Online Term Insurance Plans in India

POSTED BY Jagoinvestor ON June 3, 2011 COMMENTS (337)

Do you have any idea how many Insurance companies are providing online term plans in India at the moment ? There are total 7 Insurance providers have launched their online term plans and the premiums are highly competitive .

Online Term Insurance Plans in India

Online Term insurance Plan in India

Aegon Religare was the first company to come up with their iTerm plan which was the cheapest term plan of that time , after that ICICI came up with iProtect . There was a huge response for these policies for cheaper premiums , but both the companies didn’t meet the customer service expectations of customers. A lot of readers even on this blog bought policies from Aegon Religare and ICICI , but faced horrible service when it came to getting policies on time , communication with customer care and its officials , mess of documents etc . A lot of readers suggested that they will never recommend other to go for it.

On the other hand there were customers who didnt face any issue and they got their policies on time . They are recommending others to go for it . However their numbers are smaller than those who faced bad experience. Bad customer service is not desirable by any customer , but I think we can see it improving over time with increased competition and with more better processes . Right now seven companies have come up with online term insurance plans and I am sure more companies are in process of launching it soon . I am not sure if LIC would join them in launching the online term plan , because their offline network is so big and dependent on non-term plans

Online Term Insurance Plans in India

How Online term insurance plan works

Step 1 : Offline

You go online and calculate your premium , then you start the process of buying the policy and submit your name, age ,  tenure , sum assured and medical information which affect your premium . After all this you get a premium quote and you pay it online . Most of the people take the premium amount very seriously and believe that its final premium , where as it’s not the case .

Step 2 : Online

After you have paid the premium, there are few things which are yet to be completed . You will get a mail from company or get a call from company that some representative of company will come to your residence and collect the important documents , the documents are also required for KYC . As per your age and given information , the insurer can decide if you will have to appear for medical test or not . If there is anything wrong in medical examination which can affect the premium (increase companies risk of insuring you) , then they can increase the premium (loading) . You can then decide to continue with them by paying the additional premium or cancel the policy .

Update – Apart from Kotak epreffered,  Aviva ilife , Metlife metprotect, ICICI iProtect, IndiaFirst anytime Plan, Aegon Religare iTerm and Future Generali Smart Life there are 3 more online term insurance plans introdued in the market which are HDFC Click2Protect, DLF Pramerica – UProtect and Edelweiss Tokia – Life Protection

Comments ? Do you believe in online term plans ? What can motivate you to buy life term insurance online ?

337 replies on this article “Online Term Insurance Plans in India”

  1. Sunil says:

    Hello Manish,

    I’m looking for a term insurance and cant make up my mind. I’m looking for a cover of 2 crores and have the below queries.

    1. Do I take individual or family plan.
    2. Will i get coverage if I become a NRI.
    3. Waivers like Waiver Of Premium, Critical Illness, Terminal Illness

    Do you have any policies to recommend as I did come through a couple of them but the claim settlement ratio are below 80%.

    1. Hi Sunil

      I can see that you are thinking of buying a term plan. ALl you need to do is leave your details at http://jagoinvestor.dev.diginnovators.site/solutions/buy-life-insurance-plan

      Our team will get in touch with you

      Manish

  2. Krishna says:

    Manish, Thanks for giving many suggestion on insurance. I am going through policy bazaar. Found two policies Religae and PNB metlife, both cover till the age of 75, I selected PNB metlife and added accidental and illness, it routed me to PNBmetlife site. after entering all detail i see 1cr is split in to two portion one lumsum and another monthly.. so i am confused. Also i noticed accidental and illness add on was not there. I stopped there the premium was coming around 22k as i included my wife too.

    Can you suggest based on the claim rate, coverage and till whatever maximum age should i go with Metlife? I am now 37 years old.

    1. You can go with them if you trust the name. I would be able to help you with HDFC if you want it, see our service on that http://jagoinvestor.dev.diginnovators.site/services/life-insurance

  3. Raj says:

    Hello Manish,
    I need answer on following:
    1.What should be my anual salary -CTC or Taxable income.
    2.For existing any insurence detail which kind of insurence should be considered :
    a)Insured for death benifit for Dhanraksha Policy taken with Home Loan :current death cover is 16 lacs .do I need to consider exact figure like 1620550.
    b)LIC jeevan anand where death cover is 5 lacs
    c)Oriental Health Ins policy -2 Lacs cover for Family
    d)Death cover in Car insurence Policy
    e)death cover in two wheeler Ins Policy
    3.Is it Mandatory my nominee should be dependent on me ?If my wife is earning ,can I show her as nominee?
    4.”medical test is mandatory over 50 Lacs ” is this IRDA gudelines or Insurence company specific ?HDFC is giving term insurence of 75 Lacs without medical Insurence?Is it under IRDA norms?
    5.Is it good to have riders in term Insurence policy ?If yes then which rider like accidental ,Critical illnes etc?
    6.If today I am earning and based on that I can buy a term insurence for a limited sum assured .Like if earning 5 Lacs annual then can take max 60 Lacs term Insurence .Right ?If after buying trm policy ,next year I became job less then do I need to inform Insurence company ?
    7.I bought term insurence from Bharti .Now next year I am buying another term plan from HDFC .Do I need to infrom Bharti about this?

    Thanks,

    1. 1. Taxable income would be a good thing

      2. all the policies which has LIFE INSURANCE element

      3. yes you can show her as nominee

      4. this is company specific, but all companies do this now

      5. Your choice purely

      6. no you dont need to communicate anything to company

      7. No

  4. Tushar says:

    I am looking for term plan for 30 yrs, 50lc amount for y current age 30 yrs.

    I checked quotes from different companies and found that Aviva has 94% good claim settlement ratio, lowest premium, long policy period, good customer service before policy buying.

    Compare to that I found HDFC is also second good and it has strong fundamentals in the market but only case is that its premium is approx. 6770 compare to Aviva is 4750.

    Manish, Can you please guide me should I go for Aviva or HDFC? I am thinking to go with Aviva. Is it stable and trustable company.

    And also Thank you very much for sharing such useful information and also your view points for many users. I have also shares your post to my friends so that they can aware about term plan.

    Tushar Patel.

    1. If you ask me, I personally have no issues going with AVIVA , however if you have trust issues, better go with HDFC

      1. Tushar says:

        I have found claim settlement figures from web for year 2011-12. When 2012-13 data would be released any idea?

        I want to go with Max life instead of Aviva and HDFC and thinking to have SA of 50lc for now and in future will take another policy based on requirement with another company. Do I think correct or any suggestion?

        1. You can still go with them. Just make sure that the data given by you to them is 100% correct and no hiding !

          Claim settlement numbers will come on IRDA , but you never know the dates , It should arrive after the year ending for sure !

  5. ABHIJIT says:

    sir,
    main ek term plan lena chata hun
    mere pariwar main 5 member hain.
    mata-pita, wife(private job) or 1-1/2 saal ki ladki.
    main uttarakhand main state gov. ka employe hun
    meri annual income 450000/- ha
    mare gov ka health insurance ha jisme puri family cover ha.
    sath hi mere pass 54000/- annual ki lic ha
    to mujhe kitne ka or kis company ka term plan lena chahiye.

    1. Abhijit

      You can take a term plan for 50 lacs or 1 crore from HDFC

  6. Anil says:

    Hi Manish,

    Help me to understand if there are difference in exclusions with different Insurance Provider’s
    I was told that company charging less premium may have more exclusions compare to other charging higher premiums

    regards,
    Anil

    1. No , generally its not like that . They might have less riders than others, but in general all term plans cover exactly same things . Read this article to understand why their premiums are different from each other – http://jagoinvestor.dev.diginnovators.site/2013/05/how-insurance-companies-work-and-the-business-model-behind.html

  7. Santosh Pujari says:

    hey Manish,
    I am around 26 years old now (1986 born). I have LIC Anand and LIC Amrit of 5lacs SA. I am planning for Online term insurance now for cover of 50 or 75 lakhs.
    1) should i go for reliagare considering its service and do u think its worth trusting them for next 30 yrs
    2) should i go for aviva i term instead?
    I will nominate my mom as of now as i am unmarried still.. planning to add my wife in future as extra nominee.
    plz suggest if this ok.

    1. I would vote for Aviva !

  8. Paritosh says:

    I went for Bharti Axa eProtect policy for 50 lakhs SA and 25 years tenure. Actually I went through policybazaar. They suggested choosing between Axa and Aviva, though they pushed a bit more for Axa. I agreed because the premium was the lowest as per my independent research too. Also thought if I went by all reviews I would never end up buying any policy!

    They were there on phone to help while filling up the online Bharti Axa form. After paying the calculated premium online, I had to upload a few docs as id, address and salary proof, etc. After that, within 1 or 2 days, I got a call from Bharti Axa that a medical was scheduled for me and that would be done through a home visit.

    Got a phone call from the health check up provider for the test and scheduled the check up. They came promptly and finished the test in 15 mins. Ten days after that, I received the policy and with no change in premium.

    All in all, had a smooth experience and got the policy in two weeks after the online payment. Now all that remains to test is a smooth claim process, but I won’t be around to post my review on that 🙂

    1. Great .. thanks for sharing your views on Bharti Axa !

  9. Bhaskar Suyal says:

    Hi Manish,

    I am 31 years old and planning to buy my first Term Insurance policy.
    Please suggest and clarify my few doubts:
    1. Which company shall I go with?
    2. What is the difference in bying policy online or from agent, I mean, is there any drawback bying policy online?
    3. Do we have LIC term policy available online? if yes, what is the plan name?

    Thanks in advance.

    Regards,
    Bhaskar

    1. 1. Aviva or HDFC
      2. from agent it will be of high premium, as their commission is to be given
      3. NO

      1. Bhaskar says:

        Thanks for answering my questons Manish..
        So, I should go with HDFC online plan first and LIC online plan later once it’s available. is it correct?
        But,I was reading about LIC online term plan in an article published long back in 2011. Is it still not launched?

        Thanks & regards,
        Bhaskar

        1. Yes , online plan from LIC will not come it seems

      2. Amit says:

        With the recent announcement on Aviva selling its stake, does it make sense to go for Aviva?

        1. It will be bought by someone else. If you are fine with it . then please go for it , else someone else !

  10. Ravish Pandey says:

    Hello Manish,
    My age is 28 and i need health insurance for me and my MOM(52) & DAD(57) can you please suggest which plan is better.

    1. For you , Religare Care and Oriental for Mother

  11. Jatin patel says:

    Hi Manish,

    I have recently bought ur 2 books “16 personal finance principles every investor should know” and “How to be your own Financial Planner in 10 steps”. I have never read such type of good explanation with example. If i read it 5 yrs back then now i could be a good investor. Thanks Manish.

    I have one question about term insurance. I want to take term insurance of 1 cr so please advice which company is better to go for this. i am 33 old. i have family of 5 member and only i am the source of money. I was suggested from one executed that go for Bharti AXA…. is it good?

    I also want to by one health policy for my entire family so please advice for that also.

    please advice….

    Jatin

    1. Good to know that Jatin

      YOu can go with Aviva Term plan ..

      1. Jatin says:

        Thank for your reply….

        But shall i know why only Aviva? is there any strong reason behind this?

        Why not other? is it secure?

        Please advice…

        Jatin

        1. there are other options as well . HDFC , KOtak , ICICI .. but I give you 3-4 other names, you will still ask which one is the best, which is not the way you have to look at it . Just go with anyone you TRUST .

  12. Vikram Gurav says:

    Hi Manish,

    I am planning to take online term insurance. I am 24 Yrs old.
    Which plan should I go for?
    Which types of deaths are covered in online term insurance plan as there are no riders?

