LIC of India - Life Insurance Corporation of India

Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) is the only public sector life insurance company in India. It was founded in 1956 with the merger of more than 245 insurance companies and provident societies. LIC has its headquarters in Mumbai, the commercial capital of India and currently functions with 8 zonal offices and 113 divisional offices.

It is the largest life insurance company in India with over 2000 branches and over 14 lakh agents to solicit life insurance business in the country. LIC provides wide range of life insurance plans from pure term insurance plans to savings and investment products. It has a phenomenal presence in both urban and rural India. The motto of the company is "Yogakshemam Vahamyaham" which means - your welfare is our responsibility.

According to the Economic Times Brand Equity Survey 2012, LIC has been rated as the sixth most trusted service brand of India. It has also bagged a number of awards such as the MEIF Institutional Excellence Award 2012, Golden Peacock Innovative Product/Services Award 2011 for its health insurance product- Jeevan Arogya, and ET brand equity most trusted brand award. LIC has been continuously winning the Readers' Digest Trusted brand award from the year 2006.

LIC Term Plans:

LIC term plans provide protection to the insured at affordable costs. The term plans by LIC assure substantial advantages in case of the demise of the policyholder during the term of the plan. The insurer usually does not pay maturity value under this plan if the individual survives until the term of the plan ends. The LIC term policy comes at a low cost and caters to high coverage at lower premium rates.

LIC term plans offered by the Life Insurance Corporation of India are as under:

Anmol Jeevan II:

Anmol Jeevan II plan by LIC is a protection plan that offers financial security to the family of the policyholder in case of unfortunate death of the insured.

It comes with the death benefit

Amulya Jeevan II:

Amulya Jeevan II by LIC is a protection plan that caters to protect the needs and requirements of the family of the policyholder when he/she is not around.

It offers the death benefit.

e-Term:

E-term plan of LIC India is a regular non-participating online term assurance plan that offers fiscal protection to the family of the insured after his/her demise. 

LIC Pension Plans:

Everyone intends to save enough and live a financially protected retirement life. LIC of India offers several pension plans to guarantee financial stability in old age.

There are three pension plans that LIC offers:

• Jeevan Akshay-VI
• LIC’s New Jeevan Nidhi
• Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana

Jeevan Akshay-VI:

LIC’s Jeevan Akshay-VI plan is an instantaneous Annuity plan, which can be bought by making payment of a lump sum amount. This plan offers for annuity payments of the assured amount during the annuitant’s life time. Several options are made available for the mode and type of payment of the annuities.

New Jeevan Nidhi:

New Jeevan Nidhi plan by LIC is a traditional with-profits pension plan with a combo of saving and protection features. This plan offers death cover throughout the deferment period and provides annuity on survival to the date of investment.

Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana:

Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana by LIC is the newest pension plan launched by the LIC for senior citizens who have attained an age of 60 years and above. It offers a trio of benefits namely, Pension Payment, Death Benefit and Maturity Benefit. This plan can be bought in both, offline and online mode. 

LIC Child Plans:

Life Insurance Corporation of India provides many insurance plans intended to meet the insurance requirements of the kids. LIC’s Child Plans are exclusively designed for the parents who want to avail various insurance plans for their children’s higher education, financial requirements or marriage. 

New Children's Money Back Plan:

The New Children’s Money Back Plan by LIC is a distinctive scheme planned to provide multiple requirements of growing kids, counting on to their education, marriage etc. This non-linked, participating money back plan comes with survival benefits along with the risk cover for the kids.

LIC Endowment Plans:

LIC Endowment Plans offer a few additional benefits also. For instance, a few plans take part in company gains while other plans produce savings via making investments in the equity market.

Jeevan Pragati:

LIC Jeevan Pragati plan is a protection-cum-savings, non-linked with gains endowment plan. Under Jeevan Pragati plan by LIC, the sum assured on the demise multiplies in five years.

Jeevan Labh:

LIC Jeevan Labh scheme is a non-linked, limited premium paying endowment life insurance plan that offers both protection and savings to the policyholders. The scheme provides both maturity and death benefits together with gain participation bonuses.

Single Premium Endowment Plan:

Single Premium Endowment Plan by LIC is a non-linked, participating protection-cum-savings where you can pay a premium in a lump sum at the onset of the plan. This combo offers financial protection aligned with demise during the term of the policy with the proviso of payment of lump sum at the end of the term of chosen policy in the case of survival of the policyholder. This scheme also makes sure of the liquidity requires via its loan facility.

