How to choose Best Term Insurance Plans in India

Do you know the online term insurance plans in india? Do you think buying a term insurance plan from best insurance company would be sufficient? Do you have all the information on which you can decide the best term insurance plans? Today we would discuss about the factors which contributes in choosing the term insurance plans which are best.

What is term insurance plan?

Term insurance plan is life insurance which provides coverage at a fixed premium for a limited period of term. After the period expires, coverage at the previous paid premiums is no longer guaranteed and customer would forgo coverage unless renewed.

Why you should buy term insurance plan?

Term insurance plans are available with low premiums. Since there is no maturity amount attached, these term insurance plans are available with low premiums. These plans would provide coverage for higher insurance with low premium.

Broadly there are 3 factors which would effect in choosing the best term insurance plans

1)   Check high claim settlement ratio: The important factor of selecting any term insurance plans or any other insurance plans is claim settlement ratio. Claim settlement ratio is nothing but the no. of claims the insurance company has settled over the total claims received. Say if an insurance company has received 100 claims, but settled only 90, it would be 90%.

·         If you are not there and your family is supposed to receive the insurance claim, but insurance company has rejected this. Then why you need to buy the term insurance plan? Hence it is important that you check the claim settlement ratio before taking the policy.

·         However there are various factors which would affect your claim rejection.

·         When you buy an insurance policy, do read all the terms and conditions. Your agent might be hiding certain conditions where later the claim might get rejected.

·         Disclose all factors like whether you are smoker and drinker. If you hide this and it would get detected later on when you are not there, there are 100% chances that your family claim gets rejected

·         When you are taking multiple insurance policies, you better disclose them. There are chances that the data might be incorrect in some of the policies and it would be a positive point to insurance company to reject any such claims at a later point of time.

2)   Do not look just low premium term insurance plans as best: If you are thinking of choosing a term insurance plan which offers with low premium, then you might be wrong. Low premium could be a factor but cannot be only factor. Low premiums term insurance plans might have several conditions attached to process the claim. Know them upfront, else your family would be trouble at later point of time.

3)   How good the insurance company is? There are several private insurance companies which came in the last few years. People still trust Life Insurance Corporation. If you see above data it says claims settlement ratio is 97.42% for LIC. Now you believe why people believe LIC. I do not say you should not go for private insurance companies. But how the companies are able to build trust among the insurers is the question we should ask. One of the methods of check is looking at the growth in insurance policies taken the insurers from an insurance company.

4)   Comparison of terms and conditions: Another factor can be, to look at the terms and conditions of various insurance companies offering term insurance plans and choosing the best one among them. This is a tricky one as there are no standard rules as to what is the impact of such terms and conditions.

5)   Take two term insurance plans: One way of diversifying the risk is taking two term insurance plans from two different insurance companies. In case there is a rejection from one company, you can still hope to get claim from another insurance company.

Conclusion: Choosing a best term insurance plans is easy once you know the factors which would affect it. I feel the above 5 factors would definitely help in choosing the good term insurance plans.

[Source: http://myinvestmentideas.com/2013/01/how-to-choose-best-term-insurance-plans-in-india-2013/]

Few Guidelines for Life Insurance Buyers

Life insurance buyers should know that it does not deliver any instant gratification. Generally, it is sold on the basis of commitment made by insurance companies in India for events which may occur in the long run. The insurance document is an agreement between the policyholder and the insurer that assurances certain amount of payments in case specific circumstances are fulfilled.

Insurance service provider must assist the insured person’s family in completion of claim requirements at the time of the incident. This policy is like a contract of trust where insured should help in correct decision-making by giving all the required details. Insurance protects the chances of a person getting ill or dying.

If the risk is higher, then the premium is also higher. An individual with high risk paying low premium by hiding critical details is liable for penalty. Below are few guidelines an insured must follow:

• Right Information

While filing and signing a proposal form, buyer must check all details since he or she will be accountable for providing wrong information.

• Nomination

The insurer is discharged for its liability when it pays the sum assured to your beneficiary registered under a procedure established by the Insurance Act, 1938. Policyholders should know that a life insurance claim without a beneficiary cannot be settled and all insurers demand evidence that the claimant is the correct person to receive the policy benefits.

