The Supreme Court of India delivered a historic verdict in decriminalizing homosexuality in 2018 and since then workplaces started to offer their employees various incentives and perks to provide a diverse environment and retain employees. As a result life and health insurance offered to employees, clients of banks and card companies have been customized for a few years.
While homosexuality has been decriminalized, same-sex marriage has not yet achieved legal status resulting in many insurance benefits not being available until recently through plans for the general public. In recent times there has been a change in the scenario witnessed where insurance companies that offer services like Mediclaim, fire, vehicle insurance and life insurance which cover the financial risk associated with the death of an individual are offering the policies to members hailing from LGBTQ+ community and same-sex marriage couples apart from live-in partners. The national insurance awareness day was celebrated on June 28 which fell towards the end of pride month.
Same-sex couples seeking Mediclaim floater policy faced major issues in policy covering the entire family and shared sum insured. Under the policy, any member of the family is liable to claim a health emergency. In line with this principle, insurance companies have started to offer health and insurance floater policies to same-sex couples who earlier faced the issue of non-conformity with the traditional definition of a family.
Raghavendra Rao, Chief Distribution Officer of Future Generali India Insurance Company while speaking to Moneycontrol said, “We have expanded the traditional definition of family under retail offerings to now include live-in partners and same-sex couples.”
Dr Mukund Kulkarni, Head of Underwriting at Aegon Life Insurance said costs of policies do not differ based upon sexual orientation. generally, the cost of life insurance is based on factors like risk assessment, claim settlement procedure and internal policies. Even though premiums don’t change, insurance companies do expect individuals to mention they’re correct gender, and companies will be a little stringent in assessing risks associated with members of the LGBTQ+ community.
Obtaining a joint life insurance policy can be a tough one for same-sex couples since most policies state that two individuals under joint life insurance can either be spouses (husband and wife) or immediate blood relation.
There is no separate document required for the third gender to seek insurance, apart from the submission of the proposal form. The terms and conditions are the same and the insurance company expects the customers to mention their gender correctly as a means to collect the claims hassle-free. For same-sex couples seeking health floater policy have to produce a joint bank account and proof of common address and have to check for additional documents required beforehand.
As per the provisions of Indian law, any person can nominate another individual as a nominee in claims of the insurance so people living as same-sex couples can nominate each other as a beneficiary under the life insurance policy.
Different companies have a varied set of rules and regulations regarding providing insurance policies to members of the LGBTQ+ community so it is advised to go through the rules and conditions before selecting the insurance company and plan.
