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/Guaranteed Extra Cover
Find what matters most to you.
Pick a coverage concern and see its exact policy terms, compared side-by-side across top Indian health insurance plans.
36 features mapped
6 coverage topics
Start here8
The concerns that cost the most when a plan gets them wrong
Step 1Coverage Directory
Every category, decoded
All 6 coverage topics in one place - start with the worry on your mind, and open the features that decide it.
Step 2Feature Library
Cancer & serious illness
Every feature behind Cancer & serious illness, deciders first - pick one to see how the plans differ.
2 more features here look much the same across the plans we cover - they rarely decide the choice.
Step 3Plan Comparison
What is Guaranteed Extra Cover in health insurance?
Extra cover that sits on top of your Sum Insured, so a single large bill can be paid beyond what you bought. Some plans pre-fund this as a separate pool from day one; others provide the same extra amount through refills that can top up the very bill that used up your cover.
Every plan, ranked11 · 2 strong · 2 standard · 2 limited · 5 not covered
HDFC ERGOStrongOptima Secure · Optima-Super-SecureAdds 200% of your cover as an extra pool
Strong
The Secure Benefit adds a second Sum Insured on top of your base from day one, before any claim. On the Optima Secure, Global, Global Plus and Secure+ plans it is 100% of your Base Sum Insured; on Optima Super Secure it is 200%. It is spent after the base cover runs out and it raises what one single bill can be paid - a ₹10,00,000 cover can pay ₹20,00,000 on one hospitalisation. Optima Suraksha, Select and Lite do not have it.
Coverage detailstap any row to understand it
How it's coveredIncluded in the base plan
What the insurer calls itSecure Benefit
Extra coverAdds 200% of your cover as an extra pool
Activates FromDay 1
Eligible Claim TypesBase Coverage Only
Watch out
The Secure Benefit applies only once in a policy year, though it can be spread across any number of claims in that year. Anything left over does not carry into the next year.
Aditya BirlaStrongActiv One · NXTAdds up to 100% of your cover extra on each claim, as a refill
Strong
There is no separate pool above your sum insured. The extra room comes from Super Reload: it triggers when your cover is insufficient for a claim, not only when it is used up, so it can top up the very bill that ran out and add one more base sum insured to it. On every plan except NXT, the first claim in the life of the policy gets none of this.
Coverage detailstap any row to understand it
How it's coveredIncluded in the base plan
What the insurer calls itSuper Reload
Extra coverAdds up to 100% of your cover extra on each claim, as a refill
Activates FromDay 1
Eligible Claim TypesHospitalization, Domiciliary Hospitalization, Home Care, AYUSH, Organ Donor
Watch out
Unlike a pool that is funded from day one, this extra room is not there for the first claim in the life of the policy on any plan except NXT. A single large first claim is paid only up to your base cover plus accumulated Super Credit.
ICICI LombardStandardElevateAdds up to 100% of your cover extra on each claim, as a refill
Standard
Elevate funds no separate pool above your Sum Insured. Cover beyond it comes from the Reset Benefit: one claim is paid from your Sum Insured, then the bonuses, then up to 100% of your Sum Insured in reset money, so a single bill can be paid past what you bought. The first claim of each policy year gets none of it.
Coverage detailstap any row to understand it
How it's coveredIncluded in the base plan
What the insurer calls itReset Benefit
Extra coverAdds up to 100% of your cover extra on each claim, as a refill
Activates FromAfter First Paid Claim
Eligible Claim TypesHospitalization, AYUSH
Watch out
It applies only to claims admitted under In-patient Treatment, Day Care Treatment or In-patient AYUSH Hospitalisation, and only inside India.
Niva BupaStandardReAssure 3.0 · ClassicAdds up to 100% of your cover extra on each claim, as a refill
Standard
There is no separate pool sitting above your cover from day one. The extra room for a single large bill comes from ReAssure Forever: once your first claim has been paid, the refill can top up the very bill that used up your cover, up to your Base Sum Insured. On a 10 Lakh cover that means a later single bill can be paid up to 20 Lakh from base plus refill.
Coverage detailstap any row to understand it
How it's coveredIncluded in the base plan
What the insurer calls itReAssure Forever
Extra coverAdds up to 100% of your cover extra on each claim, as a refill
Activates FromAfter First Paid Claim
Eligible Claim TypesRoad Ambulance, Hospitalization, Pre/Post Hospitalization, Home Care, Domiciliary Hospitalization, Organ Donor
Watch out
This headroom does not exist on your first-ever claim. Until one claim has been paid, a single bill can only draw on your Base Sum Insured and accumulated Booster+.
Star HealthLimitedFamily Health OptimaAdds an extra ₹1.5 Lakh pool on top of your cover
Limited
A Recharge Benefit of ₹1,50,000 sits on top of your Sum Insured and Loyalty Bonus, and it can pay the very hospital bill that used up your cover. You get it once in the policy period, anything unused does not carry forward, and Modern Treatment claims cannot draw on it.
