If the health insurance policy is not able to meet your needs, you have the option to take the top up. The insurance company you have taken medical insurance from also offers you the option of a top-up plan. But it is not necessary that you also take a top-up plan from the same company. You can also take a separate top up medical plan by looking for online options.

When the claim limit is met from your medical insurance policy, you can claim the claim from the top up plan. Employees who have got mediclaim can also take a top-up plan.

What is top-up plan?

It is an add-on plan i.e. additional plan, which is associated with your health insurance plan. It covers the expenses of your sum assured i.e. more than what you insure. It is not cheap but it gives quite high coverage. You can choose it by looking at the premium of any insurance company.

The advantage of top-up plans is that it is cheaper than a new medical insurance plan.

Even better for long-time treatment

Even if you have taken a health insurance policy from two different places and you are hospitalized for a long time, the claim can be taken. You can give the remaining bill to another company after taking the claim from the original policy. If you have sent the same bill to both the places, the other insurer will pay the remaining amount out of the payment made by the company first.

First claim from the primary insurer

If you want, do not claim from the original policy and you can ask for a claim from the top up plan, but it would be better not to do so. Because doing so will end your no claim bonus immediately.

Equality required in documents

Whatever you take from the policy, keep in mind that your information given in both places should be the same, otherwise there may be difficulty in claim payment. Keep your name, address and bank account etc. the same. Also, there should be no difference in medical records.

Top up gives protection from spending of major illnesses

Normally, people take a health insurance policy of INR 2,00,000 – 5,00,000. But unfortunately, if you get a serious disease like cancer, heart disease, this policy is not enough. The top up policy works, in which you can take a plan of Rs. 10,00,000 – Rs. 20,00,000 or more according to your needs.

Affordable top up plan

Suppose you have a medical insurance of INR 5,00,000. If you take another health insurance policy instead of taking a top up plan to meet medical needs, the premium is INR 5000-6000. Not only that, even if you upgrade the already running policy, it is a costly option. While the top up plan can be taken at a premium of Rs. 2,000 annually.

Benefits in both from one person to floater cover

Top-up plan can be availed under floater policy for an individual. Under the same plan, the family members of the family can cover themselves, spouse, dependent children and dependent parents and the total number of family members included in a policy can be up to six.

No medical screening

Insurance companies do not do any medical screening for top-up plans. Even if you take a top-up from another company, there is no screening.

Re-charge facility

Nowadays, health insurance companies are providing re-charge plans. If the sum assured limit under the policy has come close to crossing, the additional amount is immediately topped up. The good thing is that, this top up plan doesn’t just cover hospitalization. It also covers road and air ambulance expenses, organ donor expenses and free medical checkups.

Author Bio:

I am Nikesh Mehta, owner and writer of this site.

I’m an analytics and digital marketing professional and also love writing on finance and technology industry during my spare time. I’ve done online course in Financial Markets and Investment Strategy from Indian School of Business. I can be reached at nikeshmehta@allonmoney.com or LinkedIn profile.