Insurance on your debit card

DEBIT CARD COVER

Did you know that the debit card that you use to withdraw money from automated teller machines (ATM) comes with an insurance cover? Most banks offer insurance cover on it. However, the type of insurance cover and sum assured vary depending on the card and type of savings account you hold with the bank. The sum assured can range from ₹25,000 to ₹3 crore. Usually, all banks that offer insurance cover with debit cards, provide it for free. There are four types of insurance cover on cards—personal accidental insurance for air and non-air, purchase protection cover and lost card liability cover.

THE ACTIVATION PROCESS

To be able to get the cover, you should do a transaction on your card. Some banks ask for a certain amount of transaction— say about ₹500 for loss of card cover. The air accidental insurance cover gets activated when you purchase an air ticket using the card. The purchase protection cover provides protection for goods that you have purchased against theft, fire or loss in transit till 90 days from the date of protection. In case of purchase card protection, the cover is provided against standard fire and allied perils and burglary in residential premises only. Usually you can claim. You also get cover against loss of check-in baggage.

HOW TO CLAIM?

To claim, you have to first contact the call centre of the insurance company that provides you the insurance. For instance, if it is an ICICI Bank card, for claim you will have to call ICICI Lombard call centre. You will then have to send required documents such as card statement, copy of FIR and bills. After you provide the document, the insurer will review the details and is supposed to give you the money within 30 days depending on the investigation. The insurer may request for additional documents depending on the claim lodged or investigation.

WHAT IS IT?

Exchange traded fund (ETF) is a kind of passive fund. The fund actually reflects the index of shares that it holds. Broader market ETFS will invest in diverse sectors. There are also sector-specific ETFS. As there is no particular stock selection and it only looks at the index, the

returns will be similar to the index.

SHOULD YOU INVEST?

You can look at equity ETF if you want to invest for

a long term — say 7-10 years. Remember that sector-specific ETF can be risky. Hence, if you are a first-time investor, you may want to stay away from sector-specific ETF. It could also work for those who don’t have the time to track fund managers and their

performance.