Zero Cost Term Insurance Plan

In regular term insurance plans, you don’t get back a premium amount paid on maturity as a survival benefit, but a new variant of term plans, called Zero Cost Term Insurance, has been introduced by some of the insurers where all the premium amounts paid are returned to the policyholder at a certain age decided by the Insurer if the customer wants. Let’s understand ‘What is Zero Cost Term Insurance’ in detail:

What is a Zero Cost Term Insurance?

There were 2 types of term insurance plans available in the insurance industry so far. One is a regular term plan also referred to as “term plan” where if an individual dies during the policy tenure, his/her nominee will get the cover amount (Sum assured). And, if they survive the policy term, no maturity amount is paid. The second variant of the term plan is Return of Premium (ROP) in which the policyholder gets back their premium amount minus GST in case of survival till the end of policy term. However, Return of Premium(ROP) plans are about twice the cost of Regular term plans.

While term plans are the cheapest and best form of Life Insurance across the world, it has been seen that there are still people who understand that term insurance is beneficial to them but, end up not buying one due to the sense of not getting back anything in case of Survival or feeling that the Return of Premium(ROP) plans are costly. At the same time, it has been seen that most of the customers were preferring to take a cover for longer policy term/age due to inconclusiveness on retirement age, financial dependency of family members post 60/65years of age. To cater to this segment, insurers are now offering a new type of term insurance plans which is getting known across in Media as Zero Cost Term Insurance Plan.

"This plan comes at the same premium of the regular term plan. It has a special exit feature where you can exit at a specific life stage and get all your premium back whenever you want during the time period provided by the insurer. So, you get the flexibility of getting return of your paid amount at the same cost which otherwise would have cost you twice."

Difference Between Zero Cost Term Plan and Return of Premium Plan

In both ROP and Zero Cost term plan, you get back/have an option to get back your total amount of premium paid at different stages. So, now let’s understand the difference between these two plan variants:

Should You Buy a Zero Cost Term Insurance Plan or Return of Premium Plan?

Financial advisors always suggest opting for the plain-vanilla term plan. You can buy a term insurance plan with life cover online having low-cost till 70 years of age to meet your insurance needs. Let’s say, at 55 years you have met all your financial responsibilities or have accumulated sufficient funds to meet them, then you can think of discontinuing the term insurance plan by opting for Zero Cost term insurance plan.

What are the Reasons to Buy Zero Cost Term Insurance Plans?

Here are a few reasons you should buy zero cost term plan:

• These plans are more affordable for customers in comparison to Return of Premium (ROP) plans. Generally, Zero Cost plans are about 50% cheaper than ROP plans.

• These plans are best suited for customers who are not sure of their retirement age or dependency of family members on their income at older age.

Which Companies Offer Zero Cost Term Insurance Plans?

Max Life, Bajaj Allianz and HDFC Life Insurance are among those that have introduced such plans. Let’s discuss the details:

Sample Premium Comparison of Term Insurance Plan Variants of Max Life and Bajaj Allianz

The table illustrates the term insurance premiums for a 30 years old male who is a non-smoker and a salaried person who has availed a life cover of Rs.1 Crore.

+Standard Terms and Conditions apply

When people reach a specific age, they would have generally accumulated different assets and may not feel the need for term insurance plans. As discussed, various insurers have addressed this need by allowing them to exit the plan at a pre-specified age and get their total premium paid back. It is advisable to buy a term plan after thorough research, comparison and as per your suitability.