Team-BHP - Car insurance to be dearer from April?

"Buying general insurance such as health, motor or property cover could get expensive from April. The finance ministry has asked the national reinsurer, General Insurance Corporation (GIC), to stop underwriting loss-making businesses. The government has also said if insurers take on loss-making businesses, they should bear the risk in their books or increase premium rates."

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I saw this today morning, and was really amused.

Quote:

According to the regulator IRDA’s annual report for 2010-11, among the various segments, motor insurance and health insurance had high claims ratios at 103% and 100%, respectively.

The health related cost went up JUST because of their entry in to this segment. :Frustrati

This was one shocker of the news this morning, especially the medical insurance, as that one could need any-day, and is generally more expensive if god forbid something happens. This could also mean companies might cut Insurance expenses to cover elderly parents of employees or make that as an optional, worse still they might reduce the coverage for some illness.

Any one else has more information as to what would be the impact on Health Insurance?

Regarding Health Insurance,
It is a well known fact that doctors overcharge when they know that the patient is insured. They increase their already high fees by almost 2x sometimes. So, basically, we will now be paying more more in premiums due to the greed of Doctors.

Note: This is not a personal attact against Doctors, and not a generalization towards the medical community as well. This is just a post reflecting reality.

Regarding Motor Insurance,
with cost of spares going up, this was bound to happen. Also, increasingly, cars are now going to official service centres where getting insurance claim becomes hassle free, thus more and more people are now claiming insurance.

Well, it would help if the insurance industry came of age. Their basis for calculating premium is inherently flawed. Consider these insured customers.

Lets assume that both the following cars cost the same (we can take a base Laura & a more equipped Altis if you please).

1. A Skoda Laura with expensive body parts driven by a person with 3 years of driving experience (including 2 major accidents)

2. A Toyota Corolla with relatively cheaper body parts driven by a person with 25 years of driving experience and no major accidents.

Why do they cost the same to insure!! In more developed markets, your insurance premium is determined by:

- The car you drive (how expensive it is to repair, the probability of theft etc.)

- Your driving record

- Your driving experience

Don't forget, a lot of us honest folk end up paying higher premiums because of the scamsters out there. Maintaining accurate records could help toward solving that problem.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jalsa777 (Post 2687233)

You are very true! The hospitals in Bangalore charge over-the-sky rates! And that's just because they know the IT professionals [lion share] can afford as they are insured already.

Rather than hiking the premiums, I would expect the insurance companies to bring in strong riders so that the hospitals can't charge anything abnormal. In that way no one will be able to exploit employees by over charging. When the insurance companies hike premiums, it's only the employees who suffer, hospitals will continue to make merry!