Super Top-Up vs Top-Up Health Insurance Plans – Know The Difference

Health insurance is a must-have investment in an age where medical treatment costs are soaring high. Skipping it can not only drain your financial resources but also bring about mental stress to fund medical emergencies. Hence, it is crucial to not overlook the importance of health insurance in a post-pandemic world. Selecting a health insurance policy requires you to consider several factors such as the beneficiary’s age, policy features, terms of the plan, and the policy’s sum assured. While a plan with a smaller sum assured may provide basic insurance coverage, it may not be suitable in the long run considering the rising treatment costs. But it helps to keep the premiums at an affordable level. If you already have an insurance policy with a sum assured that has started to feel insufficient, you can load it with a top-up cover. These covers are available in two types—a standard top-up plan and a super top-up plan. Let’s look at each of these two types of health insurance covers and the differences therein.

What is Top-up Health Insurance?

Top-up cover in a health insurance policy is an additional insurance cover that helps to provide coverage in addition to the based insurance plan. Instead of buying a new policy with a higher sum assured, a top-up cover can be used to enhance the policy’s sum assured. A top-up plan can also be bought as a standalone insurance plan but is best combined when used with a base insurance policy. Such a base policy can be any insurance plan, i.e. an individual cover, a family floater plan, a group insurance policy, etc. While it is difficult to estimate the future treatment cost of ailments when buying a health insurance policy, a top-up cover serves as an effective way to ensure the coverage is never insufficient. This top-up cover is also known as a catastrophe policy since it comes into the picture only after a specified threshold is crossed. The threshold in the top-up cover is known as the deductible of the top-up cover. Hence, before the top-up cover kicks in, the deductible must be paid by you, the policyholder.  * Standard T&C Apply

What are Super Top-up Plans?

Super top-up covers are an extension of top-up insurance plans. Where a top-up policy is applicable for a single claim, a super top-up plan is available for multiple claims in aggregate. Only when the entire sum assured of the super top-up policy is exhausted, is the coverage under such a policy ends.

Here’s an Example to Simplify the Differences Between the Two

Say, you have a policy of ₹5 lakh coverage that you bought 6 years ago. Considering the present treatment costs, you buy an additional top-up cover of ₹12 lakh with ₹5 lakh of a deductible component. Assume that multiple claims are made in a year of ₹4 lakh and ₹3 lakh, and the treatment aggregates to ₹7 lakh in a policy period. Only the base insurance policy will pay the compensation and no claim shall be awarded by the top-up cover since each claim is below the threshold of ₹5 lakh. The same claims in the case of a super top-up plan will be paid to the tune of ₹2 lakh as the base threshold is crossed and the super top-up policy’s coverage kicks in. So, now that you understand what is health insurance and how you can use the different types of top-up plans to secure the health of you and your dependents, make a smart choice of insurance cover and the top-up policies. * Standard T&C Apply Insurance is the subject matter of solicitation. For more details on benefits, exclusions, limitations, terms and conditions, please read the sales brochure/policy wording carefully before concluding a sale.