Star Union Dai-ichi Child Plans

Star Union Da-ichi Life Insurance Company Limited is a joint venture between Bank of India, Union Bank of India and Da-ichi Life. While Bank of India and Union Bank of India are leading Indian banks, Da-ichi Life is a leading insurance company which is the second largest insurance company of Japan. Da-ichi is among the top 10 global insurers and has great expertise in the insurance sector.

What are Child Plans?

An insurance plan offered by the insurance company which is for the sole purpose of protecting the child’s future against adverse financial crisis in the absence of the parent is called a child plan. These pans are a foolproof way of ensuring your child’s future.

There are some common factors which are inherent in all types of child plans which are detailed below:

• The plans may be offered either as a traditional plan or as a Unit Linked Insurance Plan (ULIP)
• The parent’s life is insured under the plan though some plans also insure the life of the minor child.
• If the life of the child is insured, the company keeps a deferment period in the plan which excludes the Sum Assured coverage in the first few years of the plan. The rationale is to protect the company from the higher death risk of the infant. If the infant dies during the deferment period, the premiums paid are returned
• The child also cannot be the policyholder of the policy in the above scenario since he is a minor. The policy anniversary following the child reaching 18 years is the date on which the ownership of the policy will revert back in the child’s name and the child becomes the legal policyholder this date is called the Vesting Date
• In other cases, the plan automatically provides for the payment of any future premium if the parent, who is the life insured dies. This is in lieu of the inbuilt premium waiver rider which entails this benefit.

Star Union Da-ichi Child Plans

The Bright Child Plan is the plan in the child plan category offered by the company. The plan provides multiple benefits which are outlined as under:

SUD Life Bright Child Plan

A traditional money-back child insurance plan to provide a stable future for the child even when the parent is not around for the same. The features along with the benefits of this plan are:

• The premiums are payable for a limited tenure only
• The plan provides two coverage options of Career Endowment and Wedding Endowment.
• Under the Career Endowment option, 50% of Sum Assured is paid when the child reaches 18 years, 20% of Sum Assured is paid when the child crosses 21 years and on maturity when the child reaches 24 years of age, 30% of Sum Assured is paid along with the Benefit Booster
• Under the Wedding Endowment option, 20% of Sum Assured is paid on the child’s attaining 18 years, 30% of Sum Assured is paid on attaining 21 years of age and on maturity when the child has attained 24 years, 50% of Sum Assured is paid along with the Benefit Booster
• The Benefit Booster is payable on maturity and is expressed as a percentage of the Sum Assured. The rate of the booster depends on the entry age of the child and  the plan option chosen and ranges from 1% to 25% of the Sum Assured
• In case of sudden demise of the insured parent, the death benefit payable is higher of 10 times the annual premium or 105% of all premiums paid till death or maturity Sum Assured or the absolute Sum Assured. All future premiums payable are waived off while the plan continues to run. Survival benefits are paid as and when they accrue depending on the plan option chosen
• Discounts are allowed in the premium payable if the Sum Assured chosen is Rs.6 lakhs and above.
• SUD Life Accidental Death and Total & Permanent Disability Benefit Rider and SUD Life Family Income Benefit Rider is available with the plan
• Income tax benefit on the premium paid as per Section 80C and on claims under Section 10(10D) of the Income Tax Act.

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.

Applying For Child Plans through PolicyBazaar

1. On the PolicyBazaar homepage, click on Child Plans under the Personal tab.
2. Click New Quotes to compare and choose from top insurance providers.
3. Fill your date of birth (DOB), whether you are a smoker/non-smoker, and the payout amount. On the basis of your payout amount, you will get an estimate of your premium. Next click Continue.
4. Fill in your name, email address, city, country code, and mobile number. Click Continue.
5. You will be taken to the Life Insurance quotes page where you will see life insurance quotes of more than 10 insurers. Next, choose the plan as per payment schedule – One Time Payout and Monthly Payout Plans.
6. After reviewing and comparing each life insurance quote, click the premium amount to buy the desired plan.
7. You will see a pop-up on the screen which will give you an overview of the chosen plan like premium, plan features, exclusions, additional riders, etc. Click Proceed.
8. This will take you to the insurer’s website. Fill in the necessary details to buy the plan.

Why child insurance plans have become a compulsory requirement?

The impetus which pushes people to invest in a child insurance plan is the safety of the child’s future financially, a future which will not be hampered if the parent meets with an unexpected and an unfortunate death pre-maturely. The cost of education is rising sharply and if we consider the spiraling trend of inflation, this cost is expected to increase substantially over the next decade. Our child is our beloved and we seek to provide everything our child requires even when we have trouble affording it. Building a corpus for your child is also important because you might not be around to support your child financially and in your absence the child’s dreams will shatter. The only way to safeguard your child’s dreams and also to fulfilling it is a child plan.

People argue that other means of investments can also be resorted to when planning to build a corpus for your child then why would one invest in a child plan. Though the argument holds reason, it is not absolutely correct. Other investments you make will become stagnant if you meet with pre-mature death. They might not prove sufficient to provide completely for the child’s future. This is where the child plan scores over other investments. By continuing the plan even after the death of the parent, these plans promise something which the other modes of investments do not – the continuity of the plan and creation of the promised fund. As such, these insurance plans fulfill the basic requirement of creating the planned fund which is not hampered by any unforeseen contingency. Moreover, by being available in different types of variants of insurance, namely endowment, money-back and unit linked insurance plans (ULIPs), child plans cater to the requirement of every individual whether he is seeking a conservative growth in a traditional plan or willing to take risks through a ULIP.