Health cover – hunt for better options
August 26, 2015
With rising premiums, it’s time to look at ways of reducing your insurance costs Health insurance policies have become expensive. After the 2013 regulations, when IRDAI made life-long renewal in health policies compulsory and barred insurers from loading on renewal premium of individuals after a claim, health insurers have revised premium rates. In some cases, premiums have gone up by 20-25 per cent. While the new regulations are welcome, many policyholders are not able to cope with the higher premium costs Discontinuing the policy will not be wise. Here are some suggestions to lower your insurance costs: Port to another insurer If you do not want to continue with your old policy, you can switch to another insurer. Regulations allow
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Loopholes in maternity plans
August 26, 2015
Maternity riders usually have waiting periods and don’t cover all contingencies If you believe you are fully covered for maternity expenses through your health insurance plan, think again. Despite all the product innovation that the health insurance space has witnessed, loopholes continue to exist in the maternity plans offered to women. Unusually long waiting period Insurance companies say that maternity is not an illness, and expect you to plan for it. Well, that’s the underlying philosophy behind the waiting period clause which is typically stretched to between two and six years for such policies. For instance, maternity expenses incurred before and after child birth procedures are covered under Apollo Munich’s Easy Health Individual Premium after a period of six years.
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Banks planning a common portal for education loans
August 26, 2015
Students securing admission to recognized higher educational institutions will no longer have to run from pillar to post to get education loans. Banks are planning to provide them a common online platform to streamline the loan application and sanctioning process. The Indian Banks’ Association, on behalf of banks, has engaged a third party service provider for setting up and maintaining the online platform/portal, said a senior Central Bank of India official.. Mapping of colleges Once the portal is up and running, all that a student will need to do is upload details of the admission and make an online loan application to two-three bank branches that have been mapped to each NAAC (National Assessment and Accreditation Council) recognized higher educational
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All you wanted to know about… Real Estate Regulation Bill
August 26, 2015
Ever wondered why stocks, mutual funds and insurance investments are all regulated to death, but not property purchases? Well, that’s what the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Bill, seeks to do. Last week, a Parliamentary panel submitted a crucial report on the Bill to the Rajya Sabha. What is it? The Bill seeks to set up a regulatory framework that will govern contracts between real estate buyers and sellers. So far, home buyers were forced to take what they got from builders — one-sided contract terms, delays running into years, cost escalations, arbitrary changes to the plan — you name it. But this bill proposes to put a stop to such practices by setting up of Real Estate Regulatory Authorities
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All you wanted to know about investor education funds
August 26, 2015
Recently, the SEBI chairman expressed his displeasure at half-hearted attempts by some fund houses on conducting investor awareness programmes. But not just SEBI, but other regulators such the RBI and Ministry of Corporate Affairs also require their constituents such as banks, companies and the stock exchanges to do their bit towards educating and protecting investors. What is it? Most institutions which deal with public money are required by law to chip in with investor awareness initiatives. For starters, the NSE and BSE both operate Investor Protection Funds which are funded by contributions from their members (Rs. 15 per Rs.1 crore of gross turnover) and a part of the listing fees and security deposits collected by the exchanges. Two, the MCA
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