Mumbai: If the trends are to be believed, insurance cover on credit cards could be a thing of the past. Banks and credit card issuers are increasingly withdrawing the facility of free insurance cover that was ubiquitous with credit cards sometime back. So, if you have got that plastic in the last few months and you are jumping with joy for that fabulous 1 crore air accident cover that was a regular feature with your credit card, its time to read the fine prints.

HDFC bank one of the leading credit card issuers in India has decided to withdraw the complementary insurance cover on their Platinum Plus credit card from 1 January, 2008. This notification was sent to the credit card holders with their monthly statements. This effectively means that Rs. 1crore cover due to air accident, Rs. 2 lakh cover due to a rail or road accident and an accident hospitalization insurance of Rs. 1 lakh have vanished into thin air.

This process of withdrawing insurance benefits has been going on for some time now and almost all the major issuers are doing it. Bankers feel that this facility was not being visualized as a value add and the process of filing and settling claims was leaving the customers dissatisfied. Cash-back and other value additions score over insurance when it comes to value adds.

The offer of 'free for life' credit cards has been another reason to withdraw the insurance offered on credit cards. When credit card companies offer free for life credit cards, they are in fact letting their annual fees go. This loss is being made up with elimination of freebies like insurance covers.

However, its not that insurance cover on credit cards has altogether been eliminated, many cards do provide it but at a price. For instance, while the ICICI Bank has withdrawn its insurance cover on basic and classic cards, their Signature card comes with an air accident insurance of Rs. 3 crore but it has a huge annual fee of Rs. 25,000.

As the trend is clearly visible, bankers are now preferring to package their credit cards with offers such as free-for life credit cards and increased cash-back rather than free insurance cover, which is often laden with hassles and customer dissatisfaction while processing the claims.