ICICI Prudential Child Plans

ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company is a joint venture between ICICI Bank Ltd. and Prudential Private Limited Company. Prudential Private Limited Company is a leading international financial service group having its headquarters in the United Kingdom. ICICI Prudential Life is one of the first private sector life insurance companies who after receiving approval from the Insurance Regulatory Development Authority of India (IRDAI) have begun its operation in December 2000. Amongst the entire private life insurers in the country, ICICI has enjoyed a dominant position for more than twenty years by offering world-class products and quality consistent services. The range of products offered by ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company include Protection plans in the form of term plans, Child Plans, Savings and Investment Plans which are available in both conventional or ULIPs form and pension plans. With a wide range of products, the company strives to meet every individual’s insurance related requirement at a single source.

Why Child Plans?

Child Insurance plans have become very important because they specifically provide for one’s child’s future even in one’s absence. The inbuilt premium waiver rider ensures that the plan continues even after the parent’s death and the benefits accrue and when they are payable so that the benefits can be utilized for the purpose for which it was initially planned, i.e. for the child’s future. For example, an individual with a child currently aged 5 years buys a 20 year child plan which promises money backs at the 15^th, 17^th and 20^th policy anniversary. The policyholder has planned the money back periods to coincide with the child’s educational milestones and would receive the funds when the child reaches 20 years, 22 years and 25 years. The funds will be utilized to take care of the child’s higher education. If the insured dies, the plan will not be terminated. Future premiums will be paid by the company and the money-backs will be paid as and when promised. Thus, the money will be utilized only for the child’s education which was the actual rationale for buying the plan.

ICICI Prudential Life Child Plans

ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company offers only one kind of child insurance plan which has an exhaustive list of features and benefits. Let us take a look at this child education plan in detail.

ICICI Pru Smart Kid Assure Plan

A unit linked child plan which offers the following benefits to the customer:

• It is a unit linked plan which offers two options of investment portfolio strategies which are Life cycle based Portfolio Strategy and Fixed Portfolio Strategy.
• Under the Lifecycle based portfolio strategy, the premium will be initially distributed between two funds namely Multi Cap Growth Fund and Income Fund based on the age of the policyholder. Multi Cap Growth Fund is a high risk and high return fund with the maximum allocation of premium in the initial years while Income Fund is a low risk low return fund. With the passage of the policy term and increasing of the policyholder’s age, the investment will be redistributed gradually every year with money being transferred form the Multi Cap Growth Fund to the Income Fund to protect it from high volatility. In the later ages, as the policy nears maturity, the bulk of the investment will be in the Income Fund which offers a low risk profile. The distribution and balancing of the allocation is done by the company automatically.
• Under the Fixed Portfolio Strategy, the company offers a choice of 6 funds and the policyholder will have to choose the fund according to his risk appetite. The funds available under the options are Opportunities Fund, Multi Cap Growth Fund, Blue Chip Fund, Multi Cap Balanced Fund, Income Fund and Money Market Fund.
• There is a feature of Automatic Transfer Strategy under the Fixed Portfolio strategy under which the policyholder may choose to invest all or a part of his premium in the Money Market Fund and from there a chosen amount may be transferred automatically to the Blue Chip Fund or Multi Cap Growth Fund or Opportunities Fund as per the policyholder’s choice.
• On maturity of the plan, the available fund value is payable to the policyholder. The policyholder may choose the receive the fund value on maturity in lump sum or keep the proceeds invested with the company for further 5 years under the Settlement Option. During these 5 years, the policyholder can avail the fund value in installments.
• In case of death of the insured during the tenure of the plan, the basic Sum Assured chosen at the time of buying the plan is paid subject to a minimum of 105% of all premiums paid till the date of death. Moreover, future premiums are waived off under the inbuilt Payer Waiver Benefit and are paid for by the company and the plan runs unaffected. On maturity, the available fund value is again paid to the beneficiary who is the child.
• There is an option of adding the Income Benefit Rider wherein, in case of death of the insured, 10% of the rider Sum Assured will be paid to the beneficiary every year post death till the maturity of the plan in addition to the death benefit payable as above.
• Accidental Death and Disability Benefit Rider is also available under the plan which promises additional payment in case the insured suffers an accidental death or disability
• The plan offers Guaranteed Additions which vary in the range of 120% - 170% of the annual premium. The Guaranteed Additions will be added to the fund value at the end of 15 years.
• From the 6^th year of the policy there will be an additional allocation of premium @ 2%. Thus, from the 6^th policy year, 102% of the premiums paid will be allocated to the fund.
• The Sum Assured can be increased or decreased subject to certain terms and conditions.
• Additional premiums can be paid through top-ups with a minimum value of Rs.2000
• Switching between funds is allowed under the Fixed Portfolio Strategy with a minimum value of Rs.2000
• One free partial withdrawal is allowed every three policy years subject to a maximum of 20% of the available fund value as on the date of withdrawal.
• A change in portfolio strategy is allowed once every year

Eligibility Details

Applying for a Child Plan from the company:

Online

The company offers specific plans which are available online only. The customer only needs to log into the company’s website, choose the required plan, choose the coverage and provide the details. The premium will be determined using the filled details. The customer then needs to pay the premium online through credit card, debit card or net banking facilities and the policy will be issued

Intermediaries

Plans which are not available online can be purchased from agents, brokers, banks, etc. where the intermediaries help with the application process.

