KEEPING in mind the propensity of Indians for being underinsured, and the country having one of the highest ratios of privately paid for health services, Apollo Munich Health Insurance has launched a new mediclaim policy that will pay claims even after you have exhausted the sum insured limit for the year. The scheme called 'Optima Restore' reinstates the basic sum insured in case a customer exhausts the amount up to which he can file for hospitalisation claims in a policy year.

Antony Jacob, chief executive officer at Apollo Munich Health Insurance, said, Assuming you have an individual or a family floater policy of Rs 3,00,000, and during any sickness, you exhaust your full sum insured, we will restore the entire sum insured at no extra charge, so that you or your family can remain covered against any other illness till the end of the policy term

However, there is a catch.

You cannot, in the same year, make further claims under the restore benefit for diseases, which were already paid for once. That means, you will not be insured against the same sickness again in that year, although, claims for those diseases in the second year can well be made.

In the scheme, the company increases the basic sum insured by 50 per cent as a no-claim bonus in case of a claim-free year. In case, you don't claim even in the second year, the insurer gives another 50 per cent of the original basic sum assured as a further no-claim bonus. Other insurers normally give a no-claim bonus of between 5 to 10 per cent of the basic sum assured as a no-claim bonus and have a cap of maximum 50 per cent bonus on the sum assured.