Health insurance: eight things to check before you buy

Health costs can wipe out savings, so the policy you choose matters. Before you buy, check:

1. Sum insured: enough to cover a serious hospital stay in your city. 2. Room-rent limits: a cap can reduce the amount paid on the whole bill. 3. Co-payment: the share of each claim you must pay. 4. Sub-limits on specific treatments. 5. Waiting periods for existing conditions and specific illnesses. Rules on how long these can be have been tightened in recent years, so check the current IRDAI rules and your policy wording. 6. Network hospitals near your home. 7. Exclusions and what the policy says about pre- and post-hospitalisation costs. 8. The insurer's claim settlement record.

Always declare your medical history honestly. A claim can be rejected if you hide something. Compare policies on a regulated or well-known platform, read the policy wording and ask questions before you pay.

General information, not financial advice. Rules and products change.