Life Insurance  

Life Insurance is the safest and the most secure way to protect your family or dependents against financial contingencies that may arise post the unfortunate event of your untimely demise. Under a Life Insurance Contract in India, the insurer assures to pay a definite sum to the policyholder’s family on his demise during the policy term.

What is Life Insurance?

Life Insurance is an agreement between an insurance company and a policyholder, under which the insurer guarantees to pay an assured some of the money to the nominated beneficiary in the unfortunate event of the policyholder’s demise during the term of the policy. In exchange, the policyholder agrees to pay a predefined sum of money in form of premiums either on a regular basis or as a lump sum. If included in the contract, some other contingencies, such as a critical illness or a terminal illness can also trigger the payment of benefit. If defined in the contract, some other things, such as funeral expenses might also be a part of the benefits.

Best Life Insurance Plans in India 2018 

Life Insurance Policy Types

1.   Term Insurance 

2.   Endowment Policy

3.   ULIP - Unit Linked Insurance Plan

4.   Money Back Life Insurance 

5.   Whole Life Insurance 

Types of Life Insurance Plans

Term Insurance:

It is the simplest and cheapest form of insurance that is designed to offer financial protection for a specified tenure, say 15 or 20 years. Term insurance ensures that your family gets a large lump sum amount, i.e. sum assured after your death to lead a financially stable life. However, if you survive the term, the insurer pays nothing. The best thing about a term insurance policy is that the premium is quite low for the insurance cover it provides.

Endowment Policy

It offers the dual benefit of insurance and investment. A specific part of the premium is assigned towards the sum assured, while the remaining part of the premium gets invested in asset markets— equities and debt. It pays a lump sum amount for the specified duration or on the death of the policyholder, whichever is earlier. An endowment policy may declare bonus periodically, which is paid, either on maturity or on the death of the insured.

Unit Linked Insurance Plans (ULIPs)

In ULIP, a portion of the premium goes towards providing the life cover, while the residual portion is invested in equities and debts. The investment portion in ULIP is subject to market volatility. Investing in ULIP inculcates regular saving habit in a person, which is imperative for the creation of wealth.

Money Back Life Insurance

It offers periodical payment of partial survival benefits during the tenure of the policy as long as the policyholder is alive. In the event of the death of the insured, the insurance company pays the full sum assured along with survival benefits.

Whole Life Insurance

Offering the dual benefit of insurance and investment, whole life insurance plans offer insurance cover for the whole life of the person or up to 100 years whichever is earlier. Also, the life insurance company calculates bonus on the sum assured, which is paid to the nominee after the death of the policyholder. 

Child Insurance

The increasing education cost is causing uneasiness among parents. Therefore, it is best to invest in a good child insurance plan to give secured life to your child even in your absence. A child life insurance plan offers a lump-sum amount to the beneficiary (i.e. child) on the death of the policyholder. Here, the policy doesn’t end. In this case, Life Insurance Company exempts all future premiums and pays the money to the child at specified intervals as planned out by the policyholder.

Pension Plans

Also called pension plans, these are offered by life insurance companies to help an individual build a retirement corpus. This money helps a person to lead a financially secured life even after retirement. In case of an unfortunate death of the policyholder, the nominee can either take a lump sum or receive a regular pension for the rest of the policy tenure. These life insurance plans are great to build up a retirement corpus; most life insurance companies in India provide a wide array of plans for people to save for their retirement.

Comparing the Types of Life Insurance

Life Insurance, in the recent past, has evolved as a necessity. Life insurance cover has now become an integral constituent for your smooth functioning. While penetration of life insurance in India is yet to do justice to the numbers, every day hundreds of new aspirants are seen entering into various life insurance plans. The biggest challenge pertaining to a life insurance scheme is related to picking the right type of insurance policy, and with insurers offering different options; it would not be a task for people who are unfamiliar with these.

The table illustrates the comparison between various types of life insurance policies in India based on the key aspects:

Benefits of Life Insurance Policy

Having a Life insurance plan is necessary to do the task for every individual? A life insurance policy is the best way to protect and financially safeguard the future of you and your loved ones. As we all know that it provides life protection to the family of the insured in case of any eventuality but apart from this there are a plethora of other benefits, let’s take a look at various benefits below.