New Endowment Plan:

LIC New Endowment Plan is a non-linked, participating scheme that provides an alluring combo of saving and protection features. This combo offers fiscal support for the deceased insured’s family any time before the policy gets matured and a good amount in a lump sum during the maturity for the surviving insured. This policy also makes sure of the liquidity requires via the loan facility.

New Jeevan Anand:

New Jeevan Anand Plan by LIC is non-linked, a participating plan that provides an attractive combo of savings and protection. This combo offers fiscal protection against the demise all through the lifetime of the insured with the proviso of payment of the lump sum amount at the termination of the term of the chosen policy in the case of his survival.

Jeevan Rakshak:

LIC Jeevan Rakshak Plan is a non-linked, participating scheme that provides a combo of savings and protection. This scheme offers financial support for the insured’s family in the case of unforeseen demise of the insured any time before the policy gets matured and a lump sum when the policy is matured for the surviving insured.

Limited Premium Endowment Plan:

LIC Limited Premium Endowment policy is a non-linked, participating plan that offers a combo of savings and protection. This scheme offers fiscal security for the insured’s family in the case of unforeseen demise of the insured any time before the policy matures and a lump sum on the maturity for the surviving insured.

Jeevan Lakshya:

LIC Jeevan Lakshya is a non-linked, participating scheme offering a combo of savings and protection. This scheme caters to Annual Income benefit, which might help to fulfil the requirements of the insured’s family, mainly for the children’s benefits, in the case of unforeseen demise of the insured any time before the policy gets insured and a lump sum at the time of policy’s maturity heedless of the policyholder’s survival.

Aadhaar Shila:

LIC Aadhaar Shila policy caters to a combo of savings and protection. This scheme is wholly designed for females who have Aadhaar Card that is issued by Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDIA). This policy offers fiscal security for the insured’s family in the case of unforeseen demise of the insured any time before the policy gets matured and a lump sum at the maturity of the policy for the surviving insured.

Aadhaar Stambh:

Aadhaar Stambh Plan by LIC provides a combo of savings and protection. The scheme is entirely designed for males having Aadhaar Card that is issued by Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI). This policy offers fiscal security for the insured’s family in the case of unforeseen demise of the insured any time prior to the policy maturity and a lump sum at the policy’s maturity for the surviving insured. 

LIC Whole Life Plan:

Jeevan Umang:

LIC offers a non-linked, with-gain, whole life assurance scheme named LIC’s Jeevan Umang. This plan provides a combo of protection and income to your loved ones. This scheme caters to annual survival advantages from the end of the payment term of premium until maturity and payment of lump sum at the maturity time or on the demise of the policyholder during the term of the policy.

Money Back Plans:

Money Back Plans by LIC are life insurance policies that provide life cover during the policy term and payment of maturity benefit is made in instalments via survival advantages every 5 years. There are several schemes with varied terms under this policy. Most of these schemes provide optional riders together with tax benefits.  

Bima Diamond:

LIC Bima Diamond plan is a ‘with-profit’, non-linked, limited premium payment money back plan. This plan caters to a combo of savings and protection. In the case of an unforeseen event of the demise of the insured, this scheme offers financial security for the loved ones not only during the term of the policy but also ahead of the term of the policy term all through the Extended Cover Period.

New Money Back Plan - 20 Years:

New Money Back Plan-20 years by LIC is a participating, non-linked plan that offers an alluring combo of savings and protection against the demise of the policyholder during the term of the policy together with the periodic payments on the survival of the insured at particular durations throughout the term. This distinctive combo offers financial support for the loved ones of the departed insured any time before the policy gets matured and a lump sum when it matures for the surviving insured. This scheme also ensures of liquidity requirements via the loan facility.

New Money Back Plan – 25 Years:

New Money Back Plan – 25 years by LIC is a non-linked, participating policy that offers an appealing combo of savings and protection against the demise of the insured during the term of the policy together with the cyclic payments on the survival of the insured at particular throughout the term. This exclusive combo offers financial aid for the loved ones of the departed insured any time before it gets matured and a lump sum while the maturity for the surviving insured. This scheme also makes certain the liquidity requirements via loan facility.

New Bima Bachat:

LIC New Bima Bachat plan is a non-linked, participating, protection-cum-savings plan, where the payment of the premium is made in a lump sum at the onset of the plan. This plan is a money-back scheme offering financial security against the demise throughout the term of the plan with the proviso of payment of survival advantages at particular durations for the period of the term of the plan. Into the bargain, on the maturity, the single premium should be refunded together with Loyalty Addition.