    Thanks,
    Vikram

    1. All deaths are covered in term plan .. go for Aviva or HDFC

  13. Mayukh Mahapatra says:

    Dear Manish,
    I am 34 year old and planning to take term plan. i have gone through your site and it’s really help full. I have some question. Can you please help me to get the answer these questions?
    1. which online term plan is good? As we are in 2013, do you still think offline term plan is better than online term plan policy?
    2. I was smoker earlier and stopped smoking for almost 3 months, still i will be consider as smoker?
    3. As per guide line they required Age proof, Address proof and Salary Proof. But From last year i came to South Korea on employment contract for 2 years. Will my salary proof be sufficient? As its Korean company’s salary proof. Do i need to notarize something? I am little bit confused in this point.
    Please let me know, if you need any more information or clarification.
    Mayukh

    1. 1. It can be especially for NRI who dont get online plans

      2. Yes, you are a smoker .. once smoker , always a smoker is the funda for insurance companies

      3. that will be told to you by insurance company

      1. sandeep says:

        will it matter if a person moves out of country for long term after taking online policy i.e. at the time purchasing the policy person is in India.

        1. No , not much .. but there is a question while taking the policy that are you having any plans to travel in immediate future, if you are sure about it, then better tell them …

  14. Jay says:

    Manish,

    last week I purchased “how to be your own financial planner in 10 steps” book, and working on step#1 🙂
    now I’m looking for increasing life insurance, age of 39yrs for self with “online term insurance”, can you please suggest 1 or 2 with following my expectations;
    1. lowest online insurance premium for 1 cr SA
    2. trustworthy insurer / high claim settlement ratio
    3. easy / painless claim settlement process for dependents

    thanks for your active blogs and book, which is easy to read and understand the personal finance nuisance 🙂

    Jay

    1. Thanks Jay .. you can go for Aviva or HDFC Click2Protect !

  15. ravish pandey says:

    Hello Manish,

    My age is 28 i want to buy Term Plan and i need 750000 lacks cover so please can you suggest which plan is best for me.

  16. rohit says:

    I read your suggestions and impressed,
    Well i just want to know is there any minima criteria of income on papers for term plans and if yes where i can get that?

    2. we do business and in that we don’t show more income on papers for tax saving purpose and its also cash business thats why so what should i do to buy 1 cr policy?

    waiting for your answer
    Rohit.

    1. Sadly

      You need to give proof about you income level , only based on that you get term plan for high cover. Ideally you get around 20 times your annual income on max side. So if you have atleast 5-6 lacs of income on papers, then only you will get 1 crore of term plan

  17. Vishal Jain says:

    Hi Manish,

    Thanks for your articles and comments. I am already having a term plan from Kotak & Metlife. I a planning to take another from Tata AIA, new online plan. What are your views regarding this.

      1. Vishal Jain says:

        I want to increase my coverage amount.

  18. Sukoon says:

    Hi. I’m planning to take Aviva Term Insurance but I’m confused which particular plan to take??There is Aviva LifeShield Plus, Aviva LifeShield, Aviva LifeShield Advantage, Aviva LifeShield Platinum, Aviva i-Life. Which one should I go for?? I’m looking for 50 Lacs SA for 35 years.

  19. Hiraman says:

    Hi Manish,

    First of all thank you very much for providing such useful information.

    I have taken LIC-Jeevan Anand and already paid 4 premiums in 2 years (15412 Rs quarterly). But the premium is very high. The policy lock period is 3 years so I will
    surrender this policy after 1 year.

    Now I am planning to buy term insurance. My DOB is 13-Apr-1985, non-smoker.

    is it best time for me to buy term plan? Because I have LIC policy now.

    Please suggest me good plans.

    Thanks

    1. Yes .. go for term plan .. the best time if when you are NOT SUFFICIENT COVERED , which is true right now !

  20. deven says:

    Dear Manish,
    Presently I am living at Renwal , 70 K.M. far from capital of Rajasthan(jaipur). If there is any company which offer online term plan at Renwal. I mean any company which offer term plan all over India.

    1. amar says:

      Bharti Axa Life, HDFC and ICICI pru, and maybe SBI LIfe

  21. Vinnzy says:

    Hi Manish,

    I have been reading your blog for quite some time and have taken some of the investment suggestions.
    Currently I was reviewing the term insurances for 50 L and was also checking all my policies including CI, AD, etc riders.

    I have taken a home loan and along with it also took a policy called Home Suraksha Plus from HDFC ERGO for 5 years.

    In this policy it shows that
    Major Illness is covered for the entire Loan amount
    Personal Accident for the entire Loan amount

    My Question
    Can I go for only the term insurance excluding the riders as it is already covered in the Home Suraksha Plus or is this different to the ones mentioned in Term Insurance?

    Please enlighten me

    1. But why you need a temr plan then , your death is also covered in that ?

  22. Pranav says:

    Manish

    Thanks a lot for your insights, quite helpful. I have question regarding an Aviva policy, which I own right now, but want to discontinue and move to online i-life policy.

    I had taken this policy last year – Aviva Lifeshield Advantage. I paid a premium of about Rs 61,000 (for 1 cr). At that time, I was convinced that most of the premium will be returned after policy term (25 years).

    Later I did some math and found that aviva i-life policy will workout better with much lesser premium, though I don’t get any money at the end of the policy term.

    With i-life, Aviva is offering for about Rs 4300 (for 50 lacs).

    I am 40yrs old. My question is, should I change?

    I’ll increase the policy coverage to 1 cr for i-life as well.

    Thanks for advice in advance.

    1. Yes you should change ,but are you sure its 4300 for 50 lacs for a 40 yrs old person ? It should be the charge for a much younger age .

      1. Pranav says:

        I stand corrected, it is for 6 months. Thanks for your response, I appreciate it.

  23. KUNAL says:

    Hi.. tell me why is it that LIC’s term plan is so expensive against Pvt Companies..??
    Is there any flaw with the Private companies..?? Waiting for your reply.. you can also email me your reply.

    1. LIC is charging premiums as per old data on claim settlements also they are offline and after all they know htey are king !

  24. Vibhor says:

    Hi Manish,

    I have purchased Aegon Religare’s i-term plan (a term plan) for 1 Cr cover for 30 years. As a part of the process,they asked me to submit age proof,address proof,photo & salary proof.
    While I have submitted 3 out of the 4 above, I’m not comfortable in sharing my salary slips(3 months) or Form 16 -as I have under declared my actual salary & sharing slips/form 16 is confidential & a possible compliance issue from the employer prospective.
    Is it mandatory to submit these salary proof documents?

    Thanks
    Vibhor

    1. Its manadatory , and which compliance are you talking about ?

  25. Vinayak says:

    Hey Manish,

    I am 30 yr old and planning to buy a 1 cr online term plan.

    1. I have read through all these post that in this case two policy providers can be a bet option. is it just to avoid the risk? and eny other logic behind this?
    2. If a split, Aviva will be one of the choice. Can you recomment other? and should the percemtage be 50-50? any recommendation on the split too?

    1. Its a personal choice .. its not always needed, but you can go for 50 50 .. HDFC is another good option

  26. Mr. Agrawal says:

    Hi Manish,

    I found this site most useful.
    Please guide me, Currently i am in India. and i want to take term insurance, I plan to have 50 Lk cover from AViva and 50 Lakh cover from HDFC. I just received job offer from Oman. Please guide me if i opt these Insurance, whether those will be valid for my stay in OMAN and for period after return to india . I plan to stay 4 years there. that means my whether my NRI status invalidate my policy ? any in case of unfortunate event of death in foreign country can my family get insured amount.

    1. No it will not invalidate it .. but the point is , while taking the plan, there will be a question like are you planning to travel out of india because of your job in next x yrs, then you will have to say YES, and that can increase your premium

      1. Mr. Agrawal says:

        Thanks.
        I purchased 50 Lakh HDFC Click to Protect Plan. I mentioned in policy application about travel overseas, I will wait for final policy approval. if i received the policy at nil/nominal increase in premium i will also purchase AVIVA 50 lakh.

        thanks

          1. Mr. Agrawal says:

            Dear Manish,

            I received call from HDFC that policy is approved at same premium.
            Also they said Medical is not required for 50 Lakh. I am perfectly healthy as on today’s date. So though Insurance Company is dening to do Medical. Whether i need to insist on Medical. or its OK not to have medical. Please reply.

      2. Farazdak Misri says:

        What if one already has a term policy and has to travel overseas for employment in the near future ? What then ? Will the policy still stay in effect ? At the time of applying for the insurance policy I did not know that I might have to consider overseas employment.

        1. Yea , its going to be valid , if your employment is going to last very long , better inform your insurer about it .. just for their records

          1. Farazdak Misri says:

            Thanks for the reply, Manish .. appreciated. And yes, I will inform the insurance company.

  27. Amit says:

    Dear Manish,
    I am a 27 yrs old nonsmoker. I have applied for term plan of aviva for 50 lakhs. They offered me a plan with Rs. 7135 yearly premium for 33 years of term period. During their medical agency’s medical examination I told the doctor that my parents are diabetic. All tests were done that time. After few days they asked me to give in writing about my medical history mentioning that my parents are diabetic. I did what they asked for. Later they asked another medical examination of urine which I got done by their medical lab agency. Now the company has increased my premium by around Rs. 1600. Is it correct. They have not even told me results of my medical checkup. On what grounds they can increase premium amount.

    1. the premiums are increased based on your medical + family medical history . they will share with your the medical reports if you are ok with the premium increasre and go for the plan . I think you should take it , because any company will go through the same process . Dont get stopped by Rs 1600

  28. AMRESH KUMAR CHAUDHARY says:

    Hi Manish Sir,

    I am 29 yrs old and want to buy a term insurance of 50 lakh I have seen HDFC Clik 2 protect, Aviva and Bharti Axa.
    Premium(6500) & claim Settalement is high in case of HDFC and
    Premium(4000)& CSR is low in case of Aviva & Bharti Axa.
    Plz give a final push by Selct one For Me I give Thanks With Deep Heart. Plz don’t say no and any thing like it.

      1. AMRESH KUMAR CHAUDHARY says:

        Thanks a lot……………….
        Now I purchase the policy with confidence

  29. Jitender says:

    Good work Manish !

    I have taken a term plan from HDFC Life for 1 Cr.
    Now I want to take a Medical insurance and health insurance for my family (4 persons) me, my wife and parents.
    Please advise from where I can get the complete information.

    1. Aditya says:

      Hi Jitender,

      I got a max bupa family plan from this new site zibika.com, they have a lot of online plans and I found the process of comparing policies very simple here. What I liked best was the fact that I did not get any calls form them till I put in a call request on their listing page after i searched for policies, and their person who called was very helpful in making my decision. They said that they are still in early stage so more policies and features they will be adding. I found their online order completion email very useful.. you will have to try to buy to see what I mean 🙂

  30. Amit says:

    Manish
    please you suggest the best life insurence online plan for me
    My DOB is 15 Dec 1983 nonsmoker, unmaried central govt employe
    and i also would like to know diffrence bewween online and offline insurence plan
    and whether in life insurence acccident cover is included or having some difffrent plan for than
    Thanking u

    1. What is the definition of best for you ?

  31. sona says:

    hi manish…
    last year my husband took the aviva i-life of 50 lakhs (medical not done)…wen i asked to dept then they said they don,t do the medical test for 50 lacks at the age of 32. we have 5 years old lic of 25 lacs where medical was done. so i was little concerned abt that…

    one more thing i want to know from you…my mother-in-law was expired at the age of 55, she had gall bladder stone which later diagnosed last stage of cancer becoz of that stone. since she died at home in village so we don’t have doctor death certificate to prove the reason. so we wrote cause of death is natural in both plans.
    as i read in the artical that we shud fill every information true…so worried …pls tell me is that fine or this can create problem?

