Expert Speaks: Is it better to take insurance from India or a foreign university when planning to study abroad?

I live in Delhi and have got admission to a Singapore university. The university has asked me to buy insurance, especially health insurance. Should I buy insurance from India or from a foreign university?  What is better? 

— Devika Sharma

By Ashwini Kumar, General Manager (India) and Vice President, MPOWER Financing  

Having an insurance policy can be helpful. Students can buy an insurance policy from a foreign lender or foreign insurer that has a tie-up with the universities and by foreign, the reference is to the country where the student is going to study. Students can choose a policy according to their needs. An ideal insurance plan must cover medical emergencies like dental treatment, accident, evacuation and repatriation, personal liability, tuition fee, travel and sponsor protection apart from other needed inclusions. 

However, most foreign lenders fully discharge the loan in the unfortunate event of death or permanent disability; so, there is no requirement to get insurance. Furthermore, students (and/or dependents) don’t always have a seamless experience with claims in a foreign territory. It’s much easier to go with an insurance provider in the same area as your country of residence. 

This also helps, in many cases, with cashless procedures, wider access to healthcare providers, better and easier systems to work with and an important point which is much less talked about but equally important is access to customer service within the same time zone. . MPOWER has partnered with insurance provider International Student Insurance, which caters to students for their health insurance needs while they are studying abroad - often at far better rates. 

(Views expressed by the investment expert are his/her own. E-mail us your investment queries at askmoneytoday@intoday.com. We will get your queries answered by our panel of experts)

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