subject: What if your agent is not a good one? [print this page] Picture this: Aman (27), decided to buy for himself and for his parents a health insurance policy. The next step was to understand which policy would best suit all three of them. He decided to take the help of an insurance agent who could guide him with buying the policy which would take care of the health needs of his parents along with his own.
Aman was told by a particular agent to buy a certain policy, and he accepted the suggestion. But a few months later, Aman's mother, who is a diabetes patient suffered, and she needed immediate hospitalization. After the treatment, when Aman approached the agent with claims, the agent bluntly told him that diabetes, being a pre-existing disease was not payable. Doom!Aman had to pay the huge amount from his own pocket. He regretted buying his policy from an agent who did not inform him of the necessary details associated with the policy.
The picture above does not look pleasant, and if you want to avert seeing yourself in a position like this, make sure the agent who you buy your health insurance policy from, is genuine, knowledgeable and proactive in helping you.
What if your agent is not a good one?
You will be ill-advised and you will end up buying the wrong policy. Moreover, youmay forget your policy renewal date, andmay not be able to decipher the complex policy wordings, terms and conditions. And all these problems can eventually lead to your claims being rejected.Hence, the help of a good agent always comes handy in matters pertaining to Health Insurance. Here are some of the things you need to look for, in a good agent-
Doyou want to change your Health Insurance Agent/Broker.
Information:
For instance, in the above case, Aman's broker could have informed him that pre-existing diseases like diabetes, heart diseases etc are not payable until a certain waiting period has been reached and hence, his mother may not be covered. This piece of information was extremely crucial for Aman's family's health insurance needs.
Suggestions:
The agent must be always ready to suggest different health products as per your needs and suitability. Again, going by the above case, the agent should have suggested that Aman buy two policies, one of which can be a Family floater policy that covers all three, him (25, his mother (55) and his father (60) and another separate policy that can only cover Aman's mother, as in the latter policy her diabetes can be covered fromalesser waiting period. This is what a good agent would do he would suggest!
Knowledge:
Again, a good insurance agent should also be a knowledgeable one. He must know everything about the particular policy and must also be knowledgeable about matters of health. For instance, if you want to undergo cosmetic dentistry, your agent should be able to tell you if or not it is covered, and if not, then why. He should also know as to how the particular policy that is suited to you, differs from the same kind of policy offered by a competitor health insurance company.
Genuine:
A good agent is a genuine person, who can inform you everything about the policy you are to buy and does not hide any such thing that can create problems for you when the time comes to claim. For instance, if the agent would have informed Aman about the waiting period for pre-existing diseases in the policy, Aman would have opted for another policy. Similarly, a genuine agent must tell you about the waiting period for specific diseases, he must tell you about the exclusions as well as the fine prints, so that you remain completely aware of the policy that you are taking.
Proactive:
A good insurance agent will be the one who would ensure that he reminds you of your policy renewal date, in case you are out of town and cannot make it in time for the payment of the premium on the renewal date and suffer the termination of policy. To know more about Why you need a good Health Insurance agent?
