new delhi insurance regulator irda on wednesday allowed insurance companies to offer health plus life combi product a policy that would provide life cover along with health insurance to subscribers under the guidelines issued by the insurance regulatory and development authority the life and nonlife insurance firms can come together to offer healthpluslife cover it is envisaged that the proposed product class will enhance the penetration of personal lines of insurance business with a wider product choice to policyholders it said while issuing the guidelines under the existing structure nonlife insurers do not provide pure life insurance products the irda notified the guidelines following representations by the insurance companies for an umbrella of a single product to give more choice to a policy subscriber the guidelines added that it would be mandatory for life and nonlife insurance companies to enter into agreements before offering the new product to subscriber the combo products do help the policyholders and would help in increase the penetration of health insurance in the country said life insurance council secretary general s b mathur irda further said the combi products may be promoted by all life insurance and nonlife insurance companies a tie up is permitted between one life insurer and one nonlife insurer only thus a life insurer is permitted to tie up with only one nonlife insurer and viceversa irda said the regulator further said between these two insurers any number of combi products may be promoted insurers forming the tieup shall obtain prior irda approval by duly filing the copy of the agreement entered in this regard irda said the product may be offered both as individual policy and on group insurance basis and would have a free look option as outlined in the regulation