If policyholder has mentioned somebody as nominee to receive the benefits at the time of demise, claim benefits are paid to the 1^st legal heir as per the policy document. Amount will be received by the policyholder in case of maturity.

• Documentation

Submit all necessary documents to file a life insurance claim. These documents under any online term insurance India death claim come under the following categories:

Policy related documents

Documents that prove the occurrence of the event does not come under exclusions specified in the insurance agreement.

Identity proof of the claimant

Insurers cannot settle a life insurance claim until all essential documents are submitted by the policyholder. If insured person failed to submit original policy document, then there is another way to get the documents certified. Insured people must pay their premiums on time to conveniently avail maturity claims.

During the policy period, if the address or contact details change, policyholders should get it updated in the company records. Insurer will contact the insured when the plan would be due for its maturity to close the required documentation. Some issues which can result to delay are dispute between insurer and claimant, non-disclosure of facts and nomination not specified at application stage etc.

[Source: http://blog.policyboss.com/term-insurance/guidelines-life-insurance-buyers/]

5 Reasons Why Term Insurance Plans are a Must Have

With life insurance being an integral part of an individual’s financial planning exercise, a lot of focus has been given to life insurance products such as term insurance plans (also referred to as protection plans). This article will decide this insurance plan that’s garnering a lot of attention.

To begin with, insurance products fall under two broad categories — pure risk cover and savings, and risk cover. But the purpose, nature and benefits of each of the products under each of these categories are significantly different.

1. Protection plans as risk covers, only 
   A protection plan would typically fall under the pure risk cover category as the product is made up of only the protection element, and no maturity benefit is associated with the policy. This policy will only make a payment at the occurrence of a precise event i.e. death. While this might suggest that a large proportion of policyholders taking these policies never receive a payment as they outlive the policy term, they and their families are provided with valuable financial protection in the unfortunate event of a claim occurring.
2. Protection plans are cost-effective
   With a protection plan, a mere sum of Rs 2508 annually (exclusive of service tax and educational cess) could help provide a financial cushion of up to Rs 10,00,000 at the event of death of the policyholder (example based on a male policyholder aged 25 years with a 25 years term). In fact, buying term insurance plans online can be even more cost-effective.

3.       The perfect insurance plan for all
Online Term Insurance Plans in India are designed and priced so that the policyholders, as a group, are effectively pooling their premiums in order to pay a benefit for a relatively infrequent, but significant event that might occur. This means that for each policyholder the cost of providing the cover is relatively modest in comparison to the benefit that would be provided if that event occurred. With no savings element attached to it, the life insurer does not incur any expense in terms of managing the funds.

4. Suitable for single bread earners 
   A term plan is ideally suited for individuals who are the single bread earner of the family with high financial liabilities. Usually, low income, high financial liabilities, dependent spouse and children, and good insurable health are the factors that trigger the choice to get a term insurance. As always, the fundamental principle remains the same. It’s advised to start at a younger age as premiums will be low. Also, when the insured is young, he/she can avail of longer term coverage such as 30 years.
5. Protects dependents from short-term liabilities
   Term plan is ideal for an individual to protect dependents from any short-term liability such as a house loan, children’s education in case of death. The ideal time to buy term insurance is when an individual has debts that are expected to end after a specific period of time. Similarly, term plans can be used as a cover against car loans, short term loans, etc.

Choosing to purchase a life insurance policy to protect one’s financial dreams and aspirations is a wise   

decision. It is important that the insurance is purchased according to one’s financial needs.

[Source: http://blog.hdfclife.com/why-term-life-insurance-plans-are-necessary-532420]

Know your Insurance bonus!

Beyond its financial connotation, the word “bonus” itself makes one happy! Similarly, for traditional life insurance policyholders, a bonus is one of the lucrative benefits as one type of return on the investment done. In India, a lot of us look for guaranteed returns on our investments & a Traditional Life Insurance Policy is a sought after investment proposal, since it offers some returns in addition to Life Cover. This article will help you understand more about Bonuses & remove any ambiguity with respect to the same.