Jeevan Tarun:

Jeevan Tarun plan by LIC is a non-linked, participating, limited premium payment scheme that offers an exclusive combo of savings and protection features for kids. This scheme is particularly designed to meet the requirements of the kids including, education, marriage, etc. via annual Survival Benefit payments from 20-24 years and Maturity Benefit at the attainment of 25 years of age.

You can get hold of any of the nearest LIC agents or pay a visit to any of your nearest LIC branches. You can find your nearest LIC branches and its location on the LIC customer care link. 

Life Insurance Corporation of India- FAQ

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

The Life insurance Corporation of India Ltd. offers 6 modes of premium payment namely:

• Cash/ cheque / DD payment at the branch and cash counters
• Payment at the Axis Bank
• Payment at the Corporation Bank
• Online Payment
• NEFT
• ECS
• AP online
• MP Online
• Suvidha Infoserve
• Easy bill pay
• Premium point by empowered agents
• Life plus SBA
• Retired LIC Employee collection
• Phone banking
• Authorized Service Provider (in selected cities)

For the online payment mode, the policyholder can pay via;

• Credit Card,
• Debit Card
• Net banking

2. How can I check policy status?

For online registered users, they can check the policy status by loging into the e-Portal

Altrenatively, visit the branch personally to know the policy status.

3. What is the policy renewal process?

For renewing online, follow these easy steps;

Step1: Enter your Client ID and Date of Birth to login into e-portal

Step2: Choose the policy and payment option (Net Banking/ Debit/Credit Card)

Step3: Print/save the premium deposit receipt on successful payment completion

Alterantively, you can pay via cash/cheque at any of the nearest LIC branch in your city.

4. What is the company’s process to settle claim?

For the claim settlement nominee can visit the branch personally and the customer service desk will help you there.

5. What is the policy cancellation process?

For the cancellation of the policy, you can visit the branch personally.

Life Insurance Corporation - Latest News

Life Insurance Corporation of India Launches e-Services Portal

Life Insurance Corporation, India’s leading life insurer, announced the launch of its e-services. LIC’s e-services would also include a repository services as per current updated guidelines provided by IRDAI. Through the introduction of its e-services, LIC is attempting to make it easier for its customers to access the company’s services.

This digital initiative would also help the insurer provide faster and more streamlined services to its customers all over India. Key services that can be accessed by registered customers through the e-services portal include checking of claims status, policy status, loan status and bonus status. Additionally, Its customers can also opt for premier services like claim history, premium history, online premium facilitation, and premium due calendar among others.

By enabling such services LIC looks forward to enabling access of its services to a wider market and achieving further penetration into the Indian insurance market.

LIC’s Equity Market Investments Witness 36% Year on Year Growth

Life Insurance Corporation of India, the largest Indian insurance provider, witnessed a 36% year on year growth of its investments in the equity market. This has resulted from the insurer stepping up its equity investments in the current year, which has now reached the unprecedented level of Rs. 53,000 crores during the present fiscal year.

The increased investment in equities was carried out by LIC as the fall in share prices and key indices have made higher value equity investments more attractive from a long term investment perspective. The insurer’s current investment in government papers totaled an estimated Rs. 1.5 lakh crores and the company has also witnessed a rise in premium collections, which have together fueled the current spate of equity investments of LIC.

Currently applicable regulations stipulate that a life insurer is legally required to invest no less than 25% in securities floated by the central government, while the maximum stake that LIC can purchase in a single company is capped at 15%.

LIC Launches Jeevan Pragati Scheme

Life Insurance Corporation of India, India’s largest insurer, launched its new scheme, Jeevan Pragati from its Salem Division on the 3rd of February. The new scheme is a non-linked assurance plan featuring a risk cover that continues increasing every five years. There is no maximum limit for this scheme, however, the minimum limit has been fixed at Rs 1.5 lakhs.

The term of the Jeevan Pragati can range from 12 to 20 years and individuals between 12 years to 45 years of age are eligible for to apply for this scheme. If the policy holder survives beyond the term of the policy, the maturity benefit is a sum assured on maturity with simple reversionary as well as additional bonus – all of which will be paid out to the policy holder.

An additional feature of Jeevan Pragati is the loan option that can be obtained after three years. If required, the holder may also to choose to surrender the policy after a three year period provided all due annual premiums have been paid in full.

