Individual

Term Insurance Policy

• A term assurance cover provides financial benefit to the beneficiary in the event of the death of the policyholder For instance, if a person buys a cover for INR 10 lakh for5 years, the beneficiary  is entitled to the said amount if the policyholder dies within 5 years. However premium paid is not refundable if the policyholder survives the entire period

• These insurance policies are designed to provide 100 per cent risk cover and hence they do not have any additional charges other than the basic ones. This makes premiums paid under such life insurance policies the lowest in the life insurance category.

Whole Life Policy

• A whole life policy covers a policyholder against death, throughout his life term. The advantage that an individual gets when he / she opts for a whole life policy is that the validity of this life insurance policy is not defined and hence the individual enjoys the life cover throughout his or her life.

• Under this life insurance policy, the policyholder pays regular premiums until his death, upon which the corpus is paid to the family. The policy does not expire till the time any unfortunate event occurs with the individual.

• Increasingly, whole life policies are being combined with other insurance products to address a variety of needs such as retirement planning, etc.
• Premiums paid under the whole life policies are tax exempt.

Endowment Policy

• Combining risk cover with financial savings, endowment policies are among the popular life insurance policies.

• Policy holders benefit in two ways from a pure endowment insurance policy. In case of death during the tenure, the beneficiary gets the sum assured. If the individual survives the policy tenure, he gets back the premiums paid with other investment returns and benefits like bonuses.

• In addition to the basic policy, insurers offer various benefits such as double endowment and marriage/ education endowment plans.

• The concept of providing the customers with better returns has been gaining importance in recent times. Hence, insurance companies have been coming out with new and better ULIP versions of endowment policies. Under such life insurance policies the customers are also provided with an option of investing their premiums into the markets, depending on their risk appetite, using various fund options provided by the insurer, these life insurance policies help the customer profit from rising markets.

• The premiums paid and the returns accumulated through pure endowment policies and their ULIP variants are tax exempt.

Money Back Policy

• This life insurance policy is favoured by many people because it gives periodic payments during the term of policy. In other words, a portion of the sum assured is paid out at regular intervals. If the policy holder survives the term, he gets the balance sum assured.

• In case of death during the policy term, the beneficiary gets the full sum assured.

• New ULIP versions of money back policies are also being offered by various life insurers.

• The premiums paid and the returns accumulated though a money back policy or its ULIP variants are tax exempt.

ULIPs

• ULIPs are market-linked life insurance products that provide a combination of life cover and wealth creation options.

• A part of the amount that people invest in a ULIP goes toward providing life cover, while the rest is invested in the equity and debt instruments for maximising returns. .

• ULIPs provide the flexibility of choosing from a variety of fund options depending on the customers risk appetite. One can opt from aggressive funds (invested largely in the equity market with the objective of high capital appreciation) to conservative funds (invested in debt markets, cash, bank deposits and other instruments, with the aim of preserving capital while providing steady returns).

• ULIPs can be useful for achieving various long-term financial goals such as planning for retirement, child’s education, marriage etc.

Annuities and Pension

• In an annuity scheme, the insurer agrees to pay the policyholder a stipulated amount of money at frequent intervals. The objective  is to  provide the annuitant with  income protection during his or her retirement life through periodic pension payments. Annuities can be broadly classified as immediate and deferred.  In India based on individual needs  , different types of annuity schemes  are offered by various insurance companies

• • Life annuity
  • Life annuity with return of capital
  • Life annuity guaranteed for life  (5, 10, 15 and 20 years)
  • Joint life last survivor
  • Joint life last survivor with return of capital ( at 50% and 100%)