Should you go for gender specific insurance policies?

Is a gender-specific insurance policy better the regular one? Insurers have now started offering women-specific plans where you get a specific amount which is linked to a life event -- life, marriage, maternity, some critical illness and the like, noted a report in theBusiness Standardyesterday.

There are a few health insurance plans specifically designed for women. In fact, there are plans which are designed as life plans but also come with health-cum-investment covers. There are also plans which cover critical illnesses, but only a maximum of 8-10 such ailments.

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Buying a women-centric critical illness cover is a good idea. There are illnesses that are not covered by regular health cover, but are covered by critical illness plans. The premium can be in the range of Rs 3,000 to Rs 4,500. Another advantage is unlike the regular policies, there is no waiting period for these policies. As far as cover against maternity complications go, you could get it covered under group policies. But there are some individual policies which offer built-in covers as well.

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As far as life insurance with health-cum-investments are concerned, the premiums are a bit expensive and financial planners usually recommend term plans such as life insurance and health and critical care insurance as health cover.

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