    1. Yea . ideally you should always give the correct information . If later company comes to know about it then there will be a rejection of claim , you can always argue that how come companies can know about it, but thats the risk you are taking then

  32. irfan khan says:

    Sir
    I am planning to buy a term plan for 1 crore but very confused which one to pick as the real problem starts when the claim is to be made. I want to ask whether i can take 2 term plans from 2 different companies of 50 lac each or not and what things to consider in this matter?

    1. Yes you can do that, just choose 2 companies, there is no much concern , if you disclose all the information

  33. Nimish says:

    Hi Manish,

    Great service you are doing to people by giving invaluable advises!
    My query is that suppose I take an online term plan today as a resident Indian and after one month, go on an international job assignment for say 4-5 years continuously. What will happen in this case if any untoward happening occurs during my assignment abroad? Can my insurance provider put any block during claim settlement?

    1. Yes you can go , generally there is nothing to worry about this, but ideally read the policy document carefully and see if its mentioned specifically that you need to inform them if you go for more than X days outside india , generally its not the case, but still just check !

  34. Samarth Shah says:

    Which Company is the Best( Over all) for Term Plan?

      1. Samarth Shah says:

        at least you give a 3 or 4 best company name for term plan?Which would i trust u?

        1. Kotak , HDFC, Aviva , LIC

          1. samarth says:

            which company is good for child plan?

            1. samarth says:

              at least you give 3 or 4 company name?..

  35. Hema says:

    Is it better to go for online plan through any third party website as policy bazaar or do it at the company website? also u mentioned its better to split 1cr policy into 2 under different companies-is this only to decrease the risk ? Won’t it increase my premiums if I do that?(supposing I go for kotak and hdfc)

    1. It will increase the premiums a bit , but the amount of risk comes down is good enough.

  36. Shilpa says:

    Hi Manish,
    I have following queries:

    1. I am 30 yrs old & a non smoker, currently with no medical problem.I want to buy term plan for 1 Cr for myself shall i split into 2 (50 Lac each) and take 2 policies or i should stick with one.
    2. If I opt for 2 term plans from 2 different companies. How the settlement is done, can my family can claim from both the insurance companies?
    3.Currently which one is trusted most as I am a newbie in this, i dont have much idea about the claim settlements.
    Can you suggest?

    1. Shilpa

      1. Yes you can do that

      2. Yes , you can claim from all companies

      3. There are many like HDFC , Aviva , Kotak

  37. Rajendran says:

    Your articles are really awesome.. full of information and i cant even get these information from insurance companies or agents.

    1. Good to hear that Rajendran ! . Keep reading !

    2. Good to hear that Rajendran !

  38. Vatsal P says:

    Hello Manish,

    Is there a website whereby one can get a comparison of premium for 50L & 1Cr from all the policy providers ???

    Cheers

    Vatsal

    1. Yes you can see the article, but they are a bit old data .

      1. Vatsal P says:

        Please provide me the link for my reference.

        Thanks

  39. Dipak says:

    I am 37 yrs old & my younger child is 4 yrs old I have purchased a term policy of 1 cr. with a policy term of 15 yrs.
    Is this policy term is appropriate for me or should I go for a policy term of 20 yrs.
    Please advice
    Thanks

    Dipak Choudhari

    1. Higher tenure is better , why did you take it for 15 yrs only ?

  40. SN says:

    Dear Manish,
    I applied for a 50L policy from Aviva and declared my medical conditions truthfully. I was asked to go in for a medical test. After the medical test was done, I got a mail that the extra premium to be paid was Rs.4500/-, i.e., 127% more than the original amount of Rs.3533/-, with the reason that I have Diabetes. All the reports were in the normal range. I declined to pay and now I have been advised (read threatened) to pay the extra premium or amount will be paid after deducting the medical expenses. This was not mentioned prior to online application.
    I now understand that Aegon Religare does not ask for medical tests. Do you suggest that I go ahead with a policy from them, by declaring the medical condition?

    1. SN

      Obviosuly you should go ahead . you should be thankful that you are allowed to get apolicy right now ., if you dont take it right now , you will face a lot of issue later .

      Another thing is that its a very standard rule that in case you opt not to take the policy you will be given back your money after medical tests expenses and other charges if any . insurance policy is a proposal and not a push product

  41. Adinarayana Murthy says:

    Hi Manish,
    As in India not many people are aware of term plan,
    I really appriciate the work ur doing by guiding the people & clarifying their doubts about the term plan.
    I have 3 questions for u.
    1. Can I take a Plocy of high premium from one insurence and low premium from the other company.
    like I take 10Lacs from LIC & 50Lacs from anyother PVT. online term policy.
    2. What are the chances of claim being rejected or approved from both the companies?
    3. Is it true that if LIC approves the claim, then the other company also has to approve the claim.

    Thanks & Regards
    Adi

    1. Adinarayana

      1. Yes
      2. That is independent , no relation between two companies
      3. No

      Adi

  42. Nidhi says:

    Hi Manish,

    Came across your website while looking for some answers around buying a term plan for my husband. I am still confused hence putting them forth here for your suggestions –

    1) Which channel is better – offline or online? I figured that online channel offers much less premium given that no agent is involved. But am also told going through a broker (not an agent but a broker) is beneficial in the longer term, as in case of any unfortunate situations they help u during claim processing and settlement too. So even though i pay a higher premium i’ll have someone to help me with claims settlement, in case. Also as I understand the online forms are not as detailed as an offline form especially in terms of questions relating to physical health. Hence there may be a chance of the claim being rejected if the form is not very thorough.
    2) Which player to go with? Private and new players like Aviva, Aegon, Bharti AXA offer much lower premiums. Are they safe to go with?
    3) If we want to take a 1 cr policy shld v take one policy of this amt with one player or split it into 2 policies of 50 l with two players?

    thanks

    1. NIdhi

      1. Nothing like that .. Its a myth that going offline means there is someone for you . In real life you dont experience it , because agent is not supposed to help you as per his work ? His job is mainly to assist you in buyinh the policy , thats all . Go for online term plan, they are exactly same, just that they are online , no difference

      2. Yes they are safe , but you need to read more on this first , and then buy the one which you trust most

      3. split in 2

      1. Nidhi says:

        Hi Manish,

        Thanks for your prompt reply.

        I believe a broker works for the customer while an agent for the insurer. Hence it is said that a broker like Bajaj Capital provides you with after-sales service too. What say?

        also how about the thoroughness of the proposal forms in online and offline modes? Is there any difference?

        how do i decide which insurer I can trust?

        thanks

        1. No , in case of term plans , agents are not liable to help you later , thats a different thing that some of them might want to choose ,. however in real life it does not happen . agents leave customers most of the times after making you buy the policy (he gets maximum commission in first year) . Also why should an agent help you later , what is he getting ?

          I think you should buy it from online companies , if you have some trusted agent which you helps later , you can then go with them

  43. KIyer says:

    Hi Manish,

    How is Aviva India’s online term plan – Aviva i-Life?
    Please guide..

    1. Its totally fine .. one can go with it

      1. KIyer says:

        Hi Manish I finally bought Aviva i-Life.
        My experience was great 🙂
        Thanks for recommending.

        1. Good to hear that !

  44. Harshdeep says:

    Thanks a ton, Manish 🙂

  45. Harshdeep says:

    Hi Manish,

    I am on medication for High BP. The BP condition was diagnosed as part of routine check up in July 2011 and post all blood/urine tests, Echo and TMT, everything is normal except the BP as per the doctor. The high BP issue is also under absolute control (120/80) with the medicines and I just need to be on medication with a 6 monthly doctor follow up.

    I am a 32 years old male, non-smoker and left alcohol consumption 6 years back (2006) and applied for Metlife’s Metprotect term insurance in April 2012 for 30L, 35 years period and shared all my health related documents with them. However, the company sent a denial note stating medical conditions as the reason.

    So my query is:

    1. Is it possible that other companies issue me a policy, if applied with same details or now that Metlife has rejected, I can be sure to see rejection by all companies?

    2. I was expecting that Metlife may offer the policy with increased premium but now am not sure if I should apply to other insurance companies?

    2. Last, any hope that I can get a cover from companies offering term insurance offline, which usually are costlier?

    Thanks a lot in advance for your advice!

    Best regards,
    Harsh

    1. Harsh

      1. Yes, other companies might give you the policy, all companies have different rules of how they look at your issues.

      2. No , you should apply for other companies. Try offline versions also

      3. Already covered in 2 .

  46. Sapana says:

    Dear manish,

    We are planning to take a Term Insurance for my husband covering CI , worth value of 50 Lacs and with IndiaFirst Life Insurance , after reading all ur comments. But how can we apply as we r NRE. Kindly suggest.

    Regards..

    1. Not sure if it would be available for NRI’s … if it is then you will have to be physically present here in India

  47. Manish says:

    If a person has single kidney, will it increase the term plan premium?

    1. Manish

      Yea may be, mostly the term plan will be denied !

      1. Manish says:

        To add to that most of the people born with a single kidney:)

  48. Sunny says:

    Does Aviva i-Life has riders??
    I want to buy i-Life

    1. Sunny

      I dont think

  49. Dhawal Sharma says:

    Hi Manish,

    Wanted to quote a real life incident. I was discussing insurance cover with one of my prospect and he was inclined towards ONLINE TERM PLAN. He says that he will be able to save premium plus all the hassels. He also states that his wife is also well-educated and metro lady and can handle the things on her own.

    I asked her plain and simple question – when is the last time your wife visited your insurance companies branch and deposited the premium. Let alone this thing, does she know which is the servicing branch of their policy?? How many times has she visited government office to get the documents ready (Birth certificates/death certificates etc) or banking procedures like getting the draft made or stop payment of the cheque..quite obviously, answers to most of these queries was in NEGATIVE.

    ..and then it dawned upon him that “human factor” is quite important in these types of transaction (More so in case of TERM PLAN – when the actual thing will start only when you will not be around to guide her).

    Might be me being an AGENT will be sounding as biased or something, but i really get scared at the thought of someone taking ONLINE TERM PLAN where the wife does not even that such a policy is there in the cupboard.

    Please give it a thought..

    1. Dhawal

      Yes , its really a scary thought when wife is not even aware about the policy and has no idea about the overall procedure . But then if people can really take some effort to educate the wife and other family members on those 2 things , it would really help .

  50. kalyani says:

    Hi Manish,

    I am planning to buy an online term insurance. However, I have few queries regarding term insurance plan as mentioned:
    1.I do have insurance policy from my employer towards me and my family. Also, I am covered in my husband’s policy by his employer, so do I need to mention this information while filing the online form for this online term insurance?
    2. We are planning to move out of India may be in an year or two. How does the online term insurance will impact in that scenario?

    It would be very helpful if you could help me out with my queries.
    Thanks
    Kalyani

    1. Kalyani

      1. No , group cover through employer is not to be mentioned

      2. There wont be any issues, you can go outside India and it will still run as it was running !

  51. animesh says:

    but can you buy DLF online?

  52. animesh says:

    you mentioned in above note that even DLF Pramerica – UProtect and Edelweiss Tokia – Life Protection have launched their online term plan. I can not find the same on their website. Can you please assist?

  53. Parag P says:

    I purchased the Aegon Religare iTerm plan in 2 yrs back when it was newly launched and was the first to go online. Needless to say I saved a lot of money by way of premium. The service was excellent …. I got a confirmatory call the very next day from their head office. They fixed up my appointment for medical test as per my convenience at a centre near my residence. I also got reminders for the same via SMS and e-mail. Recently, the company upgraded my cover by nearly 25% and added an accident rider free of cost (the premuim remaining same) . I will pay my third premium shortly. A definite recommendation for all those who wish to buy a term plan online !!!

    1. Parag

      Thanks to update that .. I have heard the same thing from many people 🙂 . Congratulations !

  54. Santosh says:

    Dear Manish,

    Two months back, I have taken preferred term plan of Rs.50.00 Lac from Kotak Loife Insurance. Premium is about Rs.9500.00 per annum. Now I wanted to go for online term insurance plan as premium is very less.
    1. Whether it is possible to switch to online plan in different company without breaking the policy? Like MNP in case of cellular service.
    2. Whether I can purchase online term insurance of additional Rs.50.00 Lac from Kotal Life Insurance?