Does every policy holder of life insurance get bonus?

No. Bonus is not shared with every customer or every policyholder. It is only paid to customers who have bought a Participating Insurance Policy such as traditional insurance policies like the endowment policy, whole life insurance policy and money back plan. Each type of Traditional Policy has 2 versions, namely the Participating Insurance Policy and Non-participating Insurance Policy.

The key features of Participating policies are:

• It will participate in the profits of the insurance pool i.e. It pays bonus to policy holders
• The percentage of bonus that is paid to the policyholder is not fixed.
• The premiums for participating policy are higher than the non-participating policy for a similar coverage and same customer criteria.

How is the bonus rate decided by a company?

The amount of bonuses declared annually depends on the amount of surpluses in the Life Fund. This, in turn, depends on economic conditions and equity markets. If a life insurance company experiences good surpluses year on year, it could pay a high level of bonuses. If, however, economic conditions are poor and less surpluses are expected, Insurance companies could reduce the bonus rate to reflect the actual investment returns in the Life Fund. The bonus rate is decided after considering a variety of factors such as the return on the underlying assets, the level of bonuses declared in previous years and other actuarial assumptions (especially future liabilities and anticipated investment returns), as well as marketing considerations.

Different types of bonus
Insurers usually offer five types of bonuses that include Simple Reversionary Bonus, Compound Reversionary Bonus, Terminal Bonus, Interim Bonus and Cash Bonus. While the Simple Reversionary Bonus will give you a bonus only on the sum assured, Compound Reversionary bonus is calculated as a percentage of the sum assured and all previously accrued bonuses.

Simple Reversionary bonus is declared annually on the sum assured and the accrued amount is paid out to the policy holder at the time of claim or maturity. On the other hand, when it comes to Compound Reversionary Bonus, the bonus of each year is added to the sum assured and the next year’s bonus is calculated on the Sum Assured and the attached bonus. And, the accrued bonus is payable in case of claim or maturity.

Terminal bonus or persistency bonus is one type of bonus paid to the policyholder based on the performance of a participating policy. Offered at the discretion of the insurer, this type of bonus is paid at the time of maturity or death of the life assured during the term insurance plans. Terminal bonus is accrued every year depending on the profit made by the insurer and paid at the time of maturity or death claim settlement. Usually, terminal bonus gives a good sum of money and it is important for a customer to hold on to the policy till the end of the term to avail this.

Interim bonus is paid for those life insurance policies that mature or results in death claims in between two bonus declaration dates. An interim bonus ensures that policyholders who claim benefits in middle of a policy year will get a credit for keeping the policy in force for that part of the year. To put it simply, bonus is usually accrued against a policy at the end of last financial year. But, if maturity of a policy or death claim happens before the bonus declaration date, bonus is paid on a pro-rata basis based on the interim bonus rate announced by the Company against that particular policy.

Bonus can also be paid by the insurer in cash at the end of the year instead of accruing it year after year. Such bonus is referred to as Cash Bonus.

Similarly, a policyholder should remain abreast with the bonus declarations made by their life insurer against one or more participating policies. It is advised to check the type of bonus your plan actually offers. It would be clearly written in the plan brochure or you can confirm it with the agent of your insurance company.

[Source: http://lifeinsights.bajajallianz.com/know-bonus/]

Best Ways To Save More On Term Insurance Plan

If you love your family, then this is the time to show that!
Buy ‘Term Insurance Policies‘ because it offers the maximum value for your money. Now, you may think that why I am specifically suggesting term plan, it really makes sense for generating wealth.

There are many people who have bought cheapest term insurance policies and realized that these plans are the best way forward as it gives the maximum insurance coverage at the minimum annual premium.

Most Term Insurance companies sell their schemes online at good cost, in fact I have already purchased one of them last December.

It is another form of life insurance which is equivalent to face amount of the policy to the beneficiaries of the policy holder if he passes away during the valid policy period.

Term Insurance Plan in India:

·         Provides rider facilities for children and spouse.

·         Insurer can renew it once the term policy expires with almost same benefits.

·         Premiums are minimum but it can be decreased or increased up to a predefined level.

