Tailor health insurance riders to your family's medical history

Understand exclusions in each rider to avoid surprises at the time of claim

- KARTHIK JEROME & BINDISHA SARANG

A growing number of health insurance customers are nowadays supplementing their base health insurance policies with riders.

According to insurance aggregator Policybazaar.com, while only 15 per cent of customers purchased riders on their platform in 2022-23 (FY23), the number rose to 60 per cent in FY24.

A rider is a supplementary cover which can be purchased with the base policy by paying an additional premium. "Riders allow customers to extend the scope of coverage and customise their plans to suit their individual needs," says Bhaskar Nerurkar, head-health administration team, Bajaj Allianz General Insurance.

Sum insured bonus: In a normal policy, if the customer does not make a claim, the insurer offers a no-claim bonus and increases the sum insured by 10 to 20 per cent each year. "By buying this rider, you can fast track the bonus amount and enhance the sum insured by, say, 100 per cent each year, up to 500 per cent," says Siddharth Singhal, business headhealth insurance, Policybazaar.com. The bonus accrues even if the customer makes a claim.