GENERAL INSURANCE BLOG

Yoga is considered one of the oldest forms of physical exercise in the history of the world. While its origins seem Indian, yoga is practiced globally by people of different ethnicities and cultures. It helps you keep your body flexible, develop a more robust immune system, and bring a certain sense of discipline to your life. The various asanas and forms in yoga ensure that your body and mind work synchronously. It also regulates low-stress levels, induces better sleep quality, decreases blood pressure, heals current ailments, and benefits mental health issues like anxiety, depression, and much more.

There are many advantages of inculcating the habit of practicing yoga daily in your lifestyle. But everything comes with its risks. You must strictly adhere to the methodologies and procedures while performing various asanas to avoid unwanted accidents. Lack of proper understanding and implementation of the instructions can cause more harm to your body than expected.

Here are some common yoga injuries and the ways to fix them.

1. Be careful about your shoulders and knees:
Some of the most frequent yoga injuries include repetitive stress in the shoulders resulting in strain, chronic pain, or dislocation (ball and socket joint issues). Although the latter happens in extreme cases, strain and chronic pain can cause massive discomfort in your day-to-day activities. The muscle injuries in the shoulder area can be caused by overstretching too.

2. Neck pain can be frustrating:
Yoga postures like headstands and shoulder stands can cause severe neck injuries if not performed carefully or under supervision. Such poses can even put your vertebrae under extreme pressure, eventually leading to excruciating pain, compression, and flexibility issues. You might also face joint issues and muscle spasms, which can cause soreness and problems with your neck movement.

3. Save yourself from back problems:
When done incorrectly, yoga can cause discomfort in your lower back. You might stress your back even more while performing your daily chores. This might substantially elevate your back issues, leading to pain, spinal cord problems, movement restrictions, hip issues, disc problems in worse situations, etc.
Since your lower back is connected to significant movements in your upper or lower body, even the slightest task, such as stretching, can become a huge pain point in case of lower back troubles due to yoga injuries.

Now that we have discussed some common injuries, let’s discuss how we can fix them. Avoid putting excessive pressure on your body to perform a particular yoga posture. While it is essential to push your body to its limits, you need to draw a line and understand when it’s time to pull back. Use blankets or a yoga mat to significantly reduce the pressure from your lower back during seated yoga positions.

Perform the yoga postures in stages, so you don’t end up overstretching your shoulders. Avoid pulling too hard and take a breather whenever required. You can wear kneecaps to support your knees while performing the asanas. Again, perform such postures in stages. Make your body familiar with the pressure you might experience. Always ensure to let your body a little loose once you are done with your yoga session. You should include warm-down exercises to relax your body after heavy yoga/workout.

We all understand the importance of yoga and how it helps us stay fit and healthy, thus paving the path for a smoother life. But certain situations are out of your control and can endanger your or your loved ones’ health. Purchasing health insurance is crucial to safeguard yourself against such circumstances and face the problem instead of worrying about financial distress. You can explore all your options available in the market from the comfort of your home with an array of digital options. You can buy health insurance online India to cater to your needs in the best way possible.

Click HERE to know more about how you can buy health insurance online India.

Disclaimer: The information provided above is for illustrative purposes only. To get more details, please refer to policy wordings and prospectus before purchasing a policy.

Organ transplant is a process where we replace a malfunctioning organ with a healthy one from a fit donor. With the advancement of medical science and the introduction of state-of-art technologies, we can go for transplants of vital organs such as the liver, kidney, heart, etc. But these life-saving transplants come with heavy costs ranging between 1-2 lakhs to 30-35 lakhs of rupees!

Health insurance providers have started offering policies covering organ transplants to meet such heavy expenditures. You read it right! Let us look into such policies in detail.

1. Coverage:
Two parties are involved in organ transplants: the organ receiver and its donor. Health insurance companies will cover the cost of various tests, hospitalisation expenditure, cost of surgery, and other related procedures vital for an organ transplant of the receiver. However, there are restrictions on coverage with regard to donor expenses.
The insurance policy will cover the in-patient hospitalisation charges of the donor. But it does not cover expenses regarding medical screening, storage or transportation of the organ, and pre and post-hospitalisation charges that the donor may incur in the process. Coverage for the above costs is subject to the sum insured and cannot exceed that.