    1. Santosh

      1. No

      2. Yes

  55. mithlesh says:

    dear manish,
    let me first thank u for doing such a noble task of enlightening and helping investors like me who have very little knowledge regarding all these financial planning.

    plz clarify one of my doubts:

    i m serving in an armed force. can i buy the term plans like any other person or there is any restriction for a person like me due to the hazardous nature of job i do.

    thank u.

    1. Mithilesh

      Yes .. due to the hazardous job of yours, many company will reject your application , but some of them may give it to you on higher premium (which is fair) .. So apply in some of the companies and see what happens .

      Manish

      1. mithlesh says:

        thanx manish for the quick response……can u plz tell me which companies can offer me the insurance……i have got one ANMOL JEEVAN-1 frm lic….i want one more frm pvt coy…..plz help.

        thank u.

        1. Mithilesh

          I guess you can keep applying to all companies , You cant be sure at this point , which companies will be ready to insure you .

          Manish

  56. amish says:

    what if the company doesnt ask u for a test as in case of iCare and gives me a 40L cover just on basis of my knowledge…can such plans sustain and can a customer like me believe that they wil settle my claim w/o knowing my medical condition at time of taking the policy…Im 48 and icare is my second option…SHOULD I TRUST IT GIVEN THEY ARE ABIDED BY THE CONTRACT or donot consider taking icare…i dont understand the psyche behind such a “no medical plan”

    1. Amish

      These policies assume that the medical issue will be with the group and price the premium higher , so those who dont have any issues, pay more and those who have , pay less. so overall there is no distinction between the premiums for unhealthy and healthy person, If you do not have faith in these systems, better avoid it .

      Manish

  57. Paramjit Singh says:

    Hello Friends.

    I am 41 years and without insurance but now i want to buy term plan. I am planning to buy policy for 50 lacs for 25 year terms. I found premium if aviva I protect for 55 lacs with 29 years terms as Rs9915/-. Should I go for it or try for some another plan? Please advice me.

    I found that if i decrease sum insured in above plan from 50lacs, premium increases. I dont know why?

    thanks

    Param

    1. Paramjit

      You have different options .. A new plan from Bharti Axa called eprotect is also there .. You can look at that too .. Go for the company which you trust !

      Also regarding premium going up if you decrease the SUm Assured is a common question , without going into much detail , understand that high sum assured policies get discount and the medical covers are there to insure that high quality life is being insured .

      Manish

  58. RAM YADAV says:

    Sir,
    It’s is eye opener by Jago Investor. I am the subsriber of jagoinvestor for a year or two and have got opportunities to read dozens of useful articles which has been quite useful and knowledge booster for me.

    1. Good to hear that Ram 🙂 .. Keep reading !

  59. Ravi says:

    I am a smoker and found it is expensive when you declare urself as smoker while buying a term plan. This might be a stupid question, what if I show myself as a non smoker? How they track in medical test if an individual is not smoking since couple of months.

    1. Ravi

      Dont do that .. i dont know exactly , but I am sure you appreciate the technology and medical advancement 🙂 .. Also dont dare to try this, because you will not be present to verify your tricks 🙂

      1. gaurav says:

        Yes,

        being precise in blood test there is nicotine test which can detect nicotine usage even for past 12 months

  60. ujjawal Kumar Chorasia says:

    which one is the best online term life insurance plan that has good record of customer satisfaction and the riders associated therewith?

    1. Aviva , HDFC are good options as per your criteria .. LIC is best in claim settlement

  61. ujjawal Kumar Chorasia says:

    i have signed up for several times for enlightening me with the light of benefits of buying a online term insurance but of no avail as if remained in darkness. despite that a beam of ray from very distantance is still left out in me.

    1. Ujjawal

      Your comment is not clear to me

  62. Namit Gupta says:

    Hi,

    I checked all the insurance policies from different providers and found that AEGON RELIGARE is providing the cheapest policy (Smoker and non-smoker both) and does include all forms of death including terrorist attack. It is available for upto 75 age. My age is 26 yr so that means I can get insurance for next 49 yrs at today’s price.

    There is one additional rider ‘waiver of premium in critical illness’ available which I feel should be selected because it cost very less.

    1. Namit

      yea thats true .. if you are fine with them , go ahead , no issues on that !

  63. Geetha Ramji says:

    Hi Urvek,

    I have taken online policy from Aviva. The process was ok, Once you get the ID, they will try to call you and get the details and after the payment on line, medicals will be through. I found that is working fine. No additional charges after the medical is through for me.

  64. ashok says:

    i am 22 yrs of age……….. i hav to put a life insurance policy of around 12-16 thousands of premium — time period of 15 – 20 yrs of scheme ………..
    i am confusing whch scheme i hav to be choose ………. can u give me a suggestion with more money back return scheme

    1. Ashok

      Better start investing Mutual funds

  65. Dhawal Sharma says:

    @Manish,

    Here is good news for our blog readers. The latest player to enter the ONLINE TERM PLAN ring is BHARTI AXA

    http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/personal-finance/insurance/insurance-news/bharti-axa-life-launches-its-first-online-plan-iprotect/articleshow/11743958.cms

    1. Manjunath KUlkarni says:

      I am 33 yr Married with one Angel. I wilsh to go for 75 Lacs of Term plan. Please suggest which compay i should look for .

      1. Manjunath KUlkarni says:

        Hi Manish , Which is better option – Icici or Aviva

  66. KDK says:

    Hi Manish,
    I am 39 yrs interested in buying 1 crore policy.
    Between Aviva (maximum term 31 years, premium 14,659) and Religare (maximum term 36 years premium 14,659) what would you recommend.

    Thanks

    1. KDK says:

      Hi Manish,
      I am 39 yrs interested in buying 1 crore policy.
      Between Aviva (maximum term 31 years, premium 14,659) and Religare (maximum term 36 years premium 14,400) what would you recommend.
      Thanks

      1. urvek says:

        Hi all,

        I have also evaluate both of the above aviva and religare. Religare offered max term more with lower premium. but the settlement ration is lowest in Religare which the only and most important factor for confusion to choose a right term policy…? 🙁

        1. Urvek

          There has to be a balance between all the things .. you can go with kotak or Aviva or HDFC also

  67. urvek says:

    Dear All,

    I want to buy a term plan from aviva i-life. but i have read lot of comments on other website against this plan like they increase their premium amount after medical test and all..

    can anybody help me out in this matter based on their personal experiences to decide should i go for it or not?

    Thanks,

    1. Urvek

      Its not always the cases. . the premiums increase after medicals only if some issue is there in health or family history , else there is no issue

      Manish

  68. Kiran says:

    Hi,
    Thanks for a very illuminating article, your site helps layman understand the intricacies of this complex insurance business. From your site only I have learnt a lot about how and why of Insurance.
    I have one question regarding life insurance- They ask for history of previsou illness, so while giving that information how long back are we needed to disclose. For example if one had some infection say, Jaundice some 15 years back and was completely recovered should we still disclose this information. I dont wan’t the insurance guys to jack up the premium for these harmless things.

    1. Kiran

      You need to mention those illness which you are still having and if you went ahead with some big size hospitalization , not small one’s

      Manish

  69. Jay says:

    Hello Manish,

    I have been reading your articles and must admit you give a good overview on the queries asked.

    I was looking for Aviva on the term plan and must say its a pretty good offer in the market for the online plan,but there are no riders that one can opt for.

    Can you suggest a combination of a cheaper term plan & riders options available.

    1. Jay

      Kotak has some riders and comes cheap , other option is SBI , but thats not too cheap

      1. jay says:

        Thanks Manish, but between kotak and aviva, what is your suggestion?

  70. Giri says:

    The premium which is given in the above article not correct. While I am trying to buy the policy they are shwoing a different amount altogehter.

    1. Giri

      yea .. thats an old article

  71. Manish Ashiwal says:

    hiiiiiiiiii Manish

    I want to buy term plan and i just checking the site of IRDA i see the HDFC plan is also good and KOTAK,ICICI is also good. and the claim ratio of that plan is soooooooooooooooooooooo gooooooooooooooooooood. LIC is gone down in 2011.

    1. Manish

      You can go with them .. but LIC claim settlement is better than thos

      Manish

  72. dheeraj Verma says:

    Hello , I am seeking for Term Plan apprx 75 lacs for 30 years.I also taken Home loan app 18 lacs.Now I am 31 years old.
    Please suggest , which Insurance provider is good.Also let me know How much sum of Rider we have to add in this.

    1. Dheeraj

      You should go for options like Aviva iLife, Kotak epreffered

      Manish

  73. Harish says:

    Hi . I am 33 and had chosen ICICI i-care with ADB. Online option…for 35L.
    Unfortunately My application is rejected by this company.
    I guess that happened because I opted for YES in column asking about hazardous activity.
    YES i do a lot of trekkings and plan to do rock climbing and mountaineering for sure and hence I honestly declared.
    Well in that case what are the options left to me. Can another company also reject my application because of my hobby. I am little upset with this.

    1. Harish

      Ideally they should only increase the premium and not decline it .. check with offline options if it does not work out with online options like kotak , aviva etc

      Manish

      1. Harish says:

        Manish ,
        Thanks for the suggestion. I could purchase term plan from Aviva i-life and HDFC click2protect.
        Online process to buy these was smooth with help of policy bazaar.
        Next is, the respective companies will shall provide me further documents and will write how the process and my experience goes.
        Jagoinvester forums are helping me in planning and directing my finances well.
        BTW Manish, I read somewhere you too like trekking. Trekkers are health people. and wish you all a happy new year 2012.

        1. Harish

          Good to see you moving with your actions 🙂 . good going ..

          I love trekking and have done few treks in and around Bangalore and Pune , but not a lot 🙂 . Now a days I am not doing a lot because my wife does not allow 🙂

          manish

  74. Addy says:

    thanks Manish. Could you please let me know among Kotal e-preffered and aviva which one is better. A bit confused . kindly help me to choose the correct one.

  75. Satheesh says:

    Hi Manish,

    I have a endowment policy with LIC which was taken 5 yrs back, then i used to sail on ships and so my premium was high. But now i have settled down with the college, so will my premium be redueced as the risk factor has come down.

    1. Satheesh

      It will not come down just because your job has changed now , it always is fixed based on when you had taken the policy .

      Its recommended that you stop the policy now and take a term plan for your insurance needs

      manish

  76. Addy says:

    Hi i am about to take a term policy. LIC is my first choice but the premium is very high. Whereas Aviva is giving the sane SA in very cheap rate. Is private company company like aviva is reliable in India. If yes then which one is the best in term of claim settlement.
    Manish waiting for you feedback. Thanks in advance

    1. Addy

      Aviva is a good option … you can take that , but LIC has the best claim settlement ratio

      Manish

  77. L Thomas says:

    Hi Manish,
    after reading ur replies to my earlier emails, i went ahead with aviva i-life, and the experience has been good so far. it was quick, and their cust support was cooperative. thank you.

    1. L thomas

      Good to hear that .. but make sure this decision was yours and you take its responsibility

      Manish

  78. Geetha Ramji says:

    Hi all, I was thinking of going ahead with Aviva Life Insurance offline. Suddenly I saw in the website about the e-life. So I started the process, I was able to complete the two pages in the process but after that there was some disturbance. But I am getting calls from the customer executives to fill in the form and go for that policy. After reading this I have made up my mind to go ahead with Aviva e-life policy. I’ll do the entire process and let me tell you how my experience was, I hope it should be good, Thanks

    1. Geetha

      Good to know that .. note that the policy name is iLIfe and not e-life .. you can go ahead with the policy

      Manish

      1. Geetha Ramji says:

        Manish

        I could read lot of info in the site, really gud to know about so many financial aspects where I was neglecting; (Bahut Achhee tharaf likha hua hai!) By the by, I don’t know much Hindi; so pls don’t reply me in Hindi; just I’ll use some words here and there; that’s it;

        Really very interesting to read and to know more on financial matters,

        Regards
        Geetha

        1. Geetha

          Good to hear that you learned a lot of things 🙂 .

