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National insurance awareness day also serves as a reminder to people to check if all their insurance payments (or renewals) are up to date.
Following a huge fire in London, Nicholas Barbon set up the first fire insurance company in 1666 AD. Since then, the insurance market has only expanded to newer sectors. The beneficiaries of insurance policies are given financial cover in case of unfortunate events, like injury, accident and business loss, among others. In lieu of this financial cover, people pay premiums, a particular sum of money paid to the insurance company in a decided number of installments for a specified duration.
Today, car, home and life insurance are the most sought-after purchases. In fact, the insurance market has grown so big that this sector has a significant impact on the economic growth of a country.
The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has made people more aware of the several health insurance policies available in the market. However, there is a large section of the population that still perceives the purchase of an insurance policy as an unnecessary expense. Therefore, the National Insurance Awareness Day is observed annually on June 28 to make people aware of the benefits of investing in an insurance plan.
The day also serves as a reminder to people to check if all their insurance payments (or renewals) are up to date. While insurance companies run advertisement campaigns on the National Insurance Awareness Day without a miss, the origin of this day remains a mystery.
In the last few decades, several unique insurance covers have also been rolled out into the market. Here are a few lesser known insurance categories.
Lottery insurance: This helps companies to get compensated in case a group of their employees start a lottery ticket pool, win and then retire.
Wedding insurance: The wedding insurance, in case of any untoward incident, covers expenses related to marriage like advance paid to the caterer or wedding hall, advance paid for decorations, hotel reservations and travel ticket bookings, costs of printing cards etc. In India, National Insurance, ICICI Lombard, Future Generali, Oriental Insurance and Bajaj Allianz are few insurers who offer wedding insurance covers.
Body part insurance: As the name indicates, this insurance covers any harm to a particular body part. Many celebrities have insured their body parts.
Insurance against death by laughter: Yes, you read it. The name is self-explanatory. It secures stand-up comedians and organizers of the event from paying compensation in case an audience member gets a fatal laugh attack.