Like most things in life, there are two sides to the rains as well — it can be both romantic and distressing. Going in for an insurance policy before the rains is an idea worth exploring
Remember July 26, 2005? While Mumbai has been lucky enough to not have a repeat of the infamous day’s events, the monsoon continues to induce feelings of unpredictability and, by extension, anxiety.
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Mumbai monsoon special: Reign in the rains
Although this is no foolproof plan, opting for an insurance policy before the rains set in is a good idea. “The market functions on the policy that anything can be insured,” says Dr Manohar Kamath, secretary, Consumer Guidance Society of India. “Even cricket matches are insured today,” he adds.
Opting to insure the gaming console, mobile and the laptop is a good way to protect gadgets from the rains
Going in for a personal accident policy before the rains is a good idea as chances of slipping at home or on the road and getting grievously injured is more of a possibility, says Dr Kamath. “There are policies for electrical appliances but water has to seep into the appliance, causing it to malfunction, to claim the insurance money” he says.
Sanjay Datta, Chief — Underwriting and Claims, ICICI Lombard General Insurance, explains that while there may not be insurance policies specifically targeted for the monsoon, there are policies which safeguard products from problems that may be monsoon-related. “People have insured artworks and highly valuable goods like expensive gadgets,” he adds.
Although yet to hit India, it is common practice abroad to go in for pet insurance during the monsoons, says Manoj Aswani, COO, MyInsuranceClub.com. “Video game consoles (X box, PS, etc) and game DVD or cartridges, old liquor or wine bottles and so on are also insured abroad,” he adds.
Aswani also suggests going in for health insurance, mobile and laptop insurance. “Diseases like malaria, diarrhea, viral fever, cholera and typhoid are very common during the season,” elaborates Aswani. “A mobile phone has become one of the most expensive purchases for every individual but we skip the part of insuring the smartphone. Insurance covers for our expensive mobile phones and laptops are available at really low premiums,” he explains.
“Every general insurance company offers home insurance to cover our household valuables,” continues Aswani. “In addition to the standard furniture and white goods, most houses will have a lot of expensive items such as the LED TV, Home theatre system, expensive lights, iPad, fitness equipment and so on. Hence buying home insurance becomes more important to ensure that we don’t take a financial hit if any of these devices are damaged.”
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