          Manish

  79. Nitin Nimbalkar says:

    Hi Manish,

    Thanks a lot for very useful information.(As usual..)
    Anyone that I come across and has a question on financial planning; I am suggesting to visit your blog. 🙂

    I have a question.

    I want to buy term insurance plan ASAP. (I am 29 and probably already late)
    The problem is, currently I am out of India and dopnt plan to visit India till Dec 2012.

    I dont want to wait till then to have my term insurance.

    I tried buy i-protect online; but for the reason I am not in India they denied me to offer policy.

    Also, there will be mediacal examination in case of any other insurer.

    I dont know how I can get it done by being out of India.

    Any Suggestion?

    1. Nitin

      Sadly , almost all the companies need you available in India for medical for issuing a term pla , also you would need income and address proof in India ! ..

      iProtect is now called iCare and it does not have medical examination . You will have to visit india and only then you can take a term plan

      Manish

  80. prabhjot singh says:

    Dear Manish ,
    I belongs to asmall town ZIRA in Punjab,I want to buy online term plan but most of companies have this facility in selected cities ,so plese gide me.

    Regards,
    Prabhjot Singh

    1. Prabhjot

      Yea .. online term plans are not there in small cities , you will have to go with offline term plans .

      Manish

  81. Anil Kedlaya says:

    I have purchased i-life term insurance from Aviva couple of months back for a cover of Rs.60 lakhs by paying a premium of Rs. 9382 without any riders. The entire process was hassle free, smooth & quick. They sent their representative to my residence to collect my blood sample and conduct the ECG. The customer care of Aviva was very responsive and answered all my queries and I was able to procure the policy in 4 days flat. Compared to my previous insurer Metlife from whom I’d purchased a offline term policy 4 years back for a cover of Rs. 50 lakhs with Accidental Death Benefit of Rs 10 lakhs and Critical Illness cover of Rs. 10 lakhs (Premium Rs 29476), the experience with Aviva was far better. Once I received i-life policy I have discontinued my Metilfe pure term policy as the premium I’m paying to Aviva is almost 70% cheaper.

    Overall, I would recommend Aviva i-life for their efficient service and low premium.

    Regards,
    Anil

    1. Anil

      Good to hear that you are liking AVIVA 🙂 .

      Manish

  82. Shyam says:

    Hi, Sir

    I don,t have any knowledge about online term plan system but I have heard and seen the programme on CNBC channel, Now I have planed to purchase a online term plan, My date of birth is 1st Jan. 1964. I am interested in 10 years plan. I can invest upto 50,000/- (Rs. fifty thousand only) anually, Pl, seggest which is the best plan for me it may be PSU or Private I want my money to be safe and returned should be hassle free.

    1. Shyam

      Term plas are not investment proucts , its only a product to give you security for a fee .. thats all . So you can pay 10k per year and get 50 lacs worth of insurace . thats all the product is

      Manish

      1. Shyam says:

        Dear Manish,

        Thanks for attend my mail. last week one of the LIC agent approached me to take a Jivan Anand Policy, I have two policy from LIC, Now I don’t want to go for LIC, so, will you advise me which companies / Bank policy premium is competitive and high insurance cover.

        1. Shyam

          You can go with LIC term plan , there is nothing wrong in that .. but just understand that there are pvt companies with much cheaper premiums , there are several reasons why LIC term plan premiums are higher than others, but lets not get into that .. you can try out AVIVA and KOTAK

          Manish

  83. Aviva i-life seems to be the best term plan. I am going to apply for this and let me see how the experience is 🙂

    1. Sure .. we will look forward to your experience

      Manish

  84. Alok Sethi says:

    Hi Manish,

    I am a bit confused, I am trying to buy a term insurance but the variation in premiums is a lot. I was searching the net for feedback but could not get a clear picture. Also there is a difference of 30 to 40% between online and off line term insurance premium quote from the same insurer. Why so much difference, I fail to understand. Can you please shed some light as to the reliability and dependability on purchasing online term insurance.

    The quotes for a term insurance are as follows:

    for a Male / 35 Yrs Age /Smoker / 1 Cr / Term 25 years
    Quotes are inclusive of Service Tax except for MetLife
    Aviva / iLife / Rs 17,542
    ICICI / iCare / Rs 19,192 (Income Protection Plan) / Rs 21,839 (Home Loan Protection Plan)
    Kotak / ePreffered / Rs 26,003.23
    India First / Anytime / Rs 9,945 *** For Rs 49 L cover ***
    MetLife / MetProtect / Rs 26,300 + S Tax
    Religare / i Term Plan / Rs 20,900
    Future Generali / Smart Life / Rs 11,910 (Cover Rs 49.99 L)

    1. Alok

      Online plans are same as offline plans , just that the premiums are lower because of absense of agents and also becuase of the market segment

      Manish

  85. L Thomas says:

    Hi Manish,
    I’m a 29-yr old working woman, married and a mother of one.
    I’m looking for a term insurance for myself (50L), and 33-yr old hubby(75L). Although we’re both inclined towards LIC obviously because of the trust factor, am also considering the pvt players, because of the cost .My questions :
    1. Am confused whom to go with, between HDFC/Aviva/ICICI/SBI.
    2. Also, whats your say on online policies of Aviva/ICICI ?
    3. Is it better that hubby goes for a mix of LIC and one of these?

    I understand that these are purely personal decisions, but would appreciate your experienced opinion.

    1. L thomas

      More options means for confusion , still you need to look at each of them and understand which you trust most and are comfortable with their options. Go for mix of LIC and one more pvt player , Aviva and Kotak can be good options

      Manish

      1. L Thomas says:

        Thanks!
        I agree that more options = more confusions..
        Are Aviva’s and Kotak’s online policies just as fine as the offline ones?

        1. L Thomas

          As Online term plans are as good as offline term plans .. you dont need to worry about them

          Manish

          1. L Thomas says:

            Whats your take on HDFC’s sampoorna samriddhi plan.. Looking at it from an investment point of view, it looks too good to be true.

  86. Rahul says:

    Thanks manish for your reply.

    What would you advise for offline or online mode.

    Rahul..

    1. Rahul

      There is no general rule for that . Depends totally on your faith and expectations

      Manish

  87. Rahul says:

    Hi Manish,

    Waiting for your advise.

    Rahul.

  88. Rahul says:

    Hello Manish,

    I am 26 yrs, married, will be 27 on this 29, My DOB is 29/09/84. I am already having one term plan of 40 Lacs from LIC. I am looking for one more term plan of 65 Lacs. I am in confusion to go for it from which company either Aviva I-life or Kotak e-preferred.

    Aviva I-life premium for SA 65Lacs for the period of 35 yrs is around Rs.5327 only,
    Kotak E-preferred for SA 65 Lacs for period max 30 yrs is 7059 only.

    Need your two advise.
    1. Whether should i go for online or offline mode. I know its up to person to decide, but i want to you your preference.
    2. which one you will recommend Aviva or Kotak.
    Aviva giving cover upto more yrs with less premium, whereas kotak is more.

    Is it only the fact that Aviva is new. Somebody told me Aviva is good, they are pure into only into Insurance bussiness, nothing else.

    Looking forward to your kind advise.

    Rahul.

    1. Rahul

      You can go with Aviva, they are good. Please read the fine prints !

      Manish

      1. joseph says:

        Hi manish
        can u pl guide me a good term insurance where I can pay monthly or quarterly premiums my dob 08051957
        thank you and regards, Joseph Joseph1957@gmail.com

  89. JR says:

    Hi one more question to all,

    my birthdate is 13th Sept… if i start formality for any term plan today.. wht will be my age considered… age as at today if i pay online today or as at date whe policy is issued, which will definately make me one year elder?

    thx

    1. JR

      Mostly the date of birth considered is hte closest one .. so as your closest DOB is near , it will be taken , so you take term plan today or after 2-3 months , your 13th Sept age will be considered . Dont delay your action because of this .

      Manish

  90. JR says:

    Hi all,

    couple of questions
    1)as of now Aviva seems cheapest… as rightly mentioned by one of the reader, lesser by around 20-30%…. why no one else is talking about it? why is it not that popular compared to ICICI? who are the Owners in Aviva?
    2) for claims on ICICI one can go to ICICI lombard offices… how about Aviva.. not seen its infrastucture properly spread across city..
    3) Aviva offers lesser premium for 50 L compared to 40L/ 45L… how does tht work..
    4) though LIC is joining the race… wht readers thinks can be their premium range… way cheaper than Aviva/ ICICI?
    thx!

    1. JR

      1) Aviva is pretty new in this compared to ICICI . ICICI has been doing offline term plans from years and it started online one long back (1 yr) .. aviva is new .. so hence not many talk about it , may be less trust factor

      2) You dont have to go to ICICI Lombard offices to claim , because you have LIFE insurance policies , ICICI LOmbard is their Loan related department , you have to go to ICICI PRU offices .. The Infra will depend on how old the company is in India and how much reach they have . .ICICI has wider reach

      3) Thats totally ok .. dont get into that , just accept it for now .. its a complicated thing to understand

      4) LIC will not be cheaper than Aviva or ICICI .. they will be higher priced .

      Manish

      1. Dhamodharan says:

        I will look forward for a better customer service in on-line term plans which it seems almost all Insurance Companies are lacking.

        For sake of hundred rupees, I cannot go for a insurance company which has till date not provided any customer service..

  91. Dhamodharan says:

    LIC is set to join the gang.

    Information at this link..
    http://tinyurl.com/3kommny

    1. Dhamodharan

      Thanks a lot of the news … Its a great news 🙂 . Waiting for it

      Manish

  92. CJ says:

    Hi Manish, Nice post!
    In my view currently Aviva India’s iLife is the best online term plan as it has the lowest premium compared with post on them.

  93. Ashish S Koshy says:

    Hello Sir,i’m of 18 & planning for opting a term plan at this age.as i’m too young but i’m interested in this stuffs….its all about safety…can anyone suggest me a term plan with normally low premiums & high claiming with good customer’s services.,.i’m in a huge doubt about it……..please,,,,,i want the reply soon..

    1. Ashish

      Are you working and earning ? Because you will not get a insurance plan (dont mistake it with LIC policies) if you are not earning and there is no financial dependent .

      Manish

  94. Kiran says:

    Hello Manish..This site has been very helpful for all kinds of insurance/investment information.As I happened to wake up suddenly that I am not adequately insured (I am blessed with kid 3 months back), thought of taking control of Financial planning, I stumbled upon your site.After days (and nights) of reading thru’ experts opinions and discussions, I made up my mind not to listen to LIC guys’ sugar coated words/policies (child plans, endowment, retirement plans etc).
    I decided to take online policy for 50 Lakhs (to start with). After dilly dallying a lot and being persuaded by PolicyBazaar guy, I have shortlisted ICICI – iProtect.I know this itself a daring decision given the complaints I got to hear from many of our friends on this site.Just I decided to go with “Known Devil” as I have Banking account with ICICI since 10 years.
    I have a question for you.
    As I filled online form with the help of Policy bazar, he checked with me if I have already any Insurance cover. I told him I have LIC Triple cover, LIC Jeevan Sree (took in 2002) and ICICI Lifetime Pension. But he insisted if any Pure Term Plan which I said No.
    Are the above plans doesnt count as Life cover plans?In the Proposal document, he has finally filled as No.
    Q) Do you have any existing life insurance cover with other companies?
    A) No

    Is this OK , or will it count as wrong information?
    If this is wrong, what’s the recourse I have now as I have paid the premium online and expected to send the proof documents and some medical tests yet to be conducted.
    Thanks.

