Today’s Women continues to compromise on her health, as family remains the priority - ICICI Lombard survey

International Women’s Day - March 8

Today’s Women continues to compromise on her health, as family remains the priority - ICICI Lombard survey

Today’s woman plays many roles. From being a home-maker, a loving mother to presenting business strategies in the corporate boardroom, she is adept at everything. However, while balancing her professional and personal life, she seems to be ignoring her personal health and well-being. To gauge women’s awareness and attitude towards health, an online survey was conducted in February 2015 by ICICI Lombard General Insurance. The survey capturing responses from 1009 women respondents unveils some interesting insights.

The Indian woman, though trying to develop her own identity, prefers to put her family first as accepted by 40% respondents. In this priority tussle, she neglects her health, avoiding health check-ups. This was clear from the response of 79% women respondents who didn’t go for any tests (16%) or went for health check-ups only if unwell (63%). This is despite 71% of them succumbing to illness at least once or twice in a year. This pattern is corroborated by ICICI Lombard’s claims data analysis for 2013 and 2014 which shows that women are prone to and increasingly succumbing to chronic ailments like arthritis, anemia, metabolic disorders and cancer compared to men.

Sanjay Datta, Chief-Underwriting & Claims, ICICI Lombard GIC Ltd., said, “It is an irony that despite playing multiple roles, women ignore their own health and well-being. Infact, the multi-responsibility avatar is precisely the reason why they should ensure good health for themselves. Today’s woman needs to give her health, its due importance and health insurance is the critical tool which can help support and stay protected from the perils of her hectic life style.”

Another area of concern that the survey revealed pertains to health insurance. Only 39% respondents were covered by health insurance. Among those who were not covered, 53% had never thought about the same. Among the covered segment, only 22% had purchased a policy by themselves. The balance 79% owned it through their husband/ father (63%) or were sponsored by their employer (16%). Again among those covered by health insurance, 48% were not aware of cover details and 40% didn’t know the process to avail claim benefits. 53% respondents, who did not own insurance, had never even given it a thought.

ICICI Lombard Women’s Health – Survey Highlights:

Well being aspects

• 47% have fallen sick 1 to 2 times in the past 6 months
• 24% have been unwell more than 3 times in the last six months
• 63% go for check –ups, only when they fall sick, 16% never go for check-ups
• 31% respondents gave time constraints as the excuse for not going for check-ups, whereas 30% felt health check-ups were expensive and unnecessary
• 61% are aware of women related diseases but 59% have never undergone any preventive test

Health insurance aspects..!

·         48% of respondents didn’t own a health insurance, while 12% were not sure if they were covered

·         Among the non-owners, 53% had never thought of buying a health insurance

·         For the 39% who own a policy, in 63% cases, the father or spouse had purchased the health insurance policy.

Today’s hectic life style and the need to adorn multiple roles is impacting women’s health. It is extremely essential that they give importance to preventive health care and ensure financial protection against medical emergencies. It’s time the Indian Women takes the baton of her health in her own hands.

About ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Ltd.

ICICI Lombard GIC Ltd. is a joint venture between ICICI Bank Limited, India's second largest bank with total assets of over USD 99 billion at March 31, 2014 and Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited, a Canada based USD 37 billion diversified financial services company engaged in general insurance, reinsurance, insurance claims management and investment management. ICICI Lombard GIC Ltd. is the largest private sector general insurance company in India with a Gross Written Premium (GWP) of Rs 71.34 billion for the year ended March 31, 2014. The company issued over 11.22 million policies and settled over 6.44 million claims as on March 31, 2014.

ICICI Lombard received the highest rating in terms of overall customer satisfaction as well as ‘The Most Recommended Company’ in a 2013 survey to assess Customer satisfaction and Quality of Health insurance in India, commissioned by Dept. of Consumer Affairs, Ministry of Consumer Affairs. The company has also been conferred the "ASTD BEST Award 2012" for Learning and Development, "Porter Prize 2012" for creating Shared Value, "Golden Peacock Award 2012" for Corporate Social Responsibility and "Golden Peacock Innovation Award-2010" for Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana. It also received the "Product of the Year" award in the General Insurance category for FY2012-13 and was voted the No 1 Health Insurance Product in a survey of 18,000 people over 23 cities in India, a study done by Nielsen. The company has been conferred with 'Celent Asia Insurance Technology Award 2012' under the category Best Mobile Applications. More details are available on the website www.icicilombard.com

ICICI Lombard GIC Ltd. Girish J Kalra girish.kalra@icicilombard.com    Tel: 022 61961461

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