Picture for representational purposes only - AFP
The age old phrase ‘Customer is the King’ is soon going to become a thing of the past as the companies shift from their male-dominated product orientation.
Today, companies are focusing on tailoring their products and services keeping in mind the needs of female customers also.
Life insurance
The basic term insurance policy protects the family members from the loss of income in case of the death of the policyholder, who essentially would be the breadwinner of the house.
Earlier, women saw little use of taking a term insurance as they were not contributing to the household income.
Even though the population of working women is still limited, insurance companies have policies to cater to women from all walks of life — employed, home maker, self-employed and professionals.
In contrast to the past, an increasing number of women are managing the house and they are seeking higher insurance cover than before.
Apart from offering a pure risk cover, the insurance policy now also provides money at regular intervals for marriage or education needs, planning for retirement years, paying off loans and mortgages, etc.
In fact, there are many policies which provide special discount to women.
For example, Max New York Life Platinum Protect Plan, SBI Life Swadhan Plan, Aviva iLife online term Plan and Kotak Term Plan among the pure term insurance plans.
LIC of India has a special money back plan called Jeevan Bharti-I and Bajaj Allianz offers a couple of plans like Young Care II and Family CareFirst.
Health insurance
Women are prone to many illnesses such as hysterectomy, arthritis and many deficiency diseases and health insurance would come handy for them.
A medical cover at the time of maternity and child birth can take care of huge expenses for safe childbirth and special post-natal care.
The maternity policy even extends to cover child care benefits from the day one which not many health insurance policies cover.
That is the reason why policies like Star Wedding Gift, Apollo Easy Health and Max Bupa Heartbeat have become very popular in the family health insurance category.
Star Wedding Gift covers delivery, pre and post natal complications for both mother and child, new born babies. Max Bupa Heartbeat Plan covers all maternity related complications and new born child and their vaccinations and nutrition requirement also.
From protection to savings, insurance offers a host of long-term options that offer good returns.
To sum it up, no matter how insignificant their inv-olvement in the household, women can play the responsible role of managing the finances of the house.
Feminine facts - different roles
*Single Woman needs to manage her existing responsibilities and prepare for her future years.
*Single Mother needs to plan for her present and future retirement needs. She also need focus on children’s education, marriage.
*Working Family Woman have an assumed role of managing the household income and savings.
*Since traditional saving options no longer provide satisfactory returns, insurance becomes a good regular savings tool.
*Homemaker also needs insurance as it helps her to save money for the future needs of the family even in a traditional set -up.
The author is the CEO of MyInsuranceClub.com, an insurance price and features comparison site