Savings Plan

Those instrument plans which entitle a person to get tax benefits under Section 80C of the Income Tax Act are called tax saving instrument plans.

Some of the popular tax saving instruments are-

• Public Provident Fund (PPF)
• ELSS Funds/Tax Saving Mutual Funds
• ULIPs
• Employee Provident Fund
• Senior Citizen Saving Scheme
• New Pension Scheme
• NSCs and bank Fds
• Life insurance policies
• Pension plans
• Child Plans

All premiums paid on investment plan qualify for tax exemptions under Section 80C . Further, maturity proceeds or withdrawals are eligible to get exemptions under Section 10(10D).

Investment plan allows you to get good returns through the interaction of your capital with other equities like mutual funds, equity, etc. It is a combination of investment and life cover which gives a triple bonanza=

Term (life cover)                                       

Investment (Wealth creation)

Tax benefits (80C & 10(10D)         

It is a smart and hassle free mode of investing money in mutual funds. It allows you to invest a pre-determined amount at a regular interval in mutual funds, i.e, weekly, monthly or quarterly.

All insurance companies provide grace period, which means you will be given some more days to pay your premium. However, if you still fail to pay the premium then your policy will get lapsed. You must revive the policy by submitting necessary documents and paying penalty charges, as stated by your insurance company. The charges are payable for lapsed duration and hence increases with increase in the lapsed duration.

There are various financial instruments available in the market where you can invest as per your requirement. Some of the top ones are detailed below-

No you will not lose any money. IRDA has strict rules to take care of such situation where the insurance company is near to close down. In fact there is not even a single case in the insurance sector where an insurance company is closed down. When a company reaches to the stage of closure, it has always been acquired by other company. The clear example of it is ING Vysya Life which is now renamed as Exide Life Insurance as it is acquired by Exide.  

While you can't predict when an insurance company might call it quits, but there are several provisions available to safeguard interests of policyholders. As per Section 64VA of the Insurance Act 1938, there is a solvency margin of Rs 150 crores, which is directly linked to the premium collection, and has to be maintained by every insurance company. Under the supervision of IRDA, insurance companies deposit amount at RBI, as the safety deposit which will be used for repaying dues of customers in case insurance company goes bankrupt.

Also, this solvency margin keeps rising as and when the insurance company expands its portfolio. It means, even if your insurance company wants to close down its business or moves out of the country, RBI can repay policyholders from the security deposit amount on behalf of the insurance company.

Following is the list of documents which are required at the time of buying an investment plan-

• Duly filled proposal form
• KYC (Know your client) and PAN card
• Income proof, depending on premium
• Blank cheque for getting payout
• KYC of proposer/life insured incase of child plans

You can easily submit your documents by uploading them online, courier or mail it to the nearest branch. If the policy is bought through an agent then documents can be submitted to the agent also. It means, if you have purchased policy from PolicyBazaar then you can give requisite documents to us and we will submit them with the insurance company.

Endowment plan is a type of traditional life insurance plan that gives dual benefits of life cover and savings to a policyholder. It is an ideal investment option for people with a low risk appetite and who want to invest for less than 10 years. It has a fixed +variable structure. Although endowment plan is not market- linked, it could participate in company’s profit sharing also.

Beneficiary would be entitled to get the claim in the event of death of the insured.

A beneficiary is a person or entity entitles to receive claim amount and other benefits upon the death of the policyholder. A proper nomination is required to ensure that your loved ones get all benefits of a policy without any hassles. It allows fast claim settlement in the hours of needs

No, there is no stringent medical formality which you need to undergo to buy an investment plan because of comparatively lower life cover. However, insurance company can ask to submit for medical reports if the proposer falls in the high age bracket or have medical issues. Also, if the sum assured is very high, medical test could be asked by the insurer.

• Intimation of claim= Intimate the insurance company as soon as possible. The claim intimation should consist of information like policy number, name of the insured, place of death, cause of death, name & relationship of the claimant.
• Submit relevant documents= Claimant is required to furnish documents along with the claim form to the insurer. Some of the requisite documents include original policy document, counter signed claim form, address proof of the nominee, copy of death certificate issued by local authority, etc.
• Step 3= After receiving all policy documents along with a duly filled form, the insurance company will carefully scrutinize all documents and will either accept or reject claims on the basis of policy terms & conditions.

