In a recent survey conducted, we came to know that about 50% of our registered users do not know the difference between an insurance broker and an agent. As a broker, I feel I need to create awareness about the difference. So, here it is

Insurance Broker, that is,  www.easyinsuranceindia.com	Insurance Agent	Customer Benefit seeking broker to identify suitable insurance
Represents the customers and DOES NOT represent any particular insurance company	Represents only one company (one for life and one for non life)	Brokers are better equipped to meet customers' requirements
Can sell any product from any company	Can sell only the products of the company he/she represents	Brokers are able to offer wide variety of choices because they can identify policies from any company based on customer requirement
Insurance companies give us best policy benefits and premium rates for our customers since we have choice on the companies we can go to	Less influential since they represent only one company	Negotiate better benefits on policies and best premium rates (this applies largely to commercial insurance)
Insurance companies respond better to us when it comes to settling disputed claims because we represent the customers	Less influential since they represent only that company	We can represent the customer more effectively during the time of claim especially if there is a dispute
Brokers have a much more stringent norms and come under scrutiny by IRDA before getting/renewing broker license	Less stringent norms to obtain agency license	Brokers have a fully functional company to provide continuous customer service
In addition to the above, we add more value as broker to you compared to other brokers.
www.easyinsuranceindia.com is owned and operated by us - a licensed broker		Other web sites may or may not be owned by a licensed broker
Retail business is a separate focus area for us (SBU)		Most brokers focus only on corporate businesses
Full-fledged customer care, and back office to help you and answer all your questions.		No such customer care / back office exists for retail customers
We sell even non-money making policies such as third party only policy, Rural insurance, Insurance for poor, etc.		Not offered by any other brokers online because these products don't result in any earnings for brokers or event agents
Your personal/contact information is NOT SOLD or GIVEN to anyone. It is given only to the insurance company whose policy you purchase		Your personal / contact information may be sold to various insurance companies
We offer comprehensive list of all policies that a customer would ever want such as Health, life (both traditional as well as ULIP), motor including third party, personal accident, travel, home, etc.		Other sites are not as comprehensive as ours

Difference between Health Insurance sold by Life Insurance companies and the same sold by General Insurance Companies

Greetings ! You may notice that just about every insurance company today sells some policy or another that focuses on health related risks. You should know the difference between the two basic categories of health insurance and which one is appropriate for you. Here are some basic differences: Health policies Sold by GENERAL Insurance Companies Health policies Sold by LIFE Insurance Companies The expenses incurred due to hospitalization like room charges, surgery, medicines, etc. are reimbursed (or) paid directly by the insurance company (in case of cashless benefit) Fixed amount is paid as per policy, regardless of the expenses incurred. The actual expenses may be more or less. If you have more than one health insurance, then the claim, if any, is paid by sharing between such insurances You can claim even if you have already claimed from health insurance with a general insurance company The premium has to be paid first in one payment to get cover for the year The premium can be paid as monthly, quarterly, or annual basis Need to wait 30 days before any claim can be made Need to wait 90 days before any claim can be made Premium differs from one year to the next depending on claim during current year Premium is generally fixed for three years – after that, it may change The policy term is mostly for one year The policy term is generally for longer duration, 10 years or even 15 years Cannot return the policy after purchasing it You can return the policy within 15 days if you decide that you do not want the policy There is no life insurance benefit or maturity benefit There may be life insurance component and may or may not have maturity benefit Both kinds of health policies have: Medical check requirement Waiting period for various diseases Exclusions Maximum payable amount applicable So, how do you know which policy you should purchase? Here is what I recommend: If your company already provides health insurance cover, then you can purchase health policies sold by Life insurance companies. If you are hospitalized, your company's medical policy will cover the expenses. Over and above that, you can still legally file a claim under the health policy that you have from life insurance companies. Many times, when we are hospitalized, there are many expenses like caretaker's food, transportation, hospital administrative costs, etc. that the health insurance under General Insurance would not cover. If you have a health policy from Life insurance, you can make claim against this so that you can get fixed amount of cash which would help you to meet those additional expenses.

