I am planning to buy few cars and run them as taxis. Are car insurance premiums different for commercial and private vehicles? What will be the price difference? I also want to take an insurance cover for my drivers. Can you suggest few companies that offer good plans?
 Yes, the insurance premium for commercially used cars is different from those that are used for private or personal purposes. Premium depends on the type of policy that you buy. If you buy a third-party policy, premiums would be those which are fixed by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai). For comprehensive plans, however, premium would depend on the insurer offering the plan.
For drivers, you can opt for a paid driver personal accident cover built in with motor insurance. This will provide coverage while driving. Alternatively, you can opt for a standalone group personal accident cover, group health insurance and group life insurance. The group plans will provide 24-hour coverage. You can customize the sum assured and add-on coverage. Premium for group plans would work out to be significantly cheaper as compared to individual plans. Typically, large groups command substantially lower premiums.
I am 32 years old and earn ₹2 lakh a month. I recently remarried a 51-year-old woman. We have adopted a 2-year-old daughter. I wish to take health and life insurance. Will the premiums be higher as my wife is older? Also, can an adopted child be covered in all our insurance plans?
You can buy a family floater health insurance plan to cover yourself, your wife and your adopted daughter. Family floater plans allow coverage even for adopted children and your daughter would be covered under the plan till 23 or 25 years of age. In a family floater plan, several insurers calculate the premium by considering the age of the eldest member. Since your wife is the eldest, her age would be considered. Premium for a family floater in your case would be around ₹35,000 plus taxes. You could also buy a floater plan for yourself and your daughter, and get a separate individual plan for your wife. Such an arrangement will cost about ₹28,000 plus taxes. Due to the age gap between the two adults, the premium for floater plans works out to be relatively higher.
Health insurance plans have a wide coverage and may typically include inpatient hospitalization, pre- and post-hospitalization expenses, ambulance costs, day-care treatments, organ donor treatments, domiciliary hospitalization, Ayush treatment, outpatient consultation, and diagnostics and health check-ups. Coverage varies substantially by plan. Several plans may have sub-limits such as room rent capping, disease-wise limits, and so on to limit usage. You can refer to Mint SecureNow Mediclaim Ratings for an assessment of various health plans in the country. For life insurance, it is best to buy separate term plans for you and your wife. You can buy coverage till the retirement age,that is 60 or 65 for each of you
