---
title: Top-up vs Super Top-up
tags: FAQs
---

# I keep hearing about top-up super top-up etc. Which one should I take?

## Introduction :sparkles:

Before we get to the answer for this, we need to definte and establish common understanding around some domain specific terms.

A **Base Policy**, which could either be a group, an individual, or a family floater policy, covers you and/or your family members up to the **Sum Insured**.

This is for any hospitalisations; for a minimum period of 24 consecutive in-patient care hours, except for specified procedures/treatments where such admission could be for a period of less than 24 consecutive hours.

This base policy might have restrictions on **Room Rent** (all major hospital expenses are linked to this parameter, as discussed before) and ICU charges; require you to co-pay a specified percentage of the admissible claim amount and have other restrictions/exclusions under the policy.

Given all other conditions like your age, any pre-existing illnesses, number of family members being insured being the same, your base policy premium will increase with every increase in the sum insured. Hence a ₹2,500,000 (25L INR) sum insured policy will have a higher premium than a ₹1,500,000 (15L INR) sum insured policy.

## Is my base policy enough? :thinking_face:

Cost price inflation of medical services and medicines (closer to 10%-15% per annum) and lifestyle diseases can make a base policy of 25L inadequate in the next 5 years, since the time of subscribing in the policy.

Any new policy will also have a waiting period for pre-existing illnesses (PED's) along with higher premiums due to the PED's. If you want to future-proof your medical expenses, the base policy alone will not be enough.

The option you then have is to buy an additional top-up or super top-up policy. Both these policies are based on a clause called a deductible.

## What is a deductible? :cactus:

 As per IRDAI's guidelines on standardization in health insurance:

> Deductible means a cost sharing requirement under a health insurance policy that provides that the insurer will not be liable for a specified rupee amount in case of indemnity policies and for a specified number of days/hours in case of hospital cash policies which will apply before any benefits are payable by the insurer.

When you buy a top-up or super top-up policy you must choose a deductible - the maximum cost you need to bear when making claim.

Assume you are buying this policy with a deductible of ₹500,000 (5L INR). What it means is that the first 5L INR of any eligible claim will first be paid by the insured either through a separate base policy or out-of-pocket.

## Top-up vs Super Top-up? :yin_yang:

In case of a top-up the deductible is applicable for each hospitalisation, whereas in case of a super top-up the deductible is cumulative for the policy year.

## Which one do I buy? :dollar:

Assuming you already own a base policy and are choosing between a top-up vs super top-up, **it's usually recommended you buy the super top-up**.

The higher the deductible that you choose, lower will be the premium for the super top-up policy.

Ideally your super top-up policy should have the same renewal date as your base policy. This ensures that both policies overlap each other 100% and the benefits of having these two policies are maximised.

Super top-up policies are available for sum insured of up to 1 crore with some insurers.

## Why is the Premium Low for Super Top-ups? :baby_chick:

Insurers can offer super top-ups at a cheaper rate compared to base policy. This is because of much lower probability of higher expenses that'd require you to use your super top-up policy claim options.