It was a pretty lazy day, and Ankit was busy watching his favourite movie, having a cup of tea and mouth-watering breakfast. Sundays are meant to be relaxing. Aren’t they? No healthy food, no workout and even no bustling routine! It was nearly the climax of the movie, and suddenly Ankit’s phone rung. The news was shocking! One of his colleagues, who accompanying Ankit for late night drinks, got a severe cardiac arrest and met the demise in a few minutes. Just about a few hours ago, both of them discussed life insurance and concluded that it could be thought of at later stages of life! After the incidence, Ankit had two faces in front of his eyes- his colleague’s wife and a 3-year-old girl, whose financial future was insecure.

It won’t be exaggerating if we say that the majority of youngsters possess this attitude. If you already have a back-up financial plan, you are all set. But if not, have you ever thought of the financial future of your loved ones? Here, life insurance, especially term insurance plans help you significantly. How? Let’s see-

 What Is Term Insurance?

The purest form of life insurance, term insurance is designed to provide a considerable amount on