LIC All Set to Overshoot Premium Target in Current Fiscal

Life Insurance Corporation of India, the leader in India’s insurance industry, is all set to overshoot its premium target of Rs. 31,000 Crores in the current financial year. The hope arises from the fact that LIC has already clocked total premiums of Rs 23,000 Crores in the current fiscal and it still has almost another whole quarter to add to its numbers.

This optimism is further fuelled by the fact that LIC has witnessed a sustained growth in sales since December 2015 and the insurer hopes to clock double digit growth in the coming months. The boost has also been fueled by the introduction of LIC’s ULIP plan, New Endowment Plus, which by itself accounted for sales of 10,000 units in the current fiscal year.

Other top sellers among current plans included the e-Term plan which clocked sales of 6,000 policies. According to market analysts, ULIP sales currently account for 50.2% of market share.

LIC Witnesses Decline in New Individual Policy Premiums

Life Insurance Corporation of India, the largest insurance provider in India, has reported a decline in its retail business in the current year. The insurer’s new individual policy premiums have dropped to 54% till December 2015 from the 72% level recorded in 2013. This drop is mainly attributed to the IT Act amendments that restrict tax breaks in insurance policies which do not feature adequate life cover.

Even with this decline, LIC still leads in India’s insurance sector with an overall share of 70% in new premiums propelled by its various group policies. The other key reason for the decline in market share over recent years is the absence of any LIC backed ULIPs for a major part of 2015. Subsequently, Life Insurance Corporation issued its ULIP in 2015, which did boost premium revenues.

However most analysts consider the insurance market to be in recession during the 2015 to 2016 fiscal, which has adversely affected new individual policy premium collections.

LIC introduced a new product, Jeevan Labh

Life Insurance Corporation of India introduced a plan, named Jeevan Labh with partial premium paying requirement on 4th January, 2016. The plan is a with-profit, non-linked Endowment Assurance plan. The Plan is accessible for people between the age of 8-59 years. The plan allows the buyer to choose amongst the policy term options of 16 years, 21 years, and 25 years.

However, the premium paying term for the options will be 10, 15, and 16 years respectively. The maximum maturity age as per the plan is 75 years If the policyholder survives till the maturity of the policy, then he would be entitled to the basic Sum Assured in addition to simple reversionary bonuses and Final Additional bonus (if any).

In case of demise of the policyholder during the term of the policy, then the death benefit which is equal to the summation of 'Sum Assured on Death’, Simple Reversionary Bonuses, and Final Additional bonus (if any) will be given to the beneficiary. The death benefit is claimed not to be less than 105% of the total amount of premiums paid till the date of death.

LIC raises its stake in the 3 listed automobile companies

Life Insurance Corporation of India has raised its stakes in Tata, Mahindra, and Maruti this year after the considerable recorded sales of passenger vehicles in the FY16. All the three automobile companies are the listed ones. It has also purchased some additional shares in the Hero Moto Corp.

The government-run insurance provider has also booked some profit in the automobile company Ashok Leyland and slightly decreased its shareholding in Bajaj Auto and TVS Motor in the year fiscal ended on 31st March, 2016.

Interestingly, the stock prices of all the companies, except Tata Motors, have gone considerable up in the fiscal ended 31st March, 2016. A significant rise in the stock prices of in Bajaj Auto (19.26 per cent), Ashok Leyland (47.6 per cent), and TVS Motor (22.33 per cent) was recorded. The rest of the companies have experienced single-digit gains. The corporation’s decision to decrease shareholding in TVS Motors and Ashok Leyland is due to the acute run witnessed in the stocks of both the companies. An investment advisor, S. P. Tulsian said that Life Insurance Corporation of India booked the profits in these companies after the hike in their stocks.

LIC to be protected as financial institution under The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Bill

The edition of insolvency and bankruptcy bill approved by Lok Sabha on the 5th of May has been released after all the modifications in the original bill as per the recommendations of the parliament’s joint committee.

One amongst the major additions recommended by the committee was to include the LIC of India as a financial institution in the new bill. The committee had suggested including in the bill the definition of financial institutions as per the Companies Act as the definition covers the Life Insurance Corporation.

The corporation’s inclusion is important due to a few significant reasons. The Life Insurance Corporation of India, in the financial year 2014-15 had a closing balance of Rs. 19.92 trillion, which is about 15 per cent of the country’s GDP for the year. This vast state-governed life insurance provider also has given out loans of up to Rs. 1 trillion.A report by Aman Malik in newlaundry.com held that as per a list given by the Reserve Bank of India in the end of calendar year 2015 the borrowers of LIC had defaulted on up to Rs. 66,000 Crore of loans.

