Coming soon: Insurance for your wallet

Soon, you may not have to worry about your lost wallet. A host of private insurance companies are taking a cue from their overseas counterparts to launch such products in India.

Tata AIG General Insurance is launching products that will insure you against such losses. In addition, the company intends to provide insurance cover for your car or apartment, identity theft and purchase protection.

While some of the products would be offered on a standalone basis, the others would be bundled with policies such as householder's or motor insurance cover, the company's Managing Director and CEO Gaurav Garg, said.

"Different retail products are been tried out. These products are not bought but sold and most of them will be bundled," said Prudent Insurance Broker CEO Pavanjit Dhingra.

Bharti AXA General Insurance CEO Milind Chalisgaonkar said that the company was also planning to offer similar products. "Depending on the bancassurance tie-ups, we will file for such products. We do not have any bancssurance partner and the need for such products will depend on the requirement of the customers as, in most cases, these products are bundled with cards," he said.

Another private player, Iffco Tokio General Insurance, said it was looking at various options but there was nothing planned immediately.

Insurance advisors are, however, suggesting that you read the fine print first, as there are a host of exclusions which will enable insurers to turn down claims.

For instance, in the case of the policy that covers robbery at ATMs, the insurance company will not entertain a claim if there is a robbery while your card is being used by someone else. Similarly, only the amount withdrawn from the ATM will be covered by the policy but whatever you already have in your wallet will not be reimbursed by the insurer.

While the premium will be Rs 350 a year, the maximum claim is capped at Rs 1 lakh (Rs 100,000).

In case you opt to insure your wallet, the money lost will not be covered and insurance will be restricted to the replacement cost of a lost or stolen wallet, personal papers and the credit and debit cards in the wallet. Similarly, there will be no cover for cheques, tickets or fraudulent charges on the lost or stolen cards and any other identity theft-related costs. In addition, the claim is capped at Rs 15,000.

The purchase protection policy will insure items purchased with payment cards from loss due to burglary, theft or accidental damage within 90 days of purchase. The maximum amount insured is Rs 5 lakh (Rs 500,000).

Rival insurers said similar products were already available in the market but were bundled with some of the offerings.