This is what worried public rushed to do in times of Coronavirus lockdown

Coronavirus has taken over 170,000 lives worldwide and there is no sign of things getting better so far. In India, over 600 people have died due to the pandemic and nearly 19,000 patients are reported to be infected. Under such circumstances everybody is worried not only about getting infected but also about the treatment costs. In this situation, after understanding the implications of catching coronavirus, people have rushed to buying a health insurance policy related to this novel disease to ensure they do not face a financial-cum-medical emergency at the same time.

According to online insurance aggregator Policybazaar.com, the demand for health insurance policies has surged by 30% and around 20% in life insurance after the lockdown due to spread of coronavirus pandemic.

In an interaction, Amit Chhabra, Head- Health Insurance, Policybazaar.com said that there is definitely a very-very significant jump in uptake towards buying insurance because a lot of people who were earlier not buying insurance or procrastinating to buy insurance are now realising what will happen if they get infected with coronavirus.

Chhabra further said, "People think that nothing will happen to them and that they can buy it later also...But I think what happened due to COVID-19 is that people now are very very scared. They want to have insurance so that at least they are financially secured even if their savings get impacted."

Because of this tough situation policy buyers want to ensure that at least their health is safeguarded if they get infected with coronavirus and that there are no large out of pocket expenses.

Policybazaar.com official also said that companies are turning to telemedicine to obviate the need for a medical check-up before selling policies as it is not possible for a physical examination due to the lockdown. So medical check-up is happening through telemedicine, over the phone or video calls where the doctors ask basic questions. Basis this, they are able to judge the health of the customer and accordingly a policy is issued.

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Notably, the insurance regulator Irdai has already directed all health insurance providers to cover COVID-19 as well. 
(With PTI inputs)