    1. Kiran

      No ,its not ok , He should have mentioned “YES” .. The reason he was asking for other polcies is because term plans have high cover, and yoour current policies dont have very high cover , but still it should be “YES” , why didnt you ask him the reason ? Why didnt you fill up the form yourself ?

      Manish

      1. Kiran says:

        Manish, regarding the existing policies, which got skipped on the Proposal form of ICICI-iProtect, I put a mail to Customer care of ICICI Pru life, they asked me to send a Letter to their manager with the details of the Existing policies, which I sent and got acknowledgment for the same.I received the Policy Bond(certificate), but with the xerox copy of the initial proposal form which had the “Existing Policy” information as No.There is no mention of existing policies in the Policy document.Should I always keep the “acknowledgment mail” with the Policy document as a proof, for future reference, in such case?

        1. Kiran

          you should keep all the documents anyways … Are you saying that even after updating the info , you dont have the information in the documents ?

  95. Anil says:

    Hi Manish,

    Thanks a lot for the informative article and your answers to the various queries.

    I am 39 years old from Bengaluru. I am a non smoker and have a term policy from Metlife (Met suraksha) purchased 4 years ago with a cover of 50 lakhs, critical illness cover of 10 lakhs and accidental death benefit of 10 lakhs. The half yearly premium is around 15000.
    I plan to discontinue this policy and instead purchase 2 online term policies from different insurers (aviva/icici/kotak) with a cover of 50 lakhs each. Can you kindly guide me on the following?
    1. What is the maximum cover I can buy policies for? My annual income is around 10 lakhs,
    2. When I apply online for a new term plan, should I inform that I plan to discontinue the existing met life policy?

    Thanks in advance

    1. Anil

      1. That would depend from company to company , you take what you want to take , anyways company will put the limit if its above the threshhold

      2. at the time of taking the policy all you can mention is which one are currently running , there is nothing like “I am planning to discontinue it” . what if you dont ?

      So better terminate your poliocies and then take a fresh one’s

      Manish

  96. parikshit says:

    My experience with aviva:
    -insurance amount – 50 L, age 33 yrs , annual premium – 5000
    – filled form easily on 28 june
    – medical done at home on 30 june
    – i am a reformed smoker, quit approx 3 years ago, so i paid the premium in non smoker category but clearly mentioned my past smoking.
    – now the problem started, received calls daily from dumb cust care execs,that my premium is wrongly ticked as annual,either 5000 is half yearly premium or i had to pay 3200 as extra as annual premium, on asking them why??? the answers were:( a) decision of underwriting department and they had no clue about basis of decision( b) website was not working properly when i filled the form. These cust care people promised that underwriting dept would call me for exact reason for increase in premium.
    – I emailed them on 15 or 16 about final decision/call from underwriting dept/reason for premium increse ( although it had been obvious throughout that it is because of of doubt my smoking status), again a dumb cust care exec called that it is because of my medical reports( it could be high cotinine levels )when i asked her that it cant be true and i can challenge their report, since i am a non smoker for 3 yrs and other blood tests have to be normal ( i am a doctor myself and get my bld tests done regularly). i wrote an email asking about clarification on medicals.
    -After that the things have been smooth since i am in contact only through email with them,they enquired again about my smoking status which i confirmed as per my proposal form( the truth). they have finally issued policy in non smoker category.

    My final impression about aviva is –
    – Obviously they were confused about putting me in which category, so it took long. ( i was even prepared to pay premium as a smoker if thy conveyed it to me clearly, i mentioned this to them in email.)
    – there cust care execs are illinformed and dumb but i think that is the case everywhere.
    – Finally i am satisfied with them completely since mine is a slightly different case.

    1. Parikshit

      Thanks for sharing your case with Aviva .. its really a nice thing to hear about others’s experience and learn 🙂 . Didnt you check the premiums of others like Kotak or ICICI ?

      Manish

      1. parikshit says:

        yes aviva is cheapest, almost by 20-30%.

  97. Varun says:

    Hi Manish,

    Let me first thank you on such a wonderful website which is really doing wonders for people like me who never concentrated on Financial planning in detail. Now after going through with articles posted on Jago Investor, I got to know lot of things.

    I have a question for you and need your help in this.
    Iam 32 Married with No kid. I have home loan running of around 50 Lakhs and my CTC is 15+ . I am looking out for good term insurance plan to hedge home loan. For past few days iam going through with lot of websites (Policybazaar.com, Aegonreligare, Aviva, HDFC Life, Kotak Insurance etc) which again made me confused. Which Policy I should prefer Offline or Online?

    As I read lot of feedbacks online that Insurance companies response for Online is not prompt. Can you suggest me which policy I should go with Online or Offline and from which Company?

    regards
    Varun

  98. ashish says:

    1) In term insurance policy apart from nominee who else will be the stake holder(s) legally. In my family I have my wife( home maker now), my father ( going to retire in one year from PSU) and mother ( home maker), sister ( married and home maker now).

    2) I’m working in pvt sector and staying in other city with my wife in a rented house.

    3) I want my niece to be nominee and sister as appointee

    4) Whether after my dismal my wife would be able to claim it or not?

    5) If yes, then should I go for two separate policies with one my niece as nominee and sister as appointee and in other with only my wife as nominee (in order to avoid the monetary dispute, if incase it happens after my dismal)

  99. ashish says:

    Pls provide any link where in the qauestionier of medical may be seen

    1. Ashish

      I am not sure of that , why dont you get hold of some agent

      Manish

  100. ashish says:

    Dear Manish,
    First I would appreciate you for your dedication, devotion, knowledge and prompt replies for Term policies.
    Request you to pls provide your expert guidance for the following queries:
    I’m sept’81 born, working in pvt sector and married for last 1 year and my spouse in a home maker. I don’t have any kind of insurance and my ctc is around 6 L. and I do smoke only 1-2 cigarette per day and very rare occasionally social drinker. i want a term insurance policy for 50 L for 35 years. Also I want to make my niece (1.5 years) as the nominee of the policy with my sister (31 years) as appointee. I want to know in case of my death
    (1) Would my wife would be able to claim on the insured amount or not? if yes, then
    (2) Is there any clause(s) I can make in the policy doc so that my wife would not be able to claim for the claim amount?
    (3) Also does consuming 1-2 cigarettes per day may increase the policy premium if yes then by how much %age.
    (4) Also in case of suicidal death would the money would be paid to nominee

    Regards,

    1. Ashish

      I really love to answer questions which are numbered 🙂

      1) Yes , if you just put your niece as nominee and thats all , the final amount will not go to your neice , but your wife + your other legal heirs
      2) The simplest way is to create a WILL and mention clearly that your niece should be getting the money from Insurance : http://jagoinvestor.dev.diginnovators.site/2010/11/how-to-make-a-will-in-india-and-its-importance.html , Note that nominee is not the final one to get it .
      3) Yes , it will definately increase the premium and you should be mentally ready for it , your premium increase will depend from company to company depending on how serious they feel your case is . But considering term plans are so cheap these days , I would say you can take loaded premium also .
      4) Nominee always revieves the money , its legal heirs or the person mentioned in the will gets the money , only if you mention that yhou want your niece to get the money , then only she will get it , else not . Suicide is covered after 1 yr, but I would recommened that if you plan to suicide , do it after 2-3 yrs of taking the policy, the claim process will be comparatevely faster .

      Manish

      Manish

  101. Mohit says:

    @manish
    i m still in 2 mimds whether i shud really go for a life cover policy or i shud wait for 8-10
    yrs (till i get married 🙂 ) nd then look to get a life cover.
    Or one option cud be to buy 1 cover now nd wen i really hv dependnts after 10 yrs i can buy another cover. Wat wil u suggest?

    1. Mohit

      Yes , that looks good , but I would recommend buying the cover much before that so that there is nothing called early claim in your case

      Manish

  102. Mohit says:

    Hi Manish,

    I am probably the youngest person at 22 looking for a term plan for myself. and one reason for me looking to buy it is to save on my taxes. I started earning from last year and my annual income is 3 lakhs. I have few questions in my mind. please help me out.
    1. should i really look to buy a term plan at my age(22). my logic is if i start it so early , i would end my policy term in my fifties considering that most companies offer term plans for maximum term of 35 years. so what really is the best age to take a term plan?

    2. is it legal and if legal, then advisable to go for 2 term plans from two diff companies in place of a single plan. are there any advantages/disadvantages in it? and while buying my 2nd term plan, do i need to declare that i already have one to the 2nd company?

    thanks in advance

    1. Mohit

      1) You should decide taking the term plan based on how many people are dependent on your financially , What will you do of that insurance if you dont have financial dependents . Calculate your cover using this calculator : http://jagoinvestor.dev.diginnovators.site/calculators/html/Insurance-Calculator.html

      2) Yes you can take 2 plans from 2 companies and you will have to declare about your 1st company to the 2nd company .

      Manish

  103. Rajat says:

    Dear Manish,
    Thanks for the link. I will read it and get back to you.
    Thanks,
    Rajat

  104. Rajat says:

    Dear Manish,
    Is ICICI i-protect is the only one that include accidental death as rider?
    Is there be any other online term plan that includes accidental death as rider?
    Best wishes,
    Rajat

  105. sanghmitra says:

    Hi Manish,

    Could you clarify if rhinoplasty i.e. for cosmetic purpose is missed out while filling proposal form in a term plan can make the policy void at the time of claim settlement.
    Is it ok to inform insurer later or one can go for other insurer if only 1 premium has been paid with complete information.

    Regards
    SPM

    1. Sanghmitra

      I am not very sure . rhinoplasty doesnt seem to be a life threatening thing . I dont think it would affect the premiums and hence companies decisions in case of claims payment .

      Manish

  106. dos says:

    hi manish,

    am 33 and wantd to take 80l coverage via term plans. decided to break it into 50l and 30l 2 polices for risk sharing. zeroed on to aviva and kotak as cheapest premiums for respective coverages in category.
    thought of getting second opinion from policy bazar online platform assuming they are unbiased since they get equal comission from all insurance providers.
    5 people gave me call back with each VERY STRONGLY advocating their choice…..1-aegon since they only cover terrorist attach….2—metlife since they send doctors to ur home….3-kotak -since they have 2 nomination facility….common factor that don’t go for aviva since they r too new and shall increase premiums later on…..but if u insit shall help u with same too…( reluctantly).
    i have moved from conclusion to commotion pls help!

    1. Dos

      There is nothing like that one company will run because its new . I can understand the charm of old companies , so you can go with AVIVA + Kotak or ICICI + Kotak or LIC + AVIVA , the only thing is make sure you give right info in forms .

      Manish

      1. dos says:

        thx. manish but when it comes to life insurance is there really a big difference that fully owned government set up like LIC is better than some public sector INVOLVED like jammu bank in metlife and bank of baroda in indiafirst….and any time MORE SAFE than partnered pvt. entities like dabur in Aviva just on the premise of OWNERSHIP than their claim ratio or service or premium costs ????
        does it not make sense to go for the cheapest one with decent claim ratios and background and invest the savings (as compared to others in category) which in case of aviva is 20% in mutual funds or other investments which over same period could reward you great returns???
        your opinion on same would be intersting pls….

  107. lokesh says:

    Manish

    My organisation is already providing insurance (health and life) to employees. should i also opt for additional insurance from LIC or other providers too.

    1. Lokesh

      Dont you think you dont need anyone to answer that ? Taking insurance means covering yourself fully ! . So if you org covers you well , then dont go for it, but if they cover you partially , then go for more .

      Manish

  108. lokesh says:

    Hi,
    I am an employee of a PSB, should i opt for additional life and health insurance besides group insurance from our organisation.

    1. Lokesh

      If they are providing it for employees , then you should definately take it .

