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Things You Should Know Before You Buy a Family Floater

Things You Should Know Before You Buy a Family Floater

​​Health insurance has become an important investment for everyone today, given the rising medical costs and the growing need for financial security to navigate health issues wi​th ease.

A wide variety of health insurance plans are available in India to cater to individuals' varying coverage needs. A family floater health insurance plan allows you to get coverage for the entire family (spouse, children and parents) under the same policy.

You can easily buy family floater health insurance online using any insurer’s website. However, before you buy the best family floater health insurance of your choice, you must learn the right tips for analysing the different policies and providers of family floater plans available.

To help you make an informed decision, answer these questions to compare different plans and assess which one best meets your and your family's requirements.

Questions to Consider to Find Best Floater Health Insurance

What is the Basic Health Coverage?

​To compare the different health insuranc​e policies, you must first assess your and your family’s needs. With that assessment, you must make a list of basic policy inclusions offered by different insurance providers.

In general, most family floater health insurance plans offer basic health coverage for accidents, ambulance charges, in-patient treatments, daycare treatments and others.

In addition to the basic inclusions, you can look for specific coverages. For example, if you are planning for a child, you can explore coverage like maternity care, insurance for newborn babies in your basic health insurance plan, etc.

Can You Upgrade Your Policy’s Sum Insured?

The requirement for the sum insured can change from time to time depending on the changing health needs and concerns of the family members insured under the same plan. Thus, you must assess insurers based on the flexibility they offer to increase your base policy sum insured value during your policy tenure.

This is crucial as it will help you ensure you are well-protected with the best family floater health insurance to manage the rising medical costs and unforeseen illnesses or diseases.

What are the Additional Benefits Available Offered by Insurers?

Other than what the family floater health insurance plan covers, you must also compare and assess the additional benefits offered by the insurer to enhance customer experience. These benefits can include online customer support, online processes, claim convenience, add-on riders like critical illness, consumables cover and more.

Based on these additional benefits, you can choose a plan that best aligns with your family’s needs without overspending your budget or compromising on quality healthcare. For a better comparison, you can also use a health insurance premium calculator to compare different premiums and policy inclusions.

What is the Maximum Age of Renewing the Policy?

The need for proper medical care increases with age. Therefore, it is important to find out what is the maximum age covered by your policy.

While many policies offer policy renewal facilities until 60-65 years, nowadays, some family floater health insurance policies offer a lifelong renewal facility. Thus, you must ensure you have ample financial coverage, regardless of your age.

What is the Maximum Number of Claims Mentioned in Your Policy?

Getting the required financial support is not the only priority. You must also find out whether ​your policy offers claims based on the maximum number of claims made in a year or maximum amount of claims made in a year.

Try to choose the best floater health insurance for families in India, which clearly states the limit of maximum amount of claim instead of number of claims. However, ensure the maximum claim amount is equivalent to the promised base sum insured of the policy.

What is the Claim Procedure?

Generally, all health insurance providers follow a similar claim process, as stated by insurance regulator IRDAI. However, there might be slight differences in some or the other aspects of each company’s functionality.

Accordingly, the services of these companies may also vary. Thus, before buying any family floater health insurance policy in India, make it a point to understand the company’s claim filing and settlement process to choose the one that offers online convenience for maximum efficiency.

Is There Any Customisation Flexibility?

In addition to everything that the family floater health insurance plan covers, you must also check for the availability of customisation and the range of add-ons offered by an insurer with their policy.​

This is crucial as it allows you to combine more coverage with your base policy for individual needs. For instance, coverage for doctor consultations, second opinions, home treatments, etc., can add value to your base policy and keep your health and finances in check.

What is Not Covered in Your Policy?

Before buying family floater​ policies in India, read through the policy document to understand the exclusions. Like policy coverage, it is also very important to assess your policy exclusions to choose a plan that offers maximum coverage for your needs.

Also, you must understand the clauses mentioned in the policy, such as waiting period, free-look in period, coverage for pre-existing diseases, terms & conditions, etc., to file for the necessary claims without the hassle of rejections or unnecessary delays.

What are the Market Reviews About the Chosen Policy and Insurer?

After your thorough research and understanding of different family floater policies based on the inclusions, exclusions, add-ons and sum insured, you need to check the insurer’s market image and performance to make the final decision.

Read online reviews of previous customers and check for market performance statistics and recent years' claim settlement ratios to make an informed decision regarding the best floater health insurance and the insurer.

Are AYUSH Treatment Benefits Covered?

Home remedies and age-old medicinal rituals have been a significant part of Indian culture. However, with time, the popularity of such treatments is rising, and thus, you must ensure you have the necessary coverage for AYUSH treatment under your chosen family floater plan.

AYUSH treatments include all health treatments related to Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy.

Easy Tips to Buy Family Floater Health Insurance

  1. Compare premiums using an online health insurance premium calculator for accurate estimates.

  2. Pay attention to the policy inclusions and ensure the chosen plan covers your needs.

  3. Choose comprehensive coverage so you can benefit from added peace of mind in case of any family medical emergency.

  4. Check for customer support to ensure your queries are resolved in a timely manner.

  5. Buy a family floater as early as possible for better premium quotes, as younger ages enjoy lower premiums.

  6. Be mindful of add-ons and choose only the ones you require to avoid paying for unnecessary coverage.

  7. Review the claim settlement ratio to ensure you choose an insurer that promises quick and efficient claim settlements.

Conclusion

Choosing the best floater health insurance requires dedicated consideration and comparison. By following these tips to buy floater health insurance for your coverage needs, you can avoid significant financial and mental burdens in times of need.

Prioritising your and your family's health is the need of the hour, and thus, you must spend time understanding your needs and planning accordingly. Explore different health insurance policies offered by Reliance General Insurance to avail yourself of comprehensive coverage that meets your needs with competitive premiums.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is there an age limit for parents to add them to a family floater health insurance plan?

There is no strict age limit when purchasing family floater plans. However, it is recommended to only include parents or individuals around the age of 65. Anyone above this age should be covered with an individual policy for extensive coverage.

For instance, you can buy a Reliance Critical Illness Health Insurance plan for your senior parents to avail necessary coverage for specific medical conditions.

Should the network of hospitals be an important consideration when choosing a family floater plan?

Previously, the insurer’s network hospitals were integral as they permitted the benefit of cashless claims. However, now, with the new “Cashless Anywhere” announcement by IRDAI, you can avail of a cashless claim benefit at any hospital in India without any hassle.

Having said that, the claim settlement process is smoother at a network hospital compared to a non-ne​twork hospital.