What is Term Insurance?

The term insurance plan is the most basic as well as the oldest form of life insurance and provides the payment of a lump sum amount (sum assured) on the death of the policyholder, provided that the death has occurred within the policy term or tenure. In case, the policyholder survives the policy term, his cover will cease and nothing will be paid to him. 

So do you need critical illness riders? 

Life is unpredictable & Illnesses always come unannounced and affect your physical as well as financial well-being. Not only will you have to take care of the hefty hospital's bills. Besides this, chances of skipping work or, in the worst case scenario, being asked to quit your job will increase your anxieties as well. Such consequences definitely impact your income flow and ability to cope with the huge medical bills. 

The critical illness rider has been created with the goal to protect yourself and your family when it comes to dealing with huge medical bills. With this rider, the term life insurance get a lump sum amount on the diagnosis of any one of the below mentioned below: 

36 Critical Illnesses that Covers by Term Insurance

1. Alzheimer's Disease
2. Angioplasty
3. Aorta Graft Surgery
4. Apallic Syndrome
5. Aplastic Anaemia
6. Benign Brain Tumour
7. Brain Surgery
8. CABG (Coronary artery bypass graft)
9. Cancer
10. Cardiomyopathy
11. Chronic Lung Disease
12. Chronic Liver Disease
13. Coma
14. Deafness
15. Encephalitis
16. Heart Valve Surgery
17. Loss of Independent Existence
18. Loss of Limbs
19. Loss of Speech
20. Kidney Failure (End Stage Renal Failure)
21. Major Burns
22. Major Head Trauma
23. Major Organ/ Bone Marrow Transplant
24. Medullary Cystic Disease
25. Motor Neurone Disease with permanent symptoms
26. Multiple Sclerosis with persisting symptoms
27. Muscular Dystrophy
28. Myocardial Infarction (First Heart Attack)
29. Coronary artery by-pass grafts (with surgery to divide the breastbone)
30. Parkinson's Disease
31. Permanent Paralysis of limbs
32. Poliomyelitis
33. Primary Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension
34. Stroke resulting in permanent symptoms
35. Systematic lupus Eryth. w. Renal Involvement
36. Total Blindness 

Best Term Insurance Plans with Critical Illness Riders

Name of the Plan	Min/Max Entry Age	Maximum Coverage Amount	Number of Critical Illnesses Covered	Claims Settled (%)
Max Life Insurance Online Term Plus	18/60	1 Crore	40	97.8
Kotak Life e-Term Life	18/65	1 Crore	37	91.2
DHFL Pramerica Flexi Term	18/65	1 Crore	35	90.9
Edelweiss Tokio My Life+	18/60	No Upper Limit	12	93.3
Bharati AXA Flexi Term	18/65	1 Crore	34	92.4
Bajaj Allianz eTouch Online Term	18/65	75 Lakh	34	91.7
SBI Life Insurance Poorna Suraksha	18/65	2.5 Crore	36	96.7

 

1. Max Life Insurance Online Term Plus

Max Life Insurance Online Term Plus policy is the most economical way of ensuring the financial well-being of the insured’s family, even in his absence. All you have to do is pay a nominal, annual premium, for a fixed period of time, and in case of your unfortunate demise during the policy tenure, your family is paid the sum assured.

This particular plan only provides a death benefit (no survival benefits) on the demise of the life assured, which he can choose from the following 3 options:

1. Sum Assured
2. Sum assured plus level monthly income

• Sum assured plus increasing monthly income 

2. Kotak Life e-Term Life

Kotak Life e-Term Plan is one of the most economical pure risk cover term plans, that is designed to provide one’s family with the highest level of financial protection. There are 3 different plan options to choose from and in the event of the death of the life assured, his nominees will receive the death benefits:

1. Life Option - Sum Assured on Death
2. Life Plus Option - Benefit under Life Option + Accidental Death Benefit

• Life Secure Option - Benefit under Life Option + Waiver of Premium on Total and Permanent Disability 

3. DHFL Pramerica Flexi Term

DHFL Pramerica Flexi Term is a customizable financial shield to safeguard your family’s future financial needs. The plan offers the option of enhancing or adding a booster to one’s life cover as per the changing needs for changing life stages. As a policyholder, you also get the flexibility to choose from 5 different protection options:

1. Life Cover
2. Life Boost

• Life Smart Step Up

1. Life Health Hike
2. Life Total 

4. Edelweiss Tokio My Life+

Edelweiss Tokio My Life+ is a non-participating, non-linked term insurance plan that not only covers the insured’s life but also provides financial security to his family at a very competitive price. With this plan, you can either choose to provide your family with a lump sum amount at one go or with a monthly payout (which should be a more preferred choice as a huge lump sum amount is not easy to manage and a lot depends on the individuals’ savings aptitude). 

5. Bharati AXA Flexi Term

Bharati AXA Flexi Term provides the insured with the flexibility to choose from 3 different life coverage (death benefit) pay-out options:

1. Lump sum – One-time payment of the sum assured 
2. Monthly Income – Monthly payout for 15 years where the income will increase by 10% every successive year 

• Lump sum plus Monthly Income – Half of the sum assured is given at death of the policyholder and the remaining half will be given as monthly payout for next 15 years (increasing annually at 10%). 

The policy also allows you to choose any one of the 3 critical illness covers at the time of signing-up:

1. Comprehensive Cover – Covers 34 critical illnesses 
2. Major Illness Cover – Covers 15 major critical ailments 

• Heart & Cancer Cover – Covers 9 critical illnesses for heart and cancer 

6. Bajaj Allianz eTouch Online Term

Bajaj Allianz eTouch Online Term is comprehensive term insurance plan that provides life, accidental and health insurance to its policyholders along with the benefit of premium waiver. In short, the plan works like a shield to protect the life assured against various odds. The plan comes in four different variants, viz:

1. Shield – Life benefit + Premium Waiver benefit (in case of Accidental Total Permanent Disability) 
2. Shield Plus – Life Benefit + Premium waiver benefit + Accidental Total Permanent Disability Benefit 
3. Shield Super – Life Benefit + Premium waiver benefit + Accidental Death Benefit + Accidental Total Permanent Disability Benefit 
4. Shield Supreme - Life Benefit + Accelerated Critical Illness Benefit + Premium waiver benefit + Accidental Total Permanent Disability Benefit 

7. SBI Life Insurance Poorna Suraksha 

SBI Life Insurance Poorna Suraksha is a non-linked term insurance policy that offers an inbuilt critical illness cover to its buyers. This plan is designed keeping in mind the individuals’ different financial planning style. They understand the fact that individuals like to change and adjust their financial planning from time to time. 

Their ‘Life Stage Rebalancing’ feature is designed with an aim to rebalance the cover between Critical Illness cover and Life Cover.

At the time of buying the policy, the policyholder can split his basic sum assured between Life Cover and Critical Illness Cover in the ratio of 80:20. With each passing policy year, a certain percentage of the CI sum assured will increase (depending upon the chosen policy tenure) and the Life Cover sum assured will decrease by an equal ratio. 

Final Thoughts: 

Due to the hectic schedule these days, everyone in four Indians is at the risk of dying from critical illnesses like cancer or cardio-vascular ailments before they reach the age of 70. The treatments for these critical illnesses can lead to a massive financial drain to the family as the treatment costs for these diseases can easily run into lakhs. Opting for one of these critical illnesses term life insurance coverage in India will surely prove to be helpful for you in the long run.