      Manish

  109. AMIT DOSHI says:

    I Hi Manish,
    In the recent edition of “Moneylife” Magazine, they have covered a story on ” O Online Term Plans” and after going through the entire article, they do not
    encourge such online Term Plans. Though personally , last year I had
    a Iterm Plan from Ageon & after reading this article, I am just wondering
    whether I took a right decision? Though I am working on a separate term
    Plan from LIC.. If you happen to read this article, pls post your comments
    for benefit of all readers…

    1. Amit

      Which article are you talking about ? give the link please .

    2. AMIT DOSHI says:

      Hi Manish,

      Right now their 16th June 2011 edition of magazine is on stands and therefore article shall not be available online for reading purpose. I have read the article by purchasing this edition. However the website line is http://www.moneylife.in/

      1. Amit

        Ok , can you then please highlight some main points which they have raised against online term policies ?

        Manish

        1. Rajat says:

          Hi Manish,
          I guess this is the article link that Amit doshi was mentioned:
          http://www.moneylife.in/article/buying-insurance-the-right-channel/17255.html. Like to have your comments on the article.
          Best,
          Rajat

          1. Rajat

            Can you mention what does the article focus on? Which part you need my comments on ? I will take time to read it all .

            Manish

  110. Raj says:

    Hi Manish,

    I have read a couple of your posts and found them enlightening.

    I need a little free advice so please see if you can help me.

    Background: I have an endowment policy from LIC and a ULIP from Metlife. I now want to buy two term plans and then cancel these policies, in that order, so that I am not uncovered for even a day. My ULIP has completed 4 years term so I am allowed to surrender.

    My questions are:

    1) If I want to buy a term policy from LIC, do I need to get the endowment policy from LIC cancelled first? I remember reading something on that lines on a different blog.

    2) Since I plan to cancel the existing plicies after I buy the new ones, do I need to first declare the existing policies while buying new term ones and then later update them that I’ve cancelled the old policies?

    Sorry for asking such long questions but I really need the answers and can’t them anywhere.

    1. Raj

      1) NO , its not neccessary , its not related

      2) Yes, you will have to declare what you have while taking any insurance policy , if you cancel it , then you dont need to

      Manish

  111. Gaurav says:

    Manish,

    I have a fundamental question related to Critical Illness cover.

    Should I take:

    1. Critical Illness cover rider with Term Life Insurance
    2. Critical Illness cover rider with Health Insurance
    3. Pure Critical Illness Cover.

    Can you please throw some light on this?

    Thanks.

    1. Gaurav

      All of them have some advantages and disadvantages . I think if you really want to take full fledged critical illness cover , then go for stand alone one . If you want basic features with low cost , then take it as rider

      Manish

  112. allthecrap says:

    Hi Manish Nice article..I am still in dilemma about which company to choose..with so many diverse feedback.

    Manish, A suggestion if you can ask your readers to also specify their age and City. It will give us better insight if people with older age and non-metro cities are facing more problem or some other reason.

    1. I am not sure how many people will follow that rule of putting age and city . I think if you like some one comments , we can ask him to mention his details seperately

      Manish

  113. Archana says:

    Hi Manish,

    I did take the i-protect from ICICI for 100 lacs and found their service fine.
    We had some hitch with the vendors who were required to collect the documents, but later the medical process and policy delivery was fine.

    The only point that concerns me is that the medical reports are not shared i mean in file along with policy, so would there be any chance of manipulation ( if God forbid situation to claim does occur).

    My husband is from Non-smoking and no medical concern category as of now.
    Since the 2nd premium is due by the end of this year. …..Regds Archana

    1. Hem says:

      Not sure about ICICI, medical records are part of AR i-Term policy. You may want to check with ICICI.

  114. Raja says:

    Hi Manish,

    My personal experience is, I still find the current set of online insurance providers little difficult to trust. Please note it’s the insurance providers which am questioning here and not the online platform. For me, my life insurance has to come from some company which has been around for sometime and i can easily trust.

    So, just yesterday i went ahead with a 60 lacs plan from LIC (Amulya Jeevan) for 20 years term with a premium payment of 19140/- per annum (33 year old). Yes, li’l more expensive than the online one’s, but i don’t want to be penny pinching in this case when am sure i won’t around to help my family if and when they require this amount.

    Oh yes, there was the usual cajoling from the agent to take a 10 lac sum assured endowment or child plan or some other crap for the same premium as a good investment.

    But I politely (think so !) refused the offers and insisted on going ahead with the term plan. So, ultimately i filled the form myself (much to the agent’s surprise and irritation) and made sure i mention the other life insurance i have.

    Expecting to give my medical check-up in next 2 days. And Of course i understand that even in this case too the premium might change depending on the medical tests.

    Regards
    Raja

    1. Raja

      I can understand .. LIC is the obvious choice in your case ,if the company has to be around for some time , then HDFC , ICICI also come into the picture.

      Manish

  115. Atul says:

    Hi Manish,

    I have taken term plan using Kotak online few months back. The response was prompt after filling all details and paying premium online. The date for medical checkup was fixed immediately and closeby medical center was suggested.

    When it came to collecting documents from the insured (that’s me) the collecting agent never turned up. I had to make multiple calls and finally decided to visit local Bangalore office and give peace of mind. I did that and as usual they were apologetic with bunch of excuses.

    Anyway the policy is approved, I hope my family members do not have to run around for the insurance money in my absence.

    Cheers

    Atul

    1. Atul

      Good to hear that you finally got the policy issued . trust me the amount of problem you faced was fraction of what others have faced , but anyways , enjoy your insurance 🙂

      Manish

  116. AMIT DOSHI says:

    Hi Manish,

    Last Year I bought Iterm Policy from Ageon with 50lacs cover limit. Even my wife also have similar cover policy from Ageon. We had a very good experience & without any difficulty we got both policies issued from them and even they followed up the matter very well. I have already paid premiums for 2nd year. Now I am planning to enhance the cover & I have zeroed down for LIC for another 30 Lakhs enhanced cover limit, thussplitting up between PVT & LIC.

    1. Amit

      I think it would be good idea to now take additional cover from LIC . go ahead

      Manish

      1. Darshan says:

        Dear Manish,

        It is really good to see that you are responsive to all the members from so much time. Hats Off…

        I am also planning to go for a term plan. But I want to split 1 crore plan into 4 or 5 different vendors. Or atleast with 4 different policies. So that when in future I want to stop, i can do it. And still beign covered with some minimal coverage. What say?

        Also I want suggestion here on deciding which all to go with. Please let me know vendors, where after a limit of coverage, the premiums are economical or good service.. Each around 25 to 35 lakhs is my criteria.

        Thanks in advance.

        Darshan

        1. Darshan

          I dont think its a very good idea to go for 4-5 companies, you should really go with just 2 companies ,it makes sense to go for 50+ cover with one company . In general its really rare that your cover required will go down by 50% in future at any point .

  117. Srinivas says:

    Hi,
    After reading Manish blogs on term insurance, I decided to go for ICICI iProtect option I and took the policy recently. It all went on fine from purchasing the policy online till I received the policy document. I am 40 years age and took 50 lakhs policy by paying 11K+tax as a premium. They asked me to undergo medical tests and they arranged the same, and asked me submit KYC documents. So I went to one of the ICICI Pru life offices and submitted the documents. After 5 working days I got the policy document in hand. I had couple of calls with the help desk, and they are all good and satisfied my needs.

    Manish : I have a question here, after all the given procedures completed, Are there any chanses of claim getting rejected if my dependents submit the claim. Could you please share your thoughts on this subject.

    Thanks in advance.
    Srinivas.

    1. Srinivas

      If you have given all the facts correctly, then by no chance there should be any issue . Note that there is something called “early-claims” which is within 2 yrs , in that the scrutiny is done deeply with each point checked in detail , but still if you filled everything correctly , then there should be no issue

      Manish

      1. Srinivas says:

        Thanks Manish for your valuable response. I have given all facts what I have till today. My only one question to you is, if I develop any habit in future like social drinking, will that impact the policy. Or what measures do I need to take for any future issues.

        Thanks in advance for your response related to my question.

        Regards,
        Srinivas.

  118. Ramakrishna Kvv says:

    Dear Manish,
    First of all thank you very much contributing so much for enriching the people with valuable information. Keep up the good work.

    I just had a query about term policy. Last year I had gone with Aegon Religare iterm policy for 50L. I found service is good (never found issues so far).
    I want to go for one more policy for 50L. I am actively considering AVIVA, KOTAK, INDIAFIRST, LIC. I wanted to have blend of both public, private sector based companies in my portfolio. Since LIC is very expensive, I am seriously thinking of INDIAFIRST. As it is by public sector banks, I am a bit biased towards this. I seek your advice in this regard and also request fellow members to share their experience on this.

    Sincere thanks,
    Ramakrishna.

  119. Sunnydoc says:

    Hi,

    I have pasted the notes in the product quote for IndiaFirst Life Insurance. Could someone please clarify about the 5th point in this list, what does it mean and do all insurance companies have the freedom to increase the cost of premium at any time? I thought that the premium once decided remains fixed for the entire tenure of the insurer year after year..

    1 No Rider benefits are available under this product
    2 Please consult our ‘Insurance Advisor’ for any clarifications on this illustration.
    3 Exclusions under this plan are as per the Sales Brochure
    4 Surrender Value, if any, is payable after three plan years only in case of single premium. The formula for calculating surrender
    value is given in sales brochure.
    5 The Company declares that it may charge extra premium subject to underwriting of proposal before the acceptance of risk.
    6 The Plan does not offer any Maturity value.
    7 All benefits payable under the Plan are subject to the tax laws and other financial entactments, as they exist from time to time.

    1. Jagadees says:

      The premium amount displayed in the website of all term insurance policies are benchmark for a healthy individuals at particular age bracket. They will charge extra premium for the individuals who are perceived to be at higher risk of death i.e. smoker, individuals with medical conditions like asthma, kidney problems etc. This is same for all insurance companies i.e. they will charge extra premium when the individual perceived to have more chance of death than healthy individuals. (That is why it is always advisable to take insurance cover at early age when individuals are relatively healthy). After the underwriting process, premium conveyed will remain fixed.

      Regards
      Jagadees

  120. Pawan Gaur says:

    I have purchased term policy form ICICI in Jan 11. Faced some problem from their customer care services online for medical test when the customer care executive forget to send me letter of medical test. But then again i went to their branch office and they are really cooperative and provided me with the solution within 30 minutes. I really appreciate the service of the branch office which was really helpful in getting my medical tests done.

    1. Pawan

      Thanks for sharing your experience with all of us , its much appreciated 🙂 . I am sure over the time , the customer service of all the service providers will improve .

      Manish

  121. Dear Friends,
    pls check it out the claim settlement here. Private companies are also paying the claim and very close to LIC. So one should never doubt it. Pls find the link http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/lic-scores-best-in-claims-settlement-during-2010-11/436579/ . I hope it will clear your doubts.

    1. Jayesh

      Thanks for providing that link . The data provided there seems to be directly taken from Companies , IRDA report seems skewed towards LIC as best claim settler . But still I take the point that pvt insurers are improving big time 🙂

      Manish

  122. Sanjay says:

    I have bought iTerm from Aegon Religare with 50L cover. I had a very good experience. There was a quick follow-up. Doctor came to my home for checkup. The whole process went very smoothly.
    I have paid second premium of the policy just few days back.
    I will suggest people to buy two policies : one from public company and another from private.

    1. Praveen says:

      I think this was the consensus too when Manish wrote an article last time too. Thanks for sharing your experience.

    2. Sanjay

      So you paid your second year premium ? Thats great to know , we dont have many people with good experience with AR .

      Manish

      1. Chiradeep says:

        Even I paid my second yr premium of i-Term last month. I had faced no trouble with Aegon while buying the policy. The process was fast, the doctor came to my residence within 5 days, policy was issued withing the next 5 days.