Tsunami, Earth Quakes, Nuclear Power Plant Blasts, Volcano Eruption - All at a time

God! How much can a country take ?

10 things to learn from Japan

There is so much to learn from the Citizens of Japan – Their grace, calmness, confidence, care… I could think of the below which one of my colleagues sent me. He has put it so well.

1. THE CALM
Not a single visual of chest-beating or wild grief. Sorrow itself has been elevated.

2. THE DIGNITY
Disciplined queues for water and groceries. Not a rough word or a crude gesture.

3. THE ABILITY
The incredible architects, for instance. Buildings swayed but didn’t fall.

4. THE GRACE
People bought only what they needed for the present, so everybody could get something.

5. THE ORDER
No looting in shops. No honking and no overtaking on the roads. Just understanding.

6. THE SACRIFICE
Fifty workers stayed back to pump sea water in the N-reactors. How will they ever be repaid?

7. THE TENDERNESS
Restaurants cut prices. An unguarded ATM is left alone. The strong cared for the weak.

8. THE TRAINING
The old and the children, everyone knew exactly what to do. And they did just that.

9. THE MEDIA
They showed magnificent restraint in the bulletins. No silly reporters. Only calm reportage.

10. THE CONSCIENCE
When the power went off in a store, people put things back on the shelves and left quietly
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Make voting mandatory

Most of the citizens, especially those living in urban areas, don’t give a damn about elections because they never voted before nor do they intend to ever vote.  In fact, most of these people feel that elections are a nuisance.   These people categorically blame the politicians for everything that goes wrong with their lives.   They think all politicians are bad and so for them, it does not make sense to choose one bad over another bad.

My guess is that people who are economically poor vote largely because the local ‘dada’ makes sure that they get out and vote.  These people feel that only if they vote, the ‘dada’ would represent them in time of need.   Most of these people don’t know much about the background of the candidates, and are not capable of deciding as to whom they should vote for.  Either the local ‘dada’ tells them (or dictates them or bribes them) to vote for the party that he belongs to, or, the man of the family tells everyone whom they should vote for.

In case of the rich, these people have ‘connections’ for everything so they don’t feel that they need to ever approach the elected representative for anything, so they don’t find it worthwhile to vote.  Though these people may not need the politicians, they are well educated crowd so they are capable of selecting the best candidate among the contestants.  It is important for this segment of population to vote.

The large middle class are those who are somewhat split.  They are neither in a ‘controlled’ environment like the poor, nor do they have the ‘connections’ of the rich.  Most of these people are somewhat educated enough to select the best candidate based on the contestants’ back ground.  Minor percent of these people believe that it is their duty to vote and so exercise their vote however bad the contestants are.   It is important for the majority who generally do not vote to come out and vote  because these people are capable of choosing the best candidate among the contestants.

I believe that the quality of the elected representative will become better over the years only if the ENTIRE adult population vote.  It is a vicious cycle.  When people consistently vote for the best qualified people (in terms of education, experience, past record, etc.), the politicians would field the best qualified people.  This way, overall, the country becomes better because it is governed by people who are most qualified.

IN ORDER FOR EVERYONE TO COME OUT AND VOTE, I BELIEVE THAT WE NEED TO MAKE VOTING MANDATORY – AT LEAST PARLIAMENT AND ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS.   

Even if this would raise the voting percent from current 50 – 60% to 80 – 90%, we would see a significant improvement in the quality of candidates.  

5 Things I Admire About Mr. Warren Buffett

Mr. Warren Buffett  (Chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Inc) is visiting India to launch his website as Corporate agent of a general insurance company.  Though I won't be able to meet him during his visit, somehow, I think I would be meet him some day. 

Never Too Early To Pursue Your Passion

Mr. Buffett showed interest in making money and saving even as a child.  As early as 7 years, he learned to make money by selling chewing gum, magazines, and coca-cola door-to-door.   By the time he was in high school, he had already worked in grocery stores and delivering newspapers, golf balls, etc. and start making and saving money.

Prepare Yourself

He pursued his interest in finance by properly educating himself in the line of his interest.  I believe in this.  An uncut diamond has to be cut and polished in order for it to derive its value.  That is what education gives.

