IN INDIA wedding is a major event for which one starts saving for almost years in advance. In terms of financial planning they tend to be major events that one plans for just like education of a child or buying a house.
With such a large amount of money spent on a wedding, wouldn't it be great to insure the event against a washout like an unforeseen shower that runs all the decorations or an untoward incident with either spouses family that prevents key people from showing up?
Well fret not. Like the royal wedding of Britain's Prince William and Catherine Middleton that was insured you too can have your nuptial celebrations insured and at a far more reasonable sum than the fat figures they are reported to have paid. "The concept is known to very few intermediaries and people at large in the society. At present the covers are sought for multimillionaire wedding but very few gets converted.
Prime reason could be people thinking nothing will go wrong with us and premium is taken as added expenses.
Risks that are covered under wedding insurance include cancellation of wedding due to unforeseen perils.
For example, if the marriage hall gets flooded or occurrence of an earthquake. Material damage to property like stage, sets, seats and wardrobe due to fire too is covered. Similarly death or accident of bride, groom and blood relations; acts of terrorism too are covered. We have received enquiry where total sum insured were in the range of Rs 10 crore, however most of them were not converted to business due to various reasons. Insurers said thought the cost outlay on weddings in India continues to rise superstitious customers do not indulge in spending few thousand rupees for insuring the wedding as it would mean making a start with a negative thought.
The concept of wedding insurance is catching up but very slowly. In the west, such plans are popular purely because of their increased insurance awareness. But as the spending go up it makes sense to cover the monetary loss. Bajaj Allianz charges Rs 8,273 as premium for wedding insurance of Rs 73 lakh while the premium is as low as Rs 2,252 for sum assured of Rs 20 lakh. Most other insurers custom design policies for clients who approach them hence FC was unable to give a comparison of the rates for the insurers in the market.
