The last thing one worries about when they lose a loved one or when their family members are fighting for their life in a hospital is how all the rapidly increasing medical bills will be paid. Those who have an insurance policy believe the insurer will take care of it, and rightfully so.
After all, isn’t this why they have been paying their health or life insurance policy premiums regularly—to protect themselves financially in the face of a medical emergency or if the sole breadwinner of their family passes away?
But imagine their emotional and financial plight when they find their insurance claims rejected, and that too, on arbitrary grounds.
Something similar happened with Garima Gupta last year, when she lost her husband, Saurabh Gupta. The insurer, HDFC Life, rejected the claim made on a group life insurance policy taken on a top-up home loan in 2024 worth around Rs 30 lakh (Rs 29,47,368), because the policyholder (her husband) had reportedly not disclosed his pre-existing conditions.
This is a double whammy for the family of the policyholder, as not only do they have to go through the harrowing experience of claim rejection and scouting for further legal options, but they also have to deal with the home loan lender, who is repeatedly reminding them to pay the outstanding home loan. All the niceties shown at the time of selling home loans and credit insurance are now gone, and what is left is jargonized rejection of claim and cold collection protocols for home loan recovery.