Enough is enough

Attaining Contentment in material wealth is a challenge which he has conquered.  How much is enough?  He believes that every material wealth should have a utilitarian value.  He DOES NOT believe in investing in gold for the same reason, there is no utility out of it.

GIVE

Give – Give – Give – Mr. Buffet is planning to give away most of his wealth to charitable causes. He has already pledged Rs 1.38 lakh crores (That is 138 followed by 10 zeros) to Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.  He does not believe in leaving large wealth for his children.  He says, "I want to give my kids just enough so that they would feel that they could do anything, but not so much that they would feel like doing nothing".

WORK

There is no such thing as retirement in his life – He is 81 years old and still works.  

Trash bins crowding chennai roads

Let us face it!  Only in India, the road is considered FREE for all.  The vendors can set up stalls on the road.  The utility companies like telephone, electricity, etc. can erect their equipments on the sidewalks.  The corporation can park their road laying equipments on the road.  The trash bins can be placed on the road.  Public can spit, pee, litter, etc. on the road.  Of course, after all this, if there is still space left, cars, bikes, and pedestrians may use the road...

I feel that roads serve a specific purpose of mobilising traffic.  Removing everthingelse from the street is a prudent thing to do.  While my attempt is not necessarily to make this happen, at the very least, we should try and see if there is something that can be done which is easily implementable and that would benefit all.

I am talking about trash bins.  Today, in a metro like Chennai, there are apartment complexes all over the place.  The Electricity board has already made it mandatory for apartments to erect transformers inside the complex.  Similarly, the Chennai Sanitation Department can make it mandatory that each apartment complex keep the trash bins inside the complex.  This way, the street trash bins can be reduced only for usage by the people on the street and individual homes.  There are several advantages for doing this.

When you keep the trash bins inside the apartments, they are generally well maintained by the apartment association and trash is not strewn all over the place.

It makes it easier to segregate Green waste from other non biodegradable waste

The streets would be relatively cleaner.

The corporation of Chennai can charge extra for high waste producing establishments like restaurants, marriage halls, hospitals, etc. so that separate crew can be engaged just to clean these establishments.

I have sent a note to this effect to the Chennai Corporation Mayor several times.. But, I really doubt if anyone in the department has ever read it.

CLEAN CITY LEADS TO HEALTHY LIVING !!!

Saving the children from Kidnapping - who is responsible? The state, school, or the parents?

Everyone knows that last month (Nov, Dec 2010), there were episodes of kidnapping and murder of school children by various criminals in Tamil Nadu.  Immediately following these incidents, the State Police Department took instant steps to strengthen the police presense outside of schools, and other public places.  Now that it has been over a month since the incident, you do not see the kind of police that were there when the news was still 'hot'.  Let us face it !

 

Is it really possible for the police to ALWAYS have hundreds of police force guarding the schools all the time?

 

Are the criminals really gullible enough to wait outside of schools to kidnap the children? 

 

I mean, who has the real interest in the safety of the children?  I would hope to think that it should be the parents first and secondly, may be the schools.  Yes, the state has the larger interest in keeping the law and order of the state but that is only in a larger perspective.  I would put parents and schools ahead of the state.

 

To my surprise, neither of them seem to have done anything on that. 

 

May be the parents have individually coached their kids on safe practices to protect against kidnapping, I really would not know that.  But, I certainly expected the schools to immediately send a circular, call for special PTA meeting or other sorts to create awareness on safety practices for their wards

 

My child (16 year old) goes to a well endowed city school that boasts having the facility of internet where they send exam schedules, fee schedules, etc. to parents by email.  There has NOT been a single mail telling parents what they should do, how to guide and coach the children to be safe.  Also, the schools can easily create an environment where the parents could collaborate to ensure the safety of every child in the school but that has not been done.

 

I believe in 'Prevention is better than cure',  I feel that whether there is kidnapping taking place or not, periodically, such mails of importance should be sent to all the parents, either by email or by snail mail. Why do they not do that?

 

Why have they not acted even after several incidences? 

Do they not care?