        However, if I go for another insurance to top up my cover, maybe I will try IndiaFirst. The problem is the Anytime Plan provides only till 49lacs coverage. Thats something to think about in case somebody wants to go for a higher cover.

        1. Chiradeep

          Yea thats true , limit of 49 lacs is something to think about , but i am thinking will the company provide two covers of 49 lacs each ?

          Manish

      2. Hem says:

        I too have paid two premiums towards AR i-Term will now. So far so good not even a single problem.

        1. Hem

          Good to know that . I wish if all the investors had that kind of experience 🙂

          Manish

          1. Raja says:

            Manish and Hem,

            Had to say something here 🙂
            Aren’t we talking about the wrong kind of experience here ? for buying the right kind of products of course.
            What i mean is, if we are facing problem even while ‘paying’ premium for term insurance it’s surely time to re-evaluate the provider. But the real experiences which one should look at, is the stories that the people who had to go through the claim process have to tell.
            Anyone one here with such experience ? May be the agents who helped their clients in the claim process ?

            Focusing on ease of payment and less cost for term insurance ?? Comm’n Guys!! Need to think beyond that. Mr. Buffet has some very wise things to say on this phenomenon (I think it’s in his 2009/2010 AR). Check out!

            1. Raja

              The assumption before saying the above thing is that one is not biased on pvt and public company . There are numourous people who do not believe in the story of claim ratio;s . I myself have not come across any proper proof , that LIC term insurance (only term insurance) has out of the imagination claim ratio . If you are talking about the overall claim rejection ratio, then it is mix of endowmnt + ULIP and term and LIC being extremelly heavy weight on Endowment and ULIP also , the claim ratio is highly diluted . Dont you think so ?

              Put your opinion on this . We need pure term plan claim ratio to come to a conclusion , Note that I still beleive LIC will lead the list , but by how much margin ?

              You need to understand that most of the new companies like AR , IndiaFirst and other new companies are bound to have high claim rejection ratio’s because stupid mistakes people do in filling forms and thus coming under tight scrutiny .

              Look at the other pvt insurers and they are improving year on year as they are growing older .

              What do you think on that ?

              Manish

            2. Raja says:

              Totally agree with you Manish,

              We surely need more data, like the one’s you mentioned about the claim rejection ratio, in pure term plan’s across different companies to make a more informed decision.

              And that’s exactly what i was trying to point out. My point is the discussion on, which one is easier to pay and costs few bucks less is not all, that one needs to consider while taking term insurance. Because in lot of cases it will be our half literate wife’s/parents who will face the sharks. So, spare them the trouble in quest of few 100 bucks bargain, at least in this case 😉 If hypothetically i were physically present to claim my money for my term insurance i would surely be in for of choosing the least cost and easy web interface as first choice 😀

              In addition to the quantitative data, like I said earlier, I wish there was some more discussion from people who really faced the bad situation of claim process. I have hardly seen any such discussion anywhere.

              Also regarding the point i made about Mr. Buffet. Reading that letter, i believe, gives one a very good perspective of insurance business. There he discusses about how new players often drive down the costs in their quest to grab customers only to realize later that the business is not sustainable with such lower costs and then either refute claims (on different grounds) or increase the costs later. I believe there is a relation between what he has described in that letter and what’s happening in India. It may not be as simple as an error in filling up forms. Just may be 🙂
              Also, lot of times we see that, there will be only 2-3 survivors out of tens who will enter a new industry with lot of enthusiasm. So, do you think one should trust every and any insurance provide who enters the Indian industry offering lower premium ? Specially, because it’s such a long term commitment and can cost a bomb more if you have to change it to another provider at an older age.

              Regards
              Raja

            3. Raja

              Ok , Let me try to see if I can find out some cases where people have faced issues while claiming the insurance money .

              Also dont you think that its clearly IRDA which has to tighten the rules and make sure that not anyone can enter the space and if they do , they need to mantain the hygine ?

              Manish

            4. Raja says:

              Hi Manish,

              This blog post from Ganesh’s blog is a must read for ppl here and surely relevant to the discussion.

              http://www.mygraffitipage.in/2011/06/importance-of-disclosing-health.html

              Regards
              Raja

            5. Raja

              Seems to be a good writeup , let me go through that .

              Manish

  123. While selling an Insurance Policy offline, the agent always has a Commission.
    But while buying a policy online, their is no sales commission. I heard that some companies have started offering discounts on online purchase of policy as their is no commission involved online.
    Is this true?

    1. Praveen says:

      Yes. That is true and that is the reason why the Annual Premiums of online term insurance policies are lower than ones sold offline by agents.

    2. Karan

      I didnt get your point , Are you saying that companies have provided discounts on “offline policies” if bought though on line model ?

      Any example ?

      Manish

  124. Jagadees says:

    I dont know why people who wish to purchase online term insurance have not tried Indiafirst life insurance which is joint venture of Bank of Baroda, Andhra bank and a UK insurance provider. They introduced lot of customer-centric initiatives – there is an audio visual detailing about the product features(They make this step mandatory for all the investors whether investor buying online or offline) and also live video helpline to help in filling the form and clearing any queries. Their service is very good and the cost is also very competitive. In case there is any problem with claim settlement in future, family members can very well go the nearest BOB or AB and solve the problem. I would like to go with PSU’s rather than private sector ones. I would ask everyone to have a look at their portal.

    Regards
    Jagadees

    1. Rakesh says:

      Jagadees,

      Thanks for the update. Have you tried their product? How is your experience? If the bank has a tie-up then I assume it would be for account holders only or they will insist you to open an account and then only provide the term plan.

      Rakesh

      1. Jagadees says:

        @Rakesh
        I tried their online process just to check how their service is working. It works under “ask apply and get”-3 minute rapid process model. Indeed their customer support is very good… You can also search in moneylife which done couple of articles about their service. Term plan is not only for account holders…actually they floated separate company – indialife insurance and following both bankassurance and agent model to sell their products. Premium u can pay via online and no need of bank account. check out their website.

        Regards
        Jagadees

      2. Rakesh

        There are different distribution channels for insurance and mutual products , There is something called as “bancassurance channel” which is “selling of products through Banks” . So these are not only for account holders , but for anyone 🙂

        just like Jagadees , I also recommend IndiaFirst , they seem to be good to me 🙂

        Manish

    2. Senthil nathan says:

      Hi Jagadees And Manish,

      I was checking the India First Wesbite.Really looks good.The Number of Awards the organisation got so far may be a indicator of the quality of the organisation.Will go for a Term plan with them .

      Thanks for pointing out India First .

      Regards,
      Senthil

      1. there are some good plans these days for senior citizens . you can look at max bupa as one good option !

      2. Its a new company , but doing good

    3. Sam says:

      The issue with their term plan is that it is limited to 49L max and hence premiums are higher. Above 50L, premiums tend to go down. Does anyone know if Indiafirst offers term plan for 50L or more?

      1. Didnt you check on their website , just talk to their customer care .

  125. KK says:

    Manish, good write up!

    1. KK

      thanks . Are you moving ahead with some insurance providers ?

      Manish

  126. Manish,
    The website and customer service of Aviva is pathetic. Since the last one week I am trying to buy i-life term policy from them. I have tried buying policy from them on 5-6 different days on different times.

    But every time I calculate the premium and fill my personal details and try to move ahead, the website gets stuck. No matter you wait for how long after one click or no matter how many times you click the ‘continue’ button you will not be able to proceed ahead.

    I sent an email to their customer service. No one bothered to reply.

    I called up their toll free number on Sunday and I got a pre-recorded message saying today being sunday they are closed. On weekdays also you can call them only between 10 to 8.

    If even before buying the product from them, their service is so pathetic, I am just wondering how much torture the customer will have to go for once he makes a premium payment to them and then he is left to their mercy for the policy.

    Best Regards
    Gopal Gidwani

    1. Rakesh says:

      Gopal,

      Thanks for sharing your feedback. I was looking to buy Aviva given their lower premium rates now will think twice.

      Rakesh

      1. Gaurav says:

        Gopal,

        I am not sure if you are facing the same issue as mine but when I opened the website with an alternate browser like Internet explorer v 8.0 I was able to complete the entire process seamlessly. The website doesnot work well with other browsers.

    2. Gopal

      As Gaurav said, did you use Internet explorer ? These companies still are not that tech savvy and design their websites which can be best viewed in IE only . Please try with IE and let us know if you are facing the same issues .

      I personally would wait for more pointers to declare that they are “worst” .

      Manish

      1. Hi Manish,

        As suggested by Gaurav, on Saturday I tried with Internet Explorer and the entire process worked fine. Then I tried again with Google Chrome and Mozilla FireFox and faced the same problem again, the website gets stuck up.

        So it works fine with Internet Explorer but gets stuck up with Google Chrome and Mozilla FireFox. Also regarding their customer service no one bothered to reply to the email that I sent.

        Best Regards
        Gopal Gidwani

        1. Gopal

          Thanks for follow up update 🙂 .

          Manish

  127. Ravi Prasad says:

    Hello sir, I am planning to take term policy. i have taken home loan for 20 lakhs. I enquired with aegon religare and icici but i am not sure whether it is safe to have policy with such private companies. Do they really pay the assured amount once the insurer dies before policy expiry? I heard that LIC has good track record in settling in payments and not sure whether my family gets insured amount if something happens me. I am 42 years old and in smokers category. I appreciate if anyone suggest me on this.

    1. Ravi

      Your doubt is very common , which every other person has . All the insurance companies are regulated by IRDA and you should not worry so much on the claim settlement . LIC is the best in claim settlement , but even other companies are not too behind , especially HDFC , Kotak and SBI , look at http://jagoinvestor.dev.diginnovators.site/2010/12/term-insurance-plans-comparisions-india.html

      Manish

    2. Nihaal Borkar says:

      Hi Ravi,

      Birla Sun Life has an excellent track record when it comes to settlement of claims.

      Regards,
      Nihaal

    3. Gaurav Singh says:

      Take term plan of birla sun life insurance co. ltd . i will so each and every thing so you can believe birla sun life

  128. Anand Sancheti says:

    Somehow I am not comfortable with the Private insurance companies. LIC is most preferred insurance still for average indians

    1. Anand

      Thats ok , LIC still leads the group when it comes to trust. I can understand your point . However what do you think about the high charges from LIC , its almost 3 times the private insurers . Are you ok paying so high charges ?

      Manish

  129. sreeram says:

    Hi sir,

    What happens if we decide to cancel the policy without paying the higher premium as they demand?

    Can u provide ur valuable judgement on the claim settlements of these 7 companies?

    Regards,

    1. Sreeram

      With most of them , you will get the amount back , in some cases you will be given the money after deducting the medical expenses and “pro-rata” insurance charges .

      Regarding claim settlement of these companies , you can look at http://jagoinvestor.dev.diginnovators.site/2010/12/term-insurance-plans-comparisions-india.html

      Manish

  130. Rakesh says:

    Manish,

    Thanks for bringing this post up again. I already had worst experience with Ageon and ICICI. Tried to buy through kotak to test their service. Filled in all the detail but did not pay the premium as I had a query on the premium. There was no follow-up by them, infact i call them up twice to clear the doubt. Then deciding against opting for Kotak. Aviva’s premium are about 15 % to 20% cheaper when the sum insured is over 50 lakhs. Can you share your feedback/experience about their service.

    Rakesh

    1. Rakesh

      I have no practical experience about aviva , indiafirst seems to be a new good entrant . Truely speaking if you look at all the providers there are good and bad both kind of experiences . There are many who had good experience with ICICI and even Aegon Religare . So I would say individual experience matters .

      For now you can go with Kotak or Aviva . they look fine .

      What is that one thing which if you get from these companies , so that you choose to opt them ? I hope its customer service and treating you as a “customer”

      Manish

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