How does a child benefit from a child plan?

The child is the beneficiary in a child plan. As a result, all the benefits received from the plan help the child. A child plan is purchased for paying the child’s education costs, marriage, and even to help him or her start a business. Then, if the earning parent dies within the policy period, the child’s finances still remain covered and even without anyone paying the premium, the plan remains active and the sum assured is paid at the decided point of time. Therefore a child plan helps the child in every way possible till he or she becomes financially independent.

How does a parent benefit from a child plan?

The parent is the policyholder in a child plan. As a result he pays the premiums and keeps the plan active. This proves to be extremely beneficial for him because once the premiums are paid, the fund begins to build up and this helps ease the parent’s financial burdens. As we all know, education is one of the costliest sectors today and so paying for a child’s education can be taxing. But the child plan helps you here, as you can opt to receive lump sum amounts of money when you need them most – at the time of your child’s school admission, college admission, etc. You can also set up a fund for your child’s marriage. A child plan helps as you can begin saving early and gradually save enough for the big moments in your child’s life.

How exactly is a child’s future protected with the help of a child plan?

From the points mentioned above, we can clearly see how a child’s future is secured with a child plan. Not only does it assist the parents in paying for the child’s education, marriage, etc, a child plan also ensures the child continues to get a good education even if the parent suddenly dies.

So a child plan not only provides for the expenses of the child’s future educational expenses it also covers for the risk of the parent’s life so that if the parent dies prematurely, the child’s education is not affected.

ICICI Prudential Child Plans - FAQs

1. How to pay premium? What are the modes of payment available?

For receiving continuity of your policy benefits, it is critical to pay premiums on time. You can pay your ICICI Life Insurance premium through these 11 methods:

• Net Banking
• Credit card
• Bill desk
• Bank Website Debit Car+ ATM PIN
• Debit Card
• Bill junction
• Infinity
• E-collect
• Rupay Debit Card
• Skypack drop box
• MINC Drop Box

For paying premium online, you can login to e-portal

Step 1: Enter your policy details – policy number and policyholder’s date of birth

Step 2: Select your online bank account, debit/ credit card or use the NEFT facility to pay the premium

Step 3: Authenticate and confirm your payment details and receive online confirmation

2. How can I check policy status for ICICI Prudential child plans?

You can check the policy status via online, or opt for SMS and e-mail reminder facility.

You can check ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Policy Status Online as follows.

• Open ICICI Prudential Life Insurance website in your browser
• Now you will be directed to a new window. On the top right side of this new page you can see the customer login section
• Enter user ID and password to navigate to checking the policy status

Only registered users can access the portal, so you need to sign up for the service, if you haven’t yet.

3. What is the policy renewal process for ICICI Prudential child plans?

Online Policy Renewal facility is available to all ICICI Life Insurance customers. The process is as follows;

Step 1: Login into the website with your Client ID and password.

Step 2: Select the policy due for renewal payment. Click Pay Renewal Premium Now

Step 3: Choose payment option- NEFT, Credit Card/Debit Card

Step 4: Authenticate and confirm your payment details and print out the payment receipt

4. What is the company’s process to settle claim for ICICI Prudential child plans?

Step 1: Complete the claim form through -

Email - lifeline@iciciprufile[dot]com

Phone-Call a claim care

Online claim

From branch office

Step 2: Form Evaluation

The Claim Care department examines the claim and if any essential documents are missing, the team immediately notifies the policyholder of the same. The team keeps the claimant up-to-date on the process via Emails and Letters.

Step 3: Claims Processing

On receipt of all the essential documents, the Claims department processes the application within 12 calendar days, if no investigation is needed for checking the claim made.

For quick access to claim funds, ICICI Life Insurance transfer funds directly into the beneficiary’s bank account.

In case of cashless hospitalization, you need to produce the relevant medical bills and reports, issued by the attending physician.

Upon completion of these documents, submit them to your nearest ICICI branch.

5. What is the policy cancellation process for ICICI Prudential child plans?

You need to keep your policy for a minimum of 3 years before you can cancel it. You need to fill a surrender form at any of the ICICI Prudential Life branches, and submit your policy documents. The cancellation process will take 30 days to complete and the surrender value funds will be directly transferred to your bank account.

If you signed up for a single premium policy, you can cancel it after the first policy year.