Health Insurance: Online vs Offline Comparison

Meaning

means that you purchase health insurance from an insurer’s website or through their mobile app.

Buying offline health insurance means that you have to visit the prefered insurer’s office personally or buy it through an agent.

Process

Log on to the official website or mobile app of the insurer. Input your personal and health details. A quote will be generated accordingly. Go through the terms carefully. After that, pay the premium online and the policy document will be emailed to you.

You have to manually compare plans, complete documentation and submit your application. After your application is approved, the hard copy of the policy will be generated and mailed to you.

Time factor

Buying health insurance online will take only a few minutes to complete.

Purchasing health insurance offline is time consuming. It may take a few weeks for your policy to be issued.

Convenience

You can buy health insurance from anywhere and at any time. All you need is a computer or smartphone with a working internet connection.

You can buy health insurance offline by booking an appointment with an agent or by visiting your preferred insurer's nearest branch office.

Choice

Purchasing health insurance online gives you more options. You can choose from several available policies, according to your requirements.

If you buy health insurance offline, you have to rely on the agent or agents that you are in touch with. So, your choices are limited.

Documentation

Buying health insurance online involves zero paperwork. You don’t have to submit any physical documents.

Buying offline health insurance requires documentation. Some of the documents required include medical records, birth certificate, Aadhar card etc.

Transparency

You can access information about the insurer for example, their claim settlement ratio, online. These details make the process more transparent and straightforward.

Buying health insurance offline means relying on information provided by an agent. Since agents usually only represent the insurer or insurers they work for, their opinion is likely to be biased.

Comparison

One of the major advantages of buying health insurance online is being able to compare policies. You can do this manually by visiting multiple insurer websites or through neutral financial websites.

Offline is challenging since you have limited access to information.

Customer reviews

If you buy health insurance online, you can check the reviews posted by existing customers of an insurer. This will help you get a good idea of the insurer’s reliability.

When you buy health insurance offline, you cannot find out the reviews of existing customers. You will have to rely solely on the information provided by your agent.

Policy Premium

The online mode bypasses agent fees and other operational costs for the insurer. Thus, policy premiums are offered at a significantly lower cost than the offline alternative.

The policy premium charged for offline health insurance is higher than that of online health insurance.

Customer Support

Usually the websites of health insurers have a 24x7 live customer support chat for assistance.

If you purchase health insurance offline, an agent will guide you through the entire process.

Raising claims

First inform your insurer about the claim. Then, choose a hospital from the list of available network hospitals on your insurer’s website or mobile app. After that, fill in your claim details and submit documentation. Once you have completed these steps, your insurer will pay the hospital directly as per the terms of the policy.

Call the insurer’s office to inform them of the claim and ask about the nearest network hospital. Then contact your Third Party Administrator and they will handle the process from there. For network hospitals, the treatment will be cashless as per the terms in the policy document. For other hospitals, you need to pay for the treatment and get the payment reimbursed by your insurer.

Renewal

Visit your insurer’s website or mobile app and go to the renewal section. Fill in your previous policy number and registered mobile number. After that, review the policy details and check the renewal premium. Lastly, make an online payment to renew the policy.

You can offline by visiting the nearest branch office of your insurer. Alternatively, you can get it done through an agent.

Security

You can refer to the terms of an insurance policy online, at any time. Because of this transparency, there are less security risks.

If you buy health insurance offline, you need to rely on the information provided by an agent. This opens the door to the possibility of manipulation and fraud.