks Policy for your car. * Shujaath Ahmed Khan, an MBA, General Manager, Creative Associates is also a consultant and an expert in Insurance, Investments and Real Estate. He can be contacted at [email protected], website-www.creativeassociates.blogspot.com. __
