Super No Claim Bonus Add-On In Health Insurance

The word ‘bonus’ has such a nice ring to it, no? Every time we buy something, we make sure to grab the best deals, coupon codes, rewards, and bonuses! Where’s the fun otherwise?

Your health insurance, too, comes with rewards, without you having to pay for anything extra (keep going…we’re listening…).

Presenting to you - No Claim Bonus and Super No Claim Bonus! Let’s have a look at what these terms mean.

What Is A No Claim Bonus (NCB)?

First, let's understand a No Claim Bonus.

It is a benefit offered by your insurer when you do not make any claim in a policy year. So if you stay healthy and live a claim-free year, you receive a bonus.

How Does NCB Work?

It can be rewarded in one of the following ways -

• By Increasing Your Sum Insured

  Depending on your NCB, the insurer will increase your sum insured by a certain percentage each year. But your premiums will not increase.

  This is the most common NCB in the market.

  However, the insurer may apply a cap to the NCB. This means that even if the number of your claim-free years increases, the sum insured won’t, after a maximum limit.

  Suppose, Aryan purchases a health insurance of Rs. 10 lakhs, with an NCB of 10%. The NCB is capped at 50% of the sum insured. This means that no matter how many claim-free years he has in his policy, his sum insured can increase only up to a maximum of Rs. 15 lakhs. (10 lakhs + 50% of 10 lakhs).

• By Decreasing Your Premium

  Depending on your NCB, the insurer will decrease your premium amount by a certain % every claim-free year. This will not impact your sum insured. However, only a few insurers offer this option.

  Taking Aryan’s example again. Suppose he pays a premium of Rs. 20,000 per year for a sum insured of Rs. 10 lakhs. The insurer offers a 10% discount on the premium, for every claim-free year.

  Therefore, discount on premium = 10% of 20,000 = Rs. 2000

  Thus, if Aryan doesn't make a claim this year, his renewal premium will be reduced to Rs 18,000 (20,000 - 2000). But even though his premium amount has decreased, his sum insured of Rs. 10 lakhs will remain constant.

Please note: Every claim made reduces the sum insured. In other words, if you make a claim under your policy, the sum insured will be deducted at the same rate it had increased when you didn’t make a claim.

But what if you are confident that you won’t make a claim, and you want more bonus?

Well, more rewards coming your way then!

Some insurers help you amp up your No Claim Bonus through an add-on feature. This will add an extra NCB - called Super No Claim Bonus. It goes by different names, like - No Claim Bonus Booster, Super Cumulative Bonus, etc.

So What Is A Super No Claim Bonus?

The Super No Claim Bonus is an accelerated version of No Claim Bonus, you opt for by paying an additional premium.

It functions in a similar way as the No Claim Bonus, the only difference is your sum insured increases by an additional percentage over and above the NCB applied to your policy.

This benefit will be calculated on the base sum insured only.

Suppose, you have a policy of Rs. 10 lakhs + 1 lakh No Claim Bonus amount and 1 lakh Restored Sum Insured amount. This comes to a total sum insured of Rs. 12 lakhs. The Super No Claim bonus will be calculated on Rs. 10 lakhs - which is your base sum insured - and not on the accumulated Rs. 12 lakhs.

Conditions Under Super No Claim Bonus

Similar to NCB, Super NCB too has certain conditions

• Maximum Limit

  Insurers will have certain limits attached to the policy. For example, Aditya Birla’s Activ Assure plan and Care Insurance’s Care plan have a limit of 100% of the sum insured for the Super No claim Bonus. This means, the maximum bonus amount you may receive will be 100% of the sum insured, and not more than that.

• Reduction In Super No Claim Bonus

  The bonus will be reduced by the same percentage as it was increased - in case any claim is made in the policy year.

• Restrictions On Usage

  Some insurers may restrict some benefits. For example, Care Insurance’s Care Policy mentions that the Super NCB will be available for certain optional benefits as well the base benefits. But there are certain policies, like Manipal Cigna’s ProHealth, which mention that the Super No Claim Bonus will not be available for claims made under certain benefits, like - Maternity Expenses, Newborn Baby Expenses, and First Year Vaccinations.

• Availability For Multi-Year Policy

  Insurers, like ICICI Lombard’s Health Shield and Health Elite Care Insurance’s Care plan, provide you with this benefit even for multi-year policies (2 years or 3 years). However, not all insurers have mentioned such details in their policy documents.

• Choose Between NCB And Super NCB

  In some policies, Super No Claim Bonus is not an addition to the No Claim Bonus but a substitute. By choosing the add-on, you substitute the base NCB available with the accelerated Super NCB.

  For instance, policies, like Manipal Cigna ProHealth, will provide you with only either of the bonuses. This means, if you have a Super NCB added to your policy, then the benefit of NCB will not be available. Therefore, read the policy wordings carefully before purchasing the policy.

A Premium Comparison Table

The premiums displayed are for a 31-year-old, with 10 lakhs sum insured, on 21st August, 2022.

The inflation rate is increasing by the day and is affecting the healthcare industry. The cost of medical services is rising significantly. In such times, having a Super No Claim Bonus add-on can really boost your health insurance, and protect you and your loved ones. So do that extra work-out, eat your greens, and stay healthy - to get the most out of your health insurance policy.