Indians are more likely to have a vehicle or life insurance than health insurance, according to a survey by private research firm, Chrome Data Analytics and Media (CDAM). Only 31per cent of Indians had medical policies independent of those provided by their employers in spite of nearly half the survey respondents admitting to having faced a “financial emergency” due to medical needs. This was because the bulk of Indians weren’t correctly estimating the potential pitfall — of exorbitant bills — from not having insurance and only saw it from the lens of tax benefits. “Even among those who did have health insurance, most had covers below 2 lakh which in many cases doesn’t cover a serious ailment like a heart transplant,” said Pankaj Krishna, Founder, CDAM. While a vehicle insurance was mandatory, a life cover too was popular because of tax benefits and not due to having a succession plan in place, he added.