Coverage detailstap any row to understand it
How it's coveredIncluded in the base plan
What the insurer calls itRecharge Benefit
Extra coverAdds an extra ₹1.5 Lakh pool on top of your cover
Activates FromDay 1
Eligible Claim TypesHospitalization, Pre/Post Hospitalization, Road Ambulance, Domiciliary Hospitalization, AYUSH, Organ Donor
Watch out
The Recharge is a flat ₹1,50,000 whatever your Sum Insured, so it goes much further on a ₹5,00,000 cover than on a ₹25,00,000 one. A road traffic accident adds a separate 25% of the Sum Insured, capped at ₹5,00,000, but only if police and hospital records show you were wearing a helmet on a two-wheeler.
Care HealthLimitedCare SupremeOptional - Adds 20% of your cover as an extra pool
Limited
Plus Benefit is a paid optional pool that adds 20% of your Sum Insured, up to a maximum of 10 lakh, and it is there from day 1. It counts towards the maximum payable on a single claim, so it genuinely raises the most that one large hospital bill can be paid. It is used only after the base Sum Insured is exhausted, and anything unused is lost at the end of the year.
Coverage detailstap any row to understand it
How it's coveredOptional add-on
What the insurer calls itPlus Benefit
Extra coverAdds 20% of your cover as an extra pool
Activates FromDay 1
Absolute Cap Amount₹10 Lakh
Watch out
The 20% is worked out on the base Sum Insured alone; your Cumulative Bonus, Cumulative Bonus Super and the Plus Benefit itself are left out of that calculation. The 10 lakh ceiling means the pool stops growing once your Sum Insured passes 50 lakh.
Star HealthNot coveredSuper StarNot in this plan, and not sold as an add-on
Not covered
Super Star has no extra pool sitting above your Sum Insured from day one. A single bill is paid out of the Sum Insured plus whatever Cumulative Bonus has built up, and the restoration benefit only funds a later hospitalisation.
Coverage detailstap any row to understand it
How it's coveredNot covered
Watch out
Limitless Care can only be bought within the first three policy years, works once in the life of the policy.
HDFC ERGONot coveredOptima RestoreNot in this plan, and not sold as an add-on
Not covered
This policy has no extra pool of cover sitting above your Sum Insured. A single claim is paid at most the Basic Sum Insured plus the accrued Multiplier Benefit, and the Restore Benefit only brings cover back for later claims. The paid Limitless add-on is the only route to a claim above that ceiling.
Coverage detailstap any row to understand it
How it's coveredNot covered
Watch out
The Multiplier Benefit does raise what one claim can be paid, but only by the amount you have actually accrued, and it is spent before the Restore Benefit is touched.
Star HealthNot coveredStar ComprehensiveNot in this plan, and not sold as an add-on
Not covered
This policy has no extra pool of cover sitting on top of your Sum Insured. The most a single hospitalisation can draw is your Basic Sum Insured plus any accrued Cumulative Bonus. The automatic restoration does not raise that limit either, because it pays only a subsequent hospitalisation.
Coverage detailstap any row to understand it
How it's coveredNot covered
Care HealthNot coveredCare AdvantageNot in this plan, and not sold as an add-on
Not covered
The base plan has no extra pool sitting above your Sum Insured. You can buy Additional Sum Insured for Accidental Hospitalization, which adds up to 100% of your Sum Insured over and above it and counts towards what a single bill can be paid. It works only for in-patient care after an accident, and only once in the policy period.
Coverage detailstap any row to understand it
How it's coveredNot covered
Watch out
The extra Sum Insured is spent only after your own Sum Insured is finished, and only for the person who was hospitalised after the accident. An illness claim cannot touch it. It applies once during the policy period. A second accident in the same year draws nothing from this pool, so you are back to your Sum Insured plus any accrued bonus.
Star HealthNot coveredStar Health AssureNot in this plan, and not sold as an add-on
Not covered
This product has no extra cover sitting above your Sum Insured. The most one claim can be paid is your Sum Insured plus the cumulative bonus you have earned. The restoration benefit refills your cover, but only for a later hospitalisation, so it does not raise what a single bill can be paid.
Coverage detailstap any row to understand it
How it's coveredNot covered
Watch out
One very large bill cannot be paid beyond your Sum Insured plus bonus. On ₹10,00,000 cover with no bonus earned yet, a ₹15,00,000 hospital bill leaves you paying ₹5,00,000 from your own pocket.
Step 4Shortlist
Your decision so far
Tap a plan to pick it, then read it in full or compare any two.
Nothing kept yet
Tap the bookmark on any plan in the comparison above and it lands here. Then pick one to read it in full, or two to compare.
Or read one we prepared for Guaranteed Extra CoverSuper Star vs Optima RestoreSuper Star vs Star ComprehensiveOptima Restore vs Star Comprehensive
Every feature, A to Z
Each one has its own page - what it means, and how every plan handles it.