New Delhi, Feb. 23 -- Rs.6,818 is what it cost me to increase our family health cover from Rs.20 lakh to Rs.5 crore using a top-up policy. We are in our mid-50s with two children in their 20s.

This is, by a large margin, the most cost-effective way to increase your health cover. Few financial products allow you to increase protection 25 times for the price of a meal out.

This is why I often advocate top-up insurance-sometimes also called super top-ups-to friends and family. Think of base insurance as first-loss protection and top-ups as catastrophic illness cover.

The questions I am asked most often are: Why is the top-up so cheap? How does one claim? Are there regulatory safeguards? Are there exclusions? How should one buy a top-up? ...