LIC still a favorite in India even with the decline in market share

LIC of India is still amongst the favorite insurance brands of the customers; however, the massive lead it enjoyed over the private insurance companies is soon to be lost. LIC being at the top is being followed by the Kotak Life Insurance Company at second position, while, the third position is being shared by Bharti AXA Life Insurance and SBI Life Insurance Company. According to a survey by IMRB International in the year 2016, it was found that about 7 out of 10 customers (69 %) are continuing their relationship with the current insurer. The loyalty rate for the previous year was only 60%.

The survey included a customer satisfaction study as well and the results point to the fact that there was greater satisfaction among insurance customers in 2016 as compared to the previous year. According to experts, the increased satisfaction is directly linked to the availability of a general acceptance of affordability and returns related to products, increased coverage provided by plan riders, as well as superior insurance products themselves. Taken together, the cumulative nature of these positives with respect to products floated by insurance providers resulted in superior levels of loyalty and satisfaction with respect to specific brands.

LIC Acquire Additional Public Sector Bank Stocks

Life Insurance Corporation of India, India’s biggest life insurer, has made further purchase of lowly valued Public sector bank stocks. With this purchase, It has voiced hopes that the NPA (non-performing assets) and bad loans situation of these banks would not worsen in the future. As per the new purchase, LIC now owns additional stake in poorly performing PSU banks including Oriental Bank of Commerce,Development Bank of India, Syndicate Bank, Bank of Baroda, Bank of India, Central Bank of IndiaandAllahabad Bank. This stake increase ranges from 1-7 % as compared to the stake previously held by LIC in the above mentioned banks. This purchase brings LIC’s investment to an additional Rs2,200 crore above the investments that LIC has already made in the PSU banking sector.

As a result of this additional investment by Life Insurance Corporation of India, the net AUM (Asset under management) has decreased to $61Billion from the $ 65billion recorded in the previous quarter. According to the experts, LIC’s actions though seemingly against the prevailing marker sentiments, are part of a bigger picture, wherein the price of these undervalued PSU stocks are expected to increase in the coming years.

LIC Confirms V K Sharma As the New Chairman

V K Sharma, the acting chief of LIC, has been appointed as the new Chairman of the largest State-owned Life Insurance Provider in India. He is going to hold this position for five years.

Sharma has already started acting as the chairman of LIC, since 16th September, as the resignation of the then chairman S K Roy. Roy resigned around two years before his formal retirement. Sharma has been as the Managing director of LIC since Nov 2013.

Sharma has maintained a long-term association with LIC. Initially, he was appointed by the Government, in 1981, as the direct recruit officer. Then, he was made the Chief executive of the mortgage Subsidiary of LIC Housing Finance. He was also a zonal manager of the South Zone under LIC Housing Finance.

ACC or the Appointments Committee of Cabinet has accepted the proposal made by the Department of Financial Services to appoint V K Sharma as the chairman of LIC, for a period of 5 years, in fixed payment of Rs.80,000/-.

The company has an asset of over Rs. 22.10 lakh Crore., which constitutes 15% of India’s total GDP of Rs. 134 Lakh Cr., thereby being considered the largest financial institution in India.

SIDBI Partners with LIC for Boosting Venture Capital for MSMEs

In a recent development, Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) collaborated with state-run insurance company, Life Corporation of India , revealed various online media sources.

Sources further reveal that this collaboration is aimed at boosting the venture capital capacity for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in India.

Presently, SIDBI funds numerous schemes under its funds operations. Some of the most popular ones include:

• India Aspiration Fund (corpus of Rs. 2000 Crores)
• ASPIRE Fund (corpus of Rs. 60 Crores)
• Fund of Funds for Startups (FFS) (corpus of Rs 10,000 crore)

SIDBI and LIC signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), in April 2016, in order to add further to the funds available under India Aspiration Fund. As per the MoU, LIC had committed to allotting Rs 200 crores for investments.

In its first phase, LIC and SIDBI have signed a Contribution Agreement with 7 Venture Capital Funds (VCFs). Under the MoU, LIC has signed an aggregate commitment of Rs 99.50 crores. SIDBI has already given Rs 162.75 crores to these 7 VCFs.

In the current fiscal year, SIDBI has already allotted Rs. 714 crores to 20 Alternative Investment Funds. Out of the 40 cases, recommended in 2015, 32 funds have been allotted sanction by SIDBI for Rs. 1,006.75 crores.