Bajaj Allianz, CARE launch insurance for tsunami survivors

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For the first time in India, aid agency CARE International and insurance company Bajaj Allianz General Insurance will be offering thousands of poor elderly people in India specifically tailored life, health and other insurance cover.

 

Just three years after the tsunami hit the south-eastern coast of India on Boxing Day, December 26, 2004, communities who lost their homes, jobs, and families now have the security of knowing they can protect themselves against any future shock for well under 1p per month.

 

CARE and Bajaj Allianz General Insurance will be launching this unique initiative with Micro Care Accident. The product provides eight benefits to the insured member, the member can cover their life against accidents, and accident related medical treatment, loss of wages arising out of the accident event, protection of household assets against natural perils and fire. Further the product offers educational allowance to one child besides providing funeral expenses in the event of death due to accident.

 

CARE and Bajaj Allianz General Insurance worked with the communities themselves to design micro-insurance products which are affordable to 75,000 18-70 year olds in communities from four districts near Chennai which were among the worst hit by the wave. Conventional products already available only cover people up to the age of 59 as older people pose a larger risk to an insurance company because of their vulnerability and inability to work.

 

In contrast with other micro-insurance products offered to poor communities in India, or around the world, Bajaj Allianz and CARE are also offering bespoke, rather than off-the-shelf products to this wide group of people. The communities themselves participated in an assessment to decide the type of insurance which would be most valuable to them - such as asset protection, wage loss, death and funeral support, educational support to dependent children in the event of accidental death and hospital cash due for sickness. CARE and Bajaj Allianz see this as a comprehensive social security measure.

 

The products available are also cheaper than others on the market as people can now buy insurance to cover loss of assets, accidents, health and medical cover all in one package. This means some of the poorest people can actually afford to buy insurance for the first time.