2. Types of costs:
You should be aware of the types of costs that you will incur during an organ transplant. The first cost to bear is organ screening. The hospital will check the condition of the donor's organ.
The donor will incur pre-hospitalisation costs for medicines and different tests. Then hospitalisation expenses, including room charges, doctor fees, nursing expenditures, etc., will be considered. Post all these initial formalities and screenings; the actual surgery can be performed.
Post-surgery complications often arise, and there might be a need to bear additional hospital and doctor fees, medical expenditures, etc. The donor's post-surgery expenses, such as doctor follow-up, medication, etc., are also to be considered.

3. Waiting and survival period:
A health insurance policyholder with organ transplant coverage cannot raise a claim for the initial few days after buying the policy. Such policies usually come with a waiting period of 90 days to even 2-3 years from the policy's inception, after which a claim for an organ transplant can be raised. This waiting time may vary from one policy to another as per their respective terms and conditions.

4. Guiding Act:
The "Transplantation of Human Organs Act (THOA) 1994" is the guiding act for all organ transplants in India. It guides the removal, storage, and transplantation process of human organs. Any health insurance service provider will not cover your organ transplant claim if it violates any of the provisions of this law. Also, your claim will be rejected if the organ transplant is done for commercial dealings or smuggling activities of human organs.

Saving a life by donating or receiving an organ is a fortunate incident, and having the right insurance plan can make the experience less daunting. We recommend that online health insurance is the best way to invest in organ transplantation coverage. Buying the policy online will allow you to study and compare various policies that provide such coverage per our convenience and requirements.

Organ transplantation is an expensive process, and making haste decisions can land you in unwanted trouble. Go through each policy's terms and conditions in detail before making your final decision.

You should also ask for a detailed break-up of the recipient and donor expenses from the hospital before going for an organ transplant. This will give you a fair idea of what expenditure will be excluded from your insurance policy coverage and what will be its financial implication.

Click HERE to buy an online health insurance policy.

Disclaimer: The information provided above is for illustrative purposes only. To get more details, please refer to policy wordings and prospectus before purchasing a policy.

AI has evolved tremendously over recent years, and its impact can be seen in every sector of the economy. The car insurance sector is also touched by AI and is all set to revolutionise it. Data modelling and machine learning applications are changing the insurance process and customer experience. Its role is increasing in car inspection, claim processing, and car insurance renewal.

Let us see how AI is set to revolutionise the car insurance sector in detail.

1. Car Insurance renewal:
Policyholders must upload photos and videos of their cars from all angles on a cloud-based app. No human assistance is required in this process on the insurance company's end because of AI. Computers evaluate the condition of the car, quote the premium amount accordingly and process the renewal.
AI is helping companies to save millions of rupees as their manpower requirement for the insurance renewal process has gone down drastically. Also, it is helping to save a lot of valuable time for companies and customers by making the renewal process swift and streamlined.

2. Claim processing:
AI is also set to revolutionise the processing of claims in the car insurance sector. Currently, claim management and processing are primarily manual. It takes a lot of time and is prone to errors and inefficiencies. This process is known to eat up around 50%-80% of the revenues generated by premiums.
Machines and computers need sufficient learning data and algorithms to master claims processing. AI can be used for initial claims routing, thorough inspection, and assessing the nature of damage and time for repairs. It can save several hours in processing every individual claim.
More importantly, AI can detect fraudulent claims, a major revenue drainer for every insurance company. AI can help to detect out-of-the-ordinary behaviour and claims coming for processing, which sometimes normal eyes can fail to detect. Some AI-based applications are capable of running background checks on customers coming for insurance claims. The insurance company can assess the risks associated with a respective customer or business.

3. Telematics-based insurance plans:
AI has enabled car insurance companies to offer telematics-based insurance plans to their customers. A "Pay-as-you-drive" plan can be used to charge premiums for insurance plans according to the number of kilometres a customer drives over time. AI can also assess driving style and behaviour of the drivers and charge premiums accordingly.
Thus, AI can be a revolutionising tool for "Pay-how-you-drive" plans and help companies to offer sophisticated and need-based plans to their customers. Such plans can help an insurance company to increase its clientele and profitability.