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Claim settlement is one of the important services that an insurance company provides to its customer. In case of investment policies, policyholder gets a letter from the insurance company well before the maturity date. The following steps are involved in the claim settlement process-

• Download the discharge form from the company’s website. Fill it with necessary details like including policyholder’s name, ID and policy number.
• Attach original policy documents along with KYC and bank details. As claim money is usually paid electronically you should give your bank account details.
• Submit the duly filled form along with requisite documents at the company’s branch office.
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You have bought an investment plan to bolster your savings. However, financial security will become a reality only when your insurance company settles your claim in a hassle-free way. If a claim gets rejected then the dream of a viable financial life becomes bleak. So, it is worthwhile to know top reasons of claim rejection-

• Trusting insurance agent blindly- While buying a policy, we are always in hurry and want things to happen in a jiffy. We never pay attention towards proposal form. We only sign the form and ask the insurance agent to fill it. This is a wrong practice because the agent may not know all requisite details about you and as a result, chances are high that incorrect information is filled in the form. It is our responsibility to disclose all important information to the insurance companies. If you hide information or fail to give correct details, then an insurance company has full rights to reject the claim. To avoid this, it is advised to fill the form by yourself and put correct information like income, age, etc.
• Hiding medical details- Although, you aim to buy an investment plan to strengthen your financial security, but general medical information is also required to fill in the form. So, make sure you are disclosing all relevant facts regarding you and your family. It is necessary to give details of habits pertaining to tobacco and alcohol.
• Policy lapse- This is one of the biggest threats to claim settlement. You will be entitled to get the claim settlement only when your investment plan is in force. It is crucial to pay premiums on or before the due date. Insurance companies also provide a grace period after the due date and if you will fail to pay your premium during this term, you will not be entitled to get a claim. Many times it has been seen that people do not pay premium after the stipulated time frame because their agent has asked them to do so. In such a case, a policyholder assumes that the policy is active but in reality it is inactive.

Let’s have a look on few important guidelines that your investment plan should have-

• Define objectives= The most important factor is the objective of your investment plan. For example, your objective could be accumulating Rs 50 lakh in next 10 years by investing Rs 10,000 a month. Once you have clearly defined your goals, look for financial instruments which will help you in accomplishing your objective. There are various financial instruments like equity, mutual funds, bonds, bank account, fixed deposits, etc., where you can invest. Finally, you have to decide how much money to invest in different plans.

• Right asset allocation= The objective behind asset allocation is reducing risk of putting all eggs in a single basket. Asset allocation helps people in diversifying their risk and is useful in reducing market fluctuations. For instance, market fluctuation is more in equity, less in bonds and negligent in government scheme. The return in equity is higher as compared to other investment avenues.

• Start early= Never delay your investment plans and reap maximum benefits by starting investing early.
  

Investors should do a thorough market study and read about companies before investing in equity. For banks, saving accounts, FDs and RDs, you should check interest on returns. If investment is in bonds, make sure that you understand rating of the bond. As far as possible, do your own study before picking one investment over other.

Buying insurance online is fast, cheap and easy as compared to other modes of purchase. At PolicyBazaar, you can buy an insurance policy from any part of the world at any point of time.

Have a quick glance over benefits of buying insurance online from PolicyBazaar –

• Cheaper policy= When you buy an investment plan online, the insurance company saves a lot of money which is otherwise spent on distributors, manual sales process, operating costs etc. This, in turn is advantageous to you as the online products are offered at low rates by the company. It means, you can save money by buying policy online from PolicyBazaar. Also there are various plans which can be bought only online.

• Compare and get the best deal- You are buying an investment plan to fortify your financial security. So it becomes important to compare all available options. PolicyBazaar gives you a chance to compare available investment plans on the basis of various parameters so that you always choose the best which suits you most.

Also, agents are specific to limited insurers and therefore, they push only those policies to people which generate high commission for them. It is not the case with PolicyBazaar. Therefore, when you search policies on PolicyBazaar, you get a chance to pick a most favorable plan out of the available options.

• Automated servicing= It is important to note that the online platform is not only limited to sales. It is a fast servicing channel which can be used by existing policyholders also. Irrespective of the fact that whether you have bought policy online or offline, you can use our viable platform to download brochure wordings, renew old policies, pay premiums and track the status of your insurance policy. In the internet world, entire process is hassle free and you can easily complete the transaction without any help. Our after sale services include constant reminders to customers regarding premium, complete assistance in claim settlement.

• Online assistance= Our 24x7 customer support is open to answer all your queries. Also, our customer support number allows you to communicate via offline route. You can reach out to us via whatsapp also.

• Mobile App= Now you can compare and buy policy on the go. You can share policies, documents and get premium reminders & other information anytime and anywhere.

These bonds are issued by Industrial Finance Corporation of India (IFCI), Infrastructure Development Finance Corporation (IDFC) and any non-banking financial company. Investments in infrastructure bonds are advised from tax saving perspective as you get an additional exemption of Rs 20,000.

It is a special category of fixed deposits where investors get tax benefits when they invest money in fixed deposits. The maximum benefit is available up to an investment of Rs 1 lakh and there is a lock-in period of 5 years.

