Term Insurance Plans – Compare and Choose the Best
Term Insurance is the cheapest form of life insurance that provides full financial coverage for a defined period of time. In the event of any unforeseen situation the policyholder’s family is taken care of and financial stability is ensured. Death benefit is payable to the nominee who is usually a family member. You can choose to get a lumpsum amount or combination of lumpsum and monthly amount as per your requirement. Some companies also cover permanent or partial disability wherein the policyholder’s regular income is disrupted.

Note: In case of survival of the policyholder the coverage at the earlier rate of premiums is not guaranteed after the expiry of the policy. The buyer has to either obtain extended coverage with different payment condition or forgo the coverage entirely.

Why You Should Buy Term Insurance?
In the event of an unforeseen situation who will take care of your liabilities and responsibilities? It is here that the importance of term insurance is felt. The lumpsum that your family will get as death benefit can bring financial stability and pay off the liabilities. It is the real support that your family can have if something happens to you. Term insurance is important for everyone and especially more for the bread earner of the family.

“Family is not an important thing, it’s everything.”– Michael J. Fox

Don’t be short-sighted. Get Term Insurance and secure your family’s future. Save their harassment by financially securing them through a term plan.
• Get lumpsum amount in the event sudden death
• See off all your loans and liabilities
• Provide money so that your family continues to live with pride
• Term Insurance also takes care of family in case of your disability or critical illness:
• Provides supplementary income in case of loss of income due to accidental disability or illness
• Get lumpsum amount if diagnosed with critical illness
• Additional sum insured in case of accidental death

Key Features of Term Life Insurance Plans
Term Insurance Plans are specifically designed to secure your family's core financial needs in case of death or uncertainty. According to the plan, family/dependents of the life insured is/are eligible for a lump sum amount in case of death or critical illness, if applied for, of the life insured and during the term of the policy. Such an insurance plan can help your family to have sound financial independence, even if you are not around.

The key features of term insurance plans are:
• Policy Term:
The minimum policy term is 5 years, with the maximum varying from 25 years to whole life span for equated monthly premium payments. For single premium payment policies, the policy term is 5 to 15 years.

• Plan Choice:
Term insurance provides flexibility in terms of choosing the plan on single life basis or joint life basis.

• Entry Age:
To be eligible for term insurance plans, the minimum age of entry is 18 years, with a maximum age limit of 65 years with optional add on benefits.

• Death Benefits:
On death of life assured during the term of the plan, the nominee or assignee, in case where the policy has been assigned to someone else, will receive the total/ assigned death benefit chosen at the time of commencement.

• Maturity Benefits:
Term insurance plans don't come with any survival or maturity benefits. If one wants maturity benefits, then a TROP (Term Return of Premium) plan is suggested. Read more about TROP Plan here.

• Additional Optional Benefits:
Additional optional benefits such as critical illness and accidental death/ disability or Accelerated Sum Assured are also available.

Additional optional benefits such as critical illness and accidental death/ disability or Accelerated Sum Assured are also available.

Criteria	Minimum	Maximum
Entry Age	18 years	65 years
Policy Term	5years	30-55 years
Maturity Age	-	75 years to Whole Life
Annual Premium	INR 2000	Based on Sum Assured and age of applicant

Premium Payment Mode: Single | Regular - Yearly, half-yearly, quarterly, and monthly.

Term insurance offers flexible plan options to suit the need of every individual. You can choose:
• The amount of preferred sum assured
• Premium payment option which can be either one-time or regular.
• Term of the policy
• Add on protection

Tax Benefits of Term Life Insurance
Term life insurance plans come with excellent tax benefits. You can avail lucrative tax benefits under Section 80C and Section 10 (10D) of the Income Tax Act, 1961. Additionally, the premiums paid for the Critical Illness Benefit also qualifies for a deduction under Section 80D.

Note: Tax benefits are subject to changes in tax laws. Please consult your tax advisor for details.

How to Choose the Best Term Insurance Plan?
Term insurance plans have become extremely popular in the last few months owing to a big drop in the cost of premium amount and huge amount of cover. For example, you can get Rs 1 crore of term insurance by paying something below Rs 500 per month.

While we understand the importance of having a term insurance what confuses a buyer is – How much death benefit cover do I need?

Below given are the factors that one must consider to ascertain the amount of cover required:
Your lifestyle characterized by annual income, dependents and liabilities is an important deciding factor. Ideally, one should have a life cover of 15-20 times their annual income. A married person with children should have higher life cover than a bachelor. Somebody with a home loan to pay off should have higher life cover. Also, consider the factor of inflation in paying premiums and coverage benefits.