4. Competitive premiums:
AI can be very helpful in tracking the premiums charged by competitors for their car insurance plans in real time. A car insurance provider can accordingly charge a lower premium or offer a better car insurance price in India to the customers and ensure that the do not go away to the competitors.

The adoption of AI by insurers will be an essential criterion for companies to bring down their car insurance price in India. The insurance companies will pass on the savings due to AI to their customers, who will eventually benefit. Companies that do not adopt AI in the near future will be laggards, and competition will take over them.

Click HERE to get the best car insurance price in India for all your needs.

Disclaimer: The information provided above is for illustrative purposes only. To get more details, please refer to policy wordings and prospectus before purchasing a policy.

Personal information is an asset that one must safeguard at all costs. In the olden days, identity theft was limited to misrepresentation by misuse of a person's name and identity, but in the modern world, its implications are far more severe.

In the era of digitalisation, where a person's identity proofs are linked to their bank accounts and other financial databases, it is easy for a criminal to wreak havoc with a stolen identity. The most vulnerable personal identities generally stolen include social media accounts, PAN, Aadhar, email, and bank details.

While different kinds of thefts and infringements are often discussed, identity theft insurance in India is an under-discussed topic that few are aware of. It is essential to protect oneself from such contingent threats using adequate insurance. In the backdrop of a crisis, they play a vital role in recouping losses.

If you suspect that your identity has been impersonated, here are the steps you must take immediately.

1. Identify the violation:
The first step after discovering that there seems to be some misuse of your information is to determine the extent of unauthorised action. Once you have identified the broad area, which may be one of the following- credit, taxes, or government benefits fraud, amongst others, try to identify the source of misuse of information.

2. Notify appropriate authorities:
While you can trace the source of misuse by jogging your memory, it is often infeasible. Even if you can trace the origin, your immediate action should be to notify the concerned authorities of the fraud details. This means that there will be a different concerned authority to approach each type of identity misuse.
For example, you should notify the Department of Telecommunications if your documents have been used to register for a SIM card. For cybercrimes or online fraud, you should approach the cybercrime police department. Similarly, you should immediately notify your bank to stop the payments in case you witness any unauthorised bank transactions.

3. Identify the extent of the damage:
Once you have identified and reported the problem, it is time to find the damage incurred. You may simplify this by checking your bank statements and any financial databases by scrutinising any recent transactions that appear to be unordinary and unauthorised by you.

4. File for damages:
Once you have a general estimate of the amount of loss incurred, you can file a lawsuit under the existing laws in India that provide relief against such fraud after fulfilling the conditions. A lawyer's aid can help handle the case legally.

While these are the steps you can take after realising the theft of your identity, here are some precautionary measures to ensure that your confidential data is not breached.

● Never save passwords:
While saving passwords to your accounts provides convenience during login, it also increases your susceptibility to fraudsters looking for opportunities to steal your information.

● Do not use unreliable sites:
One must always be careful when sharing basic details or banking information on any site, especially for new or unrecognisable sites. Do your due diligence before taking on such risks to ascertain its authenticity.

● Utilise multiple authentications:
Most sites now offer 2-factor and 3-factor authentication to secure your account. Ensure that you optimise such facilities to keep your accounts and data safe.

● Dispose of physical copies of identification:
It is common for most official processes to require the submission of physical copies of original identification records. Ensure that the printer and receiver get rid of the documents immediately after the official use if fulfilled.

● Purchase identity theft insurance:
While it is not so common, it is ideal to purchase theft insurance in India to protect yourself from identity theft in case the need arises.

The constant development of technology brings convenience to our lives while opening new windows for mischievous minds to scam people and make profits. Always have the mindset to follow the above preventive measures to minimise or eliminate identity theft threats. And don't forget to have the best theft insurance in India for your rescue if you find yourself trapped in a fraud or compromised identity.

Click HERE to buy the best theft insurance in India.

Disclaimer: The information provided above is for illustrative purposes only. To get more details, please refer to policy wordings and prospectus before purchasing a policy.