Loan against Life Insurance –

These policies provide an opportunity to take a loan in case you desperately need money. According to the policy provision, the loan amount can either be taken in the percentage of sum assured under the policy or as cash value.

Tax Benefit –

One of the most worthwhile benefits offered the life insurance policy is income tax exemption under section 80C of the Income Tax Act 1961. Under the section, the premium paid towards the insurance policy is eligible for tax deduction under section 80C of Income Tax Act. Moreover, the policies that provide maturity benefits are also eligible for a tax deduction on the maturity proceeds under section 10(10D) of income tax act 1961.

Return on Investment –

As compared to the other investment alternatives the life insurance policies yield better return and the money invested in the scheme is safe and covers risk. The money invested will make a good return and will be paid back fully as sum assured either after the completion of the tenure of the policy or after the demise of the insured person.

Death Benefit –

This is the basic and the most prominent benefit offered by the life insurance policy. It provides you and your family a secured future. The death benefit is referred to as the total amount of sum assured together with the bonus (if any) is paid to the beneficiary of the policy in case of any eventuality or uncertain demise of the policyholder. The plan also provides coverage to people with diminishing income, for retired people or people who meet with an accident.

Life Stage-Specific Planning –

Life insurance plan assists in the most effective way in life stage-specific planning where you can plan the financial goals of your life according to your convenience. Apart from providing financial support to the family in the event of the untimely demise of the insured person, it also acts as a great financial instrument for long-term investment. By having a life insurance Policy by your side you can meet all the major milestones of life like your child’s education, marriage, building your own home, planning for retirement, etc.

Term Life Insurance vs. Whole Life Insurance

 Life Insurance vs. Health Insurance

Life Insurance Riders

Without riders, a life insurance plan is often considered incomplete. In India, life insurance plans are the most crowd-pleasing schemes. The life insurance policies are designed in such a way that they cater to maximum protection to your loved ones and family in case of your unforeseen demise. Nevertheless, you can obtain an additional financial cover through a life insurance coverage by including riders into them.

Basically, riders are additional features, which embellish the value of life insurance plans while offering extra benefits, which are uncovered by the original document of the policy. If you avail a rider together with an insurance plan may marginally increase the amount of premium based on the kind of rider purchased by you. If you’re seeking to pick an optional rider to amplify the insurance cover, it is necessary for you to understand each rider covered and the sort of benefits it is offering.

Popular Life Insurance Riders 

Critical Illness

As the life is unpredictable and you are prone to contract medical conditions at a certain point in time, a critical illness rider is a wonderful option to cut down your unnecessary expenditures. Life insurance schemes do not generally cover hospitalisation and medical expenses; this means that if you have fallen sick, regardless of holding a life insurance, you have to bear all the medical expenses by yourself. In this case, a critical illness rider proves to be beneficial as it makes sure of financial support when it comes to making payments of heavy medical bills. Moreover, these riders also offer access to quality medical treatment, so that the treatment is not delayed or ignored due to lack of finances.

The critical illness rider generally covers all your medical expenditure related to ailments like cancer, paralysis, kidney failure, heart attack and stroke among other diseases. In case you buy these riders, you can take a breath of relief at times of ill health, knowing that your insurance plan will cover all your medical expenses and that your loved ones will nothing to worry about their finances along with dealing with the emotional agony. People who buy these Critical Illness riders will get a fixed lump sum amount as soon as the diagnosis is carried out by any of the prior conditions specified in the terms and conditions column of the document of the policy.

Permanent and Partial Disability

We know that life is uncertain and an accident or an incident has the potential to make you disabled. In case of a disability, you are impaired to an extent that you can’t work and produce the income you require to assist your family and loved ones financially, thereby having an effect on your lifestyle of your dependents along with yourself. In these cases, you will need an alternate income source to make sure your family’s healthy functioning. A permanent and partial disability rider is the best-suited option for you as it offers staggered payments to you if you have met with an accident because of which you are unable to work. Such payments are usually a specific percentage of the total sum assured, and make sure that all your financial requirements are met even in case of your permanent or partial disability.

Accidental Death

An ideal option for you if you're aiming at ensuring that your families and loved ones have enough financial resources in case of your unforeseen accidental demise is the accidental death rider. In addition to significantly higher medical expenses, the number of unfulfilled financial liabilities is also generally higher in the event of your accidental death, making it tough for your family to cope with their financial requirements.

