Wedding insurance is no new product but it is yet to catch up in India, a country that spends obscene amounts of money on marriage. Experts say the broad coverage provided by existing wedding insurance schemes can mitigate potential losses resulting from unforeseen circumstances such as sudden cancellation or postponement of marriage. While many weddings can be and are conducted on shoe-string budgets, most estimates of average wedding costs in the country have a lower range of Rs 4 lakh. In fact, in a 2016 consumer report, international financial services firm Goldman Sachs pegged the average cost of weddings conducted in India at between $7,500 and $75,000 (Rs 5 lakh and Rs 5 crore). With such large sums in play, picking up the tab for wedding insurance can be a worthwhile proposition, especially if wedding costs are in the higher range and scheduled to be held during the monsoons.
Most wedding insurance products cover a wide range of possibilities, with K G Krishnamoorthy Rao, MD and CEO of Future Generali India Insurance, writing in a recent column that coverage extends, “right from marriage venue to jewelleries and gifts like precious stones or appliances given by blood relatives and/or in-laws”. “For instance, you may have created a set for your wedding with immaculate decorations which unfortunately gets spoiled due to fire, flood or any other calamity. Here, your insurer will take care of the financial loss incurred due to this calamity,” wrote Rajan Pental, head - retail lending, YES Bank, in another recent column. HDFC Ergo’s policies, for example, cover “cancellation or rescheduling due to unforeseen events like natural calamities, due to a major accident involving the bride, groom or immediate family member and damage to the venue due to cyclones, floods or even fire”. Insurance cover can also cover instances of burglary or theft of money or valuables.
Premiums charged for such policies are also fairly standard, with premiums ranging from between 0.75 per cent and 1.5 per cent of the insured amount. Most companies offer policies starting from coverage of up to Rs 20 lakh to as much as Rs 75 lakh, with premiums charged from around Rs 2,200 to Rs 8,000. However, insurance firms draw the line at many other unexpected factors that might derail a wedding. One such is the so-called ‘cold-feet clause’, which states that losses from a cancelled wedding caused due to either the bride, groom or other family members deciding to halt it will not be covered. Other notable incidents generally not covered include cancellation due to bandhs and similar political unrest, and instances of kidnapping of persons covered under the policy.