Most traditional plans like endowment, whole-life plans can be revived, subject to conditions that your insurer might impose upon you. Here are 3 ways to revive a lapsed policy-

• Grace Period- The first attempt which you can make in the direction of reviving your lapsed policy is during the grace period. It is usually 15 days period after the premium due date in case of monthly payment plan and 30 days in case of half yearly, quarterly and yearly payment plans. When your policy enters into grace period, all benefits, including riders, remain intact. However, once the period is over, your policy gets lapsed. So you must pay premium within grace period to keep your benefits intact and to avoid your policy from getting lapsed.
• Re-instatement Period- If you have missed grace period, your policy might enter into the reinstatement period. The benefits which you have accrued on your insurance policy are not valid in this tenure, but insurance companies give you a chance to revive your policy during this term. It means you will require clearing all premium dues with interest in order to revive your lapsed policy.
• Paid up premiums- Your policy will not get lapsed if you have continuously paid premiums for more than 3 years. Even if you are not applying for reinstatement of the policy, your policy would stay intact, however, its value would fall. All benefits that have been accrued on the policy are paid on the pro rata basis, depending on the number of years continued for.

It is strongly advised that you should revive your policy within 6 months of its lapse as the process is quite easy. As the time passes, process becomes tough and you may also need to pay overdue premiums along with interest and additional documents, which could include medical tests also.

It would depend on various factors like when you start making an investment, when you decide to retire, etc. You would be able to enjoy good returns on your investment if you understand your current financial state, i.e., personal circumstances, income, fund liquidity, which you may require at the time of maturity of the policy, etc. Before zeroing in on the policy, it is crucial to understand your investment objective because then only you will be able to decide the amount to be invested.

Call the customer support staff of the insurance company to amend the policy wordings. An endorsement is issued to make changes like name spellings, add things, etc. Endorsement cannot be issued to make change in structure eligibility.

Yes, you can change the nominee at any point of time. Just inform your insurance company about the changes either via mail or phone. You would need to fill a nomination change form by citing details like name of nominee, relationship with the policyholder, nominee's date of birth, etc. In case your policy nominee is a minor, you would also need to fill the appointee details in the form.

Yes, an NRI can also buy an investment policy in India. Over the past few years, there has been a spurt in NRI investment owing to the government's liberal policy. Those who want to buy good investment plans in India should content competent financial advisors of PolicyBazaar for managing and helping it to grow & flourish. To know about available NRI investment plans, Please Click

Suicidal death in 1^st year of policy issuance is the main exclusion of the policy.

Apart from disclosing your name, occupation, annual income and age at the time of applying for the investment plan, you should also mention that whether you are a smoker/tobacco user or not. Some insurance companies may also be interested in knowing your travel habits, lifestyle habits and medical details before policy issuance.

Yes, you can apply for a loan against traditional or endowment insurance policy. ULIP is not eligible for loan. The insurance policy that you bought to fortify your financial security can also be used in a cash crunch too.

Let’s know the procedure of availing loan against insurance policy

1. Submit a loan application= A policyholder has to submit a loan application in the format prescribed by the insurance company. The complete details of the policy, policyholder and loan applied for, have to be given in the form.
2. Assignment of insurance policy= The policy against which a loan is taken will be assigned to the insurance company as a security till the loan repayment.
3. Loan repayment= A policyholder needs to repay the loan amount and interest during the policy term. If the interest is not paid, it will be added to the principal amount and interest is charged on the entire amount.

Important points to note

• Loan amount is attached to the surrender value of the plan
• Policy may be immediately terminated if the outstanding loan and unpaid interest exceeds surrender value of the policy. If such thing happens, policyholder may lose investment plan also.

Yes, insurance documents can be used as an identity proof. However, only LIC documents can be used as an identity proof. In rural areas, many people do not carry identity document and LIC is the only document which they are possessing. In such case, it can be used as an identity proof.

It is tough to predict what's going to be the most advantageous asset at a given point of time. So, you should carefully diversify your investments across different asset classes which will allow you to benefit from each year's best performing asset. Moreover before investing, check the company’s portfolio and performance of your investment plans in last few years.

Last but not the least; reach out to your financial advisor to understand prevailing market trends.

Cash back on insurance is completely illegal and against the policy of IRDA. Although, some agents make fake promises to lure customers but you should never buy any insurance plan which claims to give cash back.

A rider provides extra protection to the policyholder beyond the provisions contained in the basic insurance policy. Riders offer low cost pure risk to a policyholder. However, these need to be purchased specifically along with base policy at the time of buying the policy. One is required to pay extra premiums to get riders. The right type of rider can customize your insurance plan as per your divergent needs. Some of the investment specific riders available in market are:

• Accidental Death and Disability Rider
• Waiver of Premium Rider
• Critical Illness Rider
• Temporary or permanent impairment Rider
• Waiver of Premium on Critical Illness
• Income benefit rider
• Hospital Cash
• Family Income Benefit

There are various channels through which you can buy policy, like online, offline, agent and bank.

Yes, you can pay monthly SIP on insurance.