If insurance company offers an option of individual or group insurance, always select for individual one because an individual policy with a reliable company is cheaper in the long run and cannot be canceled.

If you read term insurance reviews, you come to know that it revolves around the instant short and long term requirements. In fact, many self-money generators have preferred for low premiums of this insurance.

Buying the best online term insurance plans provide a huge cost advantage. The beneficiaries of the deceased is paid a pre-determined amount as coverage  during valid period of policy.

Consider this scenario, a person purchased a term insurance from LIC for a sum of 20 lacs. The tenure of the term of the policy is 10 yrs. If the policy holder passes away during the validating policy time, then the family members will get a sum of Rs 20 lacs.

Sometimes, the amount is calculated by term insurance calculator and by considering the present living standard of beneficiaries.

You have so many reliable options of leading term insurance providers So, Don’t think twice, just buy the best term insurance for the betterment of you and your loved ones.

[Source: https://blogterminsurance.wordpress.com/2015/08/24/best-ways-to-save-more-on-term-insurance-plan/]

Term Insurance

Term Plan from Gaurav Kadam

Buy term insurance plan online with Bajaj Allianz iSecure. iSecure term insurance plan will help you secure your family's financial future at an affordable cost.

Is the cheapest term insurance the best?

Many life insurance companies have hopped onto the online term insurance bandwagon. Since this is the simplest form of insurance on offer and a direct comparison of premium is possible. Couples of insurers have even entered a slugfest on who offers the cheapest term insurance policy.

These insurance covers that offer a pre-set death benefit are cheaper than the regular term insurance plans purchased through insurance agents and brokers. The benefit of online term plans is that one does away with the insurance middlemen and thus saves up on the commission paid to the agent out of your premium paid. Online term plans help you save 1/3 to ½ the premium paid for offline plans.

But then is premium the only consideration to opt for a term insurance plan, where the heir of the insured would get the sum assured upon the death of the policyholder. It has been observed that the chances of claims being rejected are higher when the cost of life insurance isn't commensurate with the actual risk involved. Policyholder declaration of health and existing conditions too are responsible for claim rejection

Few other essential factors need to be considered. Here are five parameters that you should assess apart from premium to zero down on an online term insurance plan.

Maturity age offered: Insurance companies offer a maximum maturity age between 65-80 years of age. Higher the maturity age the better for you as higher the age more the chances of death and better the utilization of a term plan. LIC and SBI Life, which are public sector insurance companies, offer a 70 year maturity age, while HDFC Life offers a 65 year maturity age.

Higher policy term: Term insurance policy term used to be 25 years earlier. The scene is now changing. Insurers offer a term of 35-52 years as well. The higher the term, the better for you as you need not purchase a second term cover at higher age if you exhaust the term of the first one purchased early in life. HDFC Life, Bajaj Allianz, SBI Life have a term of 30 years. LIC, Reliance Life, Aviva Life and PNB Life provide a term of 35 years, while Tata AIA Life and India offer a 40-year term.

Actual premium: The premium quoted online or through charts is just an indicative premium and your actual cost may escalate once your medical tests reveal your health condition. A smoker would have to cough up 25-30% more. So, find your actual premium before selecting options.

Claims rejection ratio: This is an important factor to be examined before taking the online term insurance India. An insurer may be offering the cheapest term plan, but if it rejects 40% of the claims then your money paid over the years may be down the drain.

Companies with strong financial background and reliable in terms of claim settlement should be looked at. As per IRDA, public sector life insurer has a claims ratio of 98.14%, while HDFC Life ranks third in terms of claims settlement by paying 94.01% of the claims received.

Keep an eye on the claims rejection ratio too which is indicative of the number of claims that have been declined by an insurer.

Ease of claim handling: Your heir should not be left running from pillar to post to make the insurance claim. Also, several insurers have a long list of pending claims. So, study the past record of the insurer before taking up the term plan. For instance, DLF Pramerica has a shocking 53.96% of its claims pending, while HDFC Life has only a mere 1.29% claims pending. 

[Source: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/is-the-cheapest-term-insurance-the-best/articleshow/47232489.cms]