Accidental riders are the best options to choose in such a situation as it will make sure that your family and loved ones will receive an extra payment in case of your demise in an accident. Even though the beneficiaries will receive the basic sum assured in case of your death, the Accidental Rider offers your family extra funds to make sure that you can manage all their expenditure, thereby making it less nerve-racking to deal with the loss of their loved one.

Waiver of Premium

In case of your failure to pay premiums on time, you will get a notification from the insurer to make sure that you have made payments of all the due premiums within a fixed grace period. In case you fail to make payments of the premium within the imposed period of time, often results in consideration of lapse of the policy. As a consequence, the policy will not be active anymore and you’ll not qualify for the maturity benefits. There might be a number of reasons as to why you may not be able to make payments of the premium, but irrespective of this, the policy will be considered useless. In this case, Waiver of Premiums comes into effect.

Income Benefit Rider

Your death, being a sole-earning member of the family, can be a calamitous loss and make it difficult for your dependents to move on with their lives in the same way as before. If you are the only breadwinner of your family and your income meets all the financial needs and requirements of your family, it is necessary for you to make sure that you have a regular income source if you’re not any more to provide for them. In such cases, Income Benefit Rider is the best-suited option for you to ensure that the lifestyle of your family remains the same when you’re not around.

Documents Required for Buying a Life Insurance Policy

You will require the documents mentioned below to buy a life insurance cover:

• Proof of Identity (PAN Card/ Voter ID/Ration Card/ Driving License)
• Proof of Age (SSC Certificate/PAN Card/Driving License/Passport)
• Proof of Residence (Voter ID/Water Bill/Ration Card/Electricity Bill/Telephone Bill/Passport)
• Proof of Income (Salary Slip/Form 16/Income Tax Returns/Pension Pass Book)
• Passport-sized photographs

Life Insurance Online Payment

Presently, while you wish to make payments for your premiums for your life insurance policy, you can make the payment online conveniently. There are many modes of online payment available such as internet banking, mobile banking, credit card, debit card etc. You are given an option for automatic payment also where the amount of your premiums gets deducted from your linked bank account directly on monthly, quarterly, semi-annually or annually basis based on the mode of payment for premiums chosen by you. The options for payment include NEFT, eCMS, Standing Instructions (SI) mandate, Electronic Clearing Service (ECS), Auto Debit facility by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) etc. Such options for online payment will be based on the life insurance provider chosen by you. You can pay simply by logging into the insurer’s official website or by visiting the internet banking portal of your bank.

How to Calculate Life Insurance Premium?

While life insurers calculate the life insurance premiums for every individual, there are a few factors that are considered. As we know life insurance is a type of investment, even low premiums have the ability to generate comparatively higher returns over a certain period of time. Nevertheless, it is not possible for you to avail a life insurance plan with a lower premium as you have to accommodate a few requirements laid down by the insurance company. A few individuals are likely to avail similar life insurance plans as others at essentially lower costs.

The life insurance firms take several factors into consideration while computing the premiums. These factors are mentioned below:

• Age
• Gender
• Health Records
• Medical History
• Smoking
• Drinking
• Type of Policy
• Profession
• Lifestyle Choices
• Obesity

Illustration of Calculation of Life Insurance Premium

The calculations of premiums of life insurance are complex and cannot be done by potential consumers on their own because of several underlying factors. You can make use of a premium calculator to compute the life insurance premium. This is explained with an example below:

The life insurance premium calculator consists of various fields on the chosen plan. Below is the example of a New Endowment Plan:

Type of the plan: New Endowment Plan

Age of the policyholder: 38 years

Term of the Plan: 20 years

Sum assured: Rs. 10 lakhs

Accident Rider/Benefit: Yes/Selected*

*The Accident Rider offers an additional cover for a death caused due to an accident above the base insurance plan, by summing up a small amount of the premiums on the base premiums. Other insurance companies may offer or may not offer the accident benefit rider.

The inferences drawn from this calculation are as under:

Annual Premium: Rs. 49, 940

Semi-annual Premium: Rs. 25, 235

Quarterly Premium: Rs. 12, 750

Monthly Premium: Rs. 4, 250

The aforementioned figures of premiums are shown in four different types. Generally, annual premiums cost you lesser in the long-term choice for more frequent monthly, quarterly, and semi-annual options.

How can you Claim a Life Insurance Policy?

You can claim life insurance under the following two circumstances:

• Death of the insured
• Maturity of the life insurance plan

Life Insurance Claims in case of the event of Death

In case of your unforeseen demise, the beneficiary or any of your close relatives can make the claim by:

• Informing the insurance company as soon as possible with the required details like the cause of demise, place of demise and time of demise.
• Submitting specific documents and proofs to the insurance company including

a)  your death certificate together with the claim form provided by the insurer.

b)  Original policy as it is a proof and legal document of an agreement of insurance covering your life.

c)  Discharge form signed with witnesses.

d)  the assignee has to present the deed if the policy was assigned

e)  If anyone other than the beneficiary or nominee or assignee makes a claim, then the person making this claim have to present a legal proof of his title.

f)  you might have to present reports by attending and hospital doctors along with post-mortem reports.

g)  In case of involvement of police inquiry, you will have to submit an inquest report.

The aforementioned list of documents are required at the time of processing a claim, you may require presenting other evidence like certificate by the employer or any other reports or forms, which assist in resolving the issues raised during the claim verification by the insurer or the investigation process.

Rules for Beneficiaries who Claim Life Insurance

While the nominee or the beneficiary claim life insurance, he has to follow some simple rules. The beneficiary has to file a death claim so as to obtain the death benefit. In case you are having a physical insurance policy, you can take claim notification or an intimation form from your insurer. In case you have bought your policy online, then you can apply for a form in an online mode.

• The claim intimation would contain the necessary details related to your policy like the name of the policyholder, number of the policy, name of the insured, place of the death, the name of the claimant, etc.
• The beneficiary has to fill in a few deaths claim forms and present some proof of demise. Once you are done with filing the form with the insurer, then it proved that the insurer has got the death claim.
• Then, the beneficiary will have to arrange all the necessary documents serving as proofs
• Next, the beneficiary has to furnish the documents to the insurer for the claim settlement procedure.
• After the submission of all the forms and documents, the insurer will begin with the verification procedure and decide whether it should settle the claim or not.

What is the Procedure to Cancel a Life Insurance Policy?

There can be a number of reasons to cancel your life insurance plan. The reason could be you are running out of money to make payments of the premiums or you come across a crucial need to liquidate your policy. You can have any reason, but irrespective of any reason, it is comparatively easier to cancel your life insurance plan. You can follow the tips given below on cancelling your life insurance policy:

Visit the official website of the insurance company from where you have bought your life insurance policy

Irrespective of the fact that whether you’ve bought a life insurance from a large national or some regional insurance provider, you can visit its official website in order to check the cancellation procedure. You can find the website on any of the correspondence pieces received from the insurance provider. You can also look for the website on the internet using the name of the insurance provider.

• Getting in touch with a Broker

  Before you proceed with the life insurance policy cancellation, it is suggested that you get hold of an experienced broker and clear all your doubts and check whether you’re making the right decision. Even getting convinced about the cancellation of your policy, it is good to talk about it to whizz as it will assist you in understanding whether this is will reap you good results.

• Getting hold of an Accountant

  If you cancel your life insurance policy, it can leave a door open for implications for taxes. Excess premiums and earnings assist you to build a financial corpus for whole life policies. When you cancel a policy, the insurance provider cuts you a cheque with a certain amount, and this sum of money may or may not be eligible for tax exemptions. Hence, it is necessary to consult a seasoned tax guru as he can resolve all your queries about tax implication linked to the cancellation of life insurance scheme.

  Take partial withdrawal plans into consideration

  If you’ve bought a universal life insurance policy, then you’re generally allowed to withdraw the partial sum from your policy without completely cancelling your policy. With the partial withdrawal your policy will free up a certain sum of money that you can use immediately, and in the meantime, you still leave some money in the policy to cover your loved ones and family in case of your untimely demise. Nevertheless, a partial withdrawal is like taking a loan against your policy and can have certain consequences, making it influential for you to get hold of a broker before taking partial withdrawal into consideration. 

Steps to Cancellation of your Life Insurance Plan

If you have decided of cancelling your life insurance policy, you can follow the steps below to assist you in cancelling the policy:

Following the Procedure

You will have to fill-in the cancellation form given by your insurance provider in order, to begin the cancellation procedure. You need fill-in a few personal details namely, the policy number, the name of the policyholder, etc. You are advised to keep a copy of the filled form with you for future references.

Present Everything in Writing

If you have to pose any questions to your life insurance provider or have to make any declarations, ensure that you do it in writing. For example, if you want to know the penalty charges for the cancellation, you can shoot with an email in spite of getting your query resolved over a call. A written query has a better chance of getting responses than a verbal communication; also the documentation assists in resolving any potential conflict between you and your insurance provider.

Cancel all the Automatic Payments

If you make the payments of the premiums automatically via checking account or credit card, you can cancel these payments simply by calling your bank or the credit card company. You have to get hold of your bank or Credit Card Company around three business days before scheduling the withdrawal. You can request to cancel the payments overcall, but you are required to follow up on your verbal communication in writing in many cases.

• Follow-ups

  If you keep getting invoices for premiums, you have to get in touch with your insurance provider via a letter. The letter must include copies of the documentation, which was retained while the cancellation of the life insurance policy. You must request for a refund in writing if the premium is deducted from your checking account.

  Rules to be kept in mind while you cancel your life insurance policy

  You can cancel your life insurance cover within the foreordained cooling off period. You will be given a refund of all the payments of your premiums made by you, but you will not receive any refund of the payments made for premiums if you’ve made claims during the cooling off period.

  Some Advice on Life Insurance Dos & Don’ts

  • Do thorough research
  • Read the terms and conditions carefully
  • Considering lock-in period
  • Take premium payment options into consideration
  • Do not hide anything

  Do thorough research

  Before landing up on to a decision, you must do a thorough research. You must go through the vast array of options available in the market and make use of the web aggregators to compare several policies. It can help you choose a policy with maximum benefits for you. You must ensure that you have checked up with the insurance provider to make sure of the unexpected hassles that you might face in future.

  Read the terms and conditions carefully

  The document containing the terms and conditions of your life insurance policy includes all the information of the policy. Many people don’t pay any attention to minute details of this document and end up dealing with detrimental results while making claims. You must ensure that you go through each and every detail of the terms and conditions section of your policy before buying one.

  Considering Lock-in Period

  There are cases where people buy life insurance plans and within some days realise that they are not completely satisfied with the policy’s terms and conditions. In such instances, a few insurance providers provide a lock-in period, where the policyholder can return the policy to the insurance company for no charge or penalty after a short span of time. Lock-in periods generally last for 15 days, to ensure that you buy a life policy with the aforesaid features.

  Take premium payment options into Consideration

  Many insurance providers provide premium payment options on the monthly, quarterly, half-yearly and yearly basis. It is influential that you choose a period of time that will permit you to make payments of your premiums without other ramifications. Irrespective of the option for payment of your premiums you are advised to choose the Electronic Check System to pay your premiums as it will make sure do not miss your payment dates.

  Do not hide anything

  There are cases where people try to hide some information while filling the application form and buying an insurance cover. You are required to present accurate medical history to the insurance provider, and you must notify them if you’re a smoker. Every information requested by the provider forms the basis of the terms and conditions of your policy. Misleading or missing information can lead to major problems while making claims. You can even face a total rejection of the claims in some instances.

  Life Insurance Companies in India

  Presently, 24 companies sell life insurance products in India. Of all these 24 providers, the only insurance provider under public sector is the LIC of India. The rest of the 23 companies are either private insurance providers or JVs between national or international insurance/finance companies and private or public sector banks/financial institutions.

  The access to life insurance sector was given to the private life insurers in the year 2000. Also, most of the private insurers have partnered with the international insurance players to bring up their insurance venture.

  The average claim settlement ratio of the life insurance industry has come out to97%. The table given below shows the ranking of the top life insurance providers based on their CSR and size of business.

  

  Life Insurance Companies with Average Claim Settlement

  Insurance Company	No. of Death Claims Received	No. of Death Claims Paid	Average Value per Claim Paid (Rs. In crores)	Claim Settlement Ratio
  LIC	761983	743249	10137.09	98.31
  Max Life	9175	8895	281.07	97.81
  TATA AIA Life	3311	3205	92.41	96.01
  ICICI Prudential Life	11034	10615	460.57	96.68
  Aegon Religare	533	508	42.64	97.11
  HDFC Standard Life	12430	11811	432.51	97.62
  Reliance Life	14618	13714	266.96	94.53
  SBI Life	16102	15037	469.1	96.69
  Canara HSBC OBC Life	571	531	32.89	94.95
  Bajaj Allianz Life	17967	16404	440.67	91.67
  Sahara Life	794	717	7.7	90.21
  Future Generali	1530	1381	32.22	89.53
  Exide Life	3233	2889	80.75	96.40
  Kotak Mahindra	2767	2465	112.05	91.24
  Birla Sunlife	7204	6372	277.51	94.69
  PNB Metlife	3094	2641	170.14	87.14
  Edelweiss Tokyo	141	120	16.34	93.29
  IDBI Federal	1085	920	53.11	90.33
  DHFL Pramerica	550	460	18.87	90.87
  Aviva	1531	1255	140.6	90.60
  Star Union	1365	1102	48.2	84.05
  Bharati AXA Life	1261	1009	71.99	92.37
  India First	1891	1359	65.74	82.65
  Shriram Life	2510	1512	87.35	63.53

  ** Claim Settlement Ratios for Financial Year 2015-2016 by IRDA

  The growth of Life Insurance Sector in India

  In the year 2015-2016, the share of the insurance sector in India was 79%. On the contrary, the share of non-life insurance business was 21%. India was at 2.24% in 2015 in the international life insurance plot.

  • The life insurance sector has witnessed an increase in the country in 2015 which has reached 2.72% from 2.6% in 2014. By end of March 2016, there have been 54 insurance providers in India, out of which 24 companies were life insurance firms.
  • The life insurance sector has generated an income of Rs. 3. 6 crores in the year 2015; however, it generated an income of Rs. 3.28 crore in 2016. The amount of renewal premium increased by 6.20% in the year 2015 to 2016. There has been a growth of 22.53% in the first-year The progress of unit-linked products was approximately 12.61% premiums from Rs. 41 crores.
  • For ULIPs, there was a growth of 12.61% premium to Rs. 46 crores in the year 2015-2016 from Rs. 41 crores in the year 2014-2015.
  • The traditional products grew in premiums of around 11.72% to Rs. 3.2 crores in the year 2015-2016 from Ts. 2.8 crores in 2014-2015.
  • In case of total premium income, LIC’s market shared came down to 72% in the year 2015-2016 from 73% in the year 2014-2015.

  Death Benefits Settlement Statistics in the Life Insurance Industry for 2016-2017

  • The Indian Life Insurance providers in India have settled around 8.54 lakhs claims on the individual policies in 2015-2016. Rs. 12.6 crores were the total payout.
  • The Claim Settlement Ratio (CSR) of Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) of India, one of the leading insurers, rose to 98.33% in the year 2015-2016.
  • The settlement ratio of the whole industry was 96.97% in the year 2014-2015, which rose to 97.43% in the year 2015-2016.

  List of Life Insurance Providers with Data & Figure

  Life Insurance Providers	Claims Received	Claims Paid	Grievances Solved Ratio (%)	Life Insurance Premium Paid (in crores)
  LIC	761983	749249	100.00	266444.21
  SBI Life	16102	15037	99.97	15825.36
  ICICI Prudential Life	11034	10615	99.87	19164.39
  HDFC Life	12430	11811	99.38	16312.98
  Bajaj Allianz Life	17967	16404	99.90	5897.31
  Max Life	9175	8895	100.00	9216.16
  Birla Sun Life	7204	6372	99.99	5579.71
  Kotak Life	2767	2465	93.11	3971.68
  Reliance Life	14618	13714	98.84	4398.12
  India First	1891	1359	98.82	1967.4
  PNB MetLife	3094	2641	99.55	2827.83
  Canara HSBC Oriental Bank of Commerce Life	571	531	99.60	2059.96
  TATA AIA Life	3311	3205	100.00	2478.96
  DHFL Pramerica	550	460	99.65	920.21
  Shriram Life	2510	1512	96.70	1022.11
  Star Union Dai-ichi	1365	1102	95.42	1307.47
  Exide Life	3233	2889	99.59	2046.99
  IDBI Federal	1085	920	100.00	1239.67
  Bharti AXA Life	1261	1009	100.00	1208.33
  Aviva	1531	1255	100.00	1493.15
  Future Generali	1530	1381	99.31	592.5
  Edelweiss Tokio	141	120	99.09	310.07
  Aegon Life	533	508	5.00	501.6
  Sahara Life	794	717	97.14	157.05

  Source: Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority

  

  Know the Important Terms of Life Insurance

  Insurer: The insurance company selling the life insurance policy to a person is referred to as Insurer.

  Insured: The person buying the said policy is referred the insured.

  Sum Assured: The total sum of money that is guaranteed to a person at the maturity of the life insurance plan is known as the sum assured. Bonuses are not included in the sum assured.

  Death Benefit: The payout received by the beneficiary or the nominee upon the unforeseen demise of the policyholder is called death benefit.

  Accident Benefit: If you meet with an accident and you have a life insurance cover, your life insurance policy might have a clause covering all the expenses related to your accident such as hospitalisation expenditure, medical expenses etc.

  Rider: Often the insurance providers offer the adjoining features to their policies at an affordable fee. Such additional features enhancing the value of your life insurance policy and delivering additional benefits are referred to as riders.

  Free-look Period: If you’re unsatisfied with your life insurance policy’s terms and conditions, and would want to cancel your policy, you can do this while the free-look period if going on without paying any penalties or fees.

  Lapsed Policy: If a policyholder fails to pay the premium on or prior to the due date, and doesn’t pay the premium after the grace period too, the insurance provider ceases all the benefits provided by the insurance cover and abolishes it for the reason of non-payment. This kind of policy is known as a lapsed policy.

  Cash Value: If the life insurance plan gets terminated voluntarily prior to the maturity date, the life insurance provider will pay the policyholder a specific amount known as the cash value.

  Vesting Age: The age of the policyholder at which the insurance provider start giving payouts is known as the vesting age.

  Policy Term: The total duration for which the policyholder will be covered by the insurance provider is known as the policy term.

  Waiver of Premium: The policyholder has a responsibility to pay the premiums regularly. Waiver of Premium is the rider that the insured can buy if he is seriously ill or disabled, and hence, is not able to pay the premiums. This feature makes sure that the insured continue receiving the benefits from the insurance provider even if he can’t afford to pay the premiums.

  Premium Paying Term: The total duration for which the policyholder will be paying premiums to the insurance provider is known as the premium payment term. These terms are generally same as that of the policy term.

  Where to Buy Life Insurance Online?

  Compare Life Insurance Plans Online here to Get Best Insurance Premium Quotes in India:

  If you too are looking for some good life insurance plans, but do not have an idea about which Life insurance company to choose and what type of policy is apt for you, PolicyBazaar can be a great help. We offer details of leading life insurers and various life insurance policies in India, such as endowment life policy and whole life policy. You can even compare different life insurance policies online to see which policy suits you most. You can also enrol for a life policy and pay the premium for the policy online. Furthermore, with PolicyBazaar, getting life insurance policies quotes online from different life insurance companies is no more remain a daunting task.

  Over the last few years, the premium of life insurance plans has sloshed drastically. Isn’t that a real motivation to be covered? To buy the best life insurance plan, log on to PolicyBazaar and get quotes from life policies of all the top insurers. Therefore, get your life insured, all it takes is a few clicks of the mouse at our website. 

  Life Insurance - Latest News

  Know Why Life Insurance is considered as Protection Instrument, Not a Mere Tax Saver

  As compared to the previous year, the number of life insurance policies sold in 2017 has declined. Contrary to this, the cover of a life insurance policy has increased by a total of 14% in value. This indicates the maturity of the domestic industry, which has now shifted their priority to protection plans from just being a tax saver.The total number of policies sold in the year 2017 has decreased to 264.56 Lakh from 267.38 lakh, whereas the total life insurance policy cover has increased to Rs.4,18,476.62 crore from Rs.3,66,943.23 crore. This annual report has been issued by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India. In the year 2017, LIC of India accounted for 201.32 Lakh policies from the total 264.65 lakh new policies distributed throughout the year. The share of the state-run corporation has fallen 2.02% points lower than the 76.1% in the preceding year. In contrast to LIC, the private sector life insurance providers have issued a total 63.24 lakh new policies, which is 23.9% of the policies issued, thus this has resulted in the increase of 2.13% over the preceding year. While 12.78% growth has been reported by LIC in their premium income, the private sector life insurance companies have posted a growth of 17.40%.