Do you have life insurance with hospitalization income benefit? If so, this Penfires article is for you.
Being hospitalized usually means not being able to go work, which translate to income lost for the duration of the hospital stay. But income need not be wholly gone if you have a life insurance plan with hospital income benefit rider.
I have such a plan with Sun Life Philippines and this post is to share my experience in filing and claiming my hospital income benefit claim from said life insurance company.
I was hospitalized twice last year, underwent major operations on both times. On the first instance, I was admitted for 3 days; the 2nd one was for 4 days. So on those days I wasn’t actively working and earning as I was tied to the hospital bed, but thankfully I have some financial cushion because I signed-up with a Sun Life VUL Life Insurance – Sun Maxilink Prime and one of the riders I’ve chosen on application was the “hospital income benefit” or HIB.
There are many possible riders you can add to the life insurance. Example: Critical Illness, Accidental Death Benefit, Total Disability Benefit, Living Benefit Rider, and more choices out there.
HIB is essentially income replacement during hospital confinement. My HIB was P1,000 per day of hospitalization. On hind sight, I wish I had thought of increasing the coverage to P1,500 like my sister’s, or higher. But well, I was complacent, I wasn’t expecting to get hospitalized. Don’t we all? Hehheh
With the Sun Maxilink Prime plan, and I think as is usual with all other Sun Life full life insurance plans, the HIB rider is twice the benefit amount per day of ICU confinement. But heyyy we don’t want to get admitted to the hospital, much less to the ICU! But if in case it happens to you or me, at least we know that we can expect some money coming from the life insurance company to help us tide things over once we are discharge.
HIB is a living income benefit.
*Another ride to seriously think about is Critical Illness Benefit. I didn’t get this and I am regretting it. This is another protection that I should have gotten when I applied.
*Do you already have a life insurance? If none yet, I highly recommend that you get one as soon as you can. Know that the premium becomes higher, more expensive as you age. Having a life insurance is a gift to yourself and to your family, it’s simply a good investment. I will discuss more about the benefits of life insurance on another post here on Penfires.
…just to be clear, no I am not an agent, I am just a firm believer in insurance coverage.
So how much hospital income benefit did I get from Sun Life? Here’s the snapshot:
May 2019 hospitalization = Php 1,000 x 3 days = Php 3,000
November 2019 hospitalization = Php 1,000 x 4 days = Php 4,000
It’s not big money, yes, but it helps especially with post-op medicines.
The Sun Life claim filing process for Hospital Income Benefit
- I contacted my life insurance advisor / agent, who happened to be my close friend Leah, about my hospital discharged. She said that she will send over the list of requirements for filing a claim in Sun Life for Hospital Income Benefit via email.
*She’s based in Manila and I am based in Cebu so she can’t hand me personally the forms, hence, the email.
You can’t file a claim while you are still admitted. Once you are discharge, you can start the filing process.
I recommend that you contact your advisor / agent as soon as you are hospitalized so he or she is aware of the situation and will expect that you will be filing an HIB claim after getting discharge.
2. I downloaded and PRINTED the forms emailed by my agent.
*If there is a nearby Sun Life office from your residence, you can go there to ask for the claim forms.
3. There are 3 Claim Forms which I duly filled-up for the Hospital Income Benefit. All these forms came from Sun Life, which I downloaded in Step #2.
3.1. Authorization Forms – Claim
3.2. Attending Physician’s Statement – For Hospital Income Benefit
3.3. Claimant’s Statement – For Hospital Income Benefit
Important: You will need to visit your attending doctor again and request her or him to fill-up the Attending Physician’s Statement. Most MDs are aware of this form and is familiar with how to fill-it.
Also, there is a “Witness” section in the form at the bottom part – this section will be filled-up and signed by your advisor. In my claim, I had our neighbor who knew I got admitted affixed her name, address, contact number, and signature on my claim forms lol. So my advisor / agent has to sign my formed at back of the docs hehe.
Aside from completely accomplishing the 3 forms listed above, I also submitted the following documents as support docs for my claim:
A. 2 Valid Government IDs – Philhealth and Passport (photocopy)
B. The Statement of Account from the Hospital (photocopy) ~this is the final billing statement
C. My operation record (photocopy)
*If hospitalization was due to an accident or you got admitted within 2 years of signing up for the life insurance plan – you will be advise on what other document you need to submit. I believe this is to evaluate further your case, especially to rule-out pre-existing conditions that may have been undisclosed during the life insurance application.
I recommend that you talk to your agent or advisor in case you got confuse on what particular documents are required for submission for your case.
4. I LBC’ed all the forms and required docs to my agent’s Sun Life office in Manila.
5. After submission of requirements, I just relaxed and waited for the ‘income replacement’ from Sun Life.
Within 10 working days – the check of Php 3,000 for the first claim was issued and deposited direct to my BPI bank account.
In less than 7 working days – the check of Php 4,000 for the second claim was issued and deposited to my bank account.
*Leah kept me in the loop as my claim filing progresses.
When did I file the claim? The first claim, I filed it within 30 days of discharge. The second claim – I filed it I think 1 and a half month after getting discharge.
It’s best to file a claim as soon as you can. Don’t wait for too long before you file.
My experience in filing a hospital income benefit claim in Sun Life Philippines was fast, easy, and hassle free.
Is this also your experience with this life insurance company? Do share your experience in the comment section. Thank you.
Lastly, if you need more info about life insurance or want to explore the different plans available in Sun Life, and you don’t know any agent, I highly recommend my close friend, Leah, she’ll take care of you. You may email her at leah.t.gilig@sunlife.com.ph or contact her at mobile no 09174239155. She’s based in Manila and from time to time visits Cebu; let her know you got her contacts from Penfires. 🙂
Oh I almost forgot, not really related to this post but just thought of putting this here – please get Philhealth coverage if you are a stay at home person, work at home person, freelancer, or someone who doesn’t work under a company.
The Philhealth benefit I got over my medical procedure and 2 operations last year totaled around P98,000. Ang laking tulong talaga ng Philhealth, as in. Thank you, Philhealth!
Beginning January 2020, the Philhealth premium contribution for self-employed, voluntary member, and informal sector is at P300 per month. Please have Philhealth, at least. Our prayer is that sana hindi maging kailangan sya, but just in case it’s needed, at least you have it ready to help with the hospitalization expenses.
Thank you for reading, I hope you get some useful info from this Penfires post. Maraming Salamat! ~Cille
p.s. I am healthier now, Thank God and thanks to my doctors too! Be healthy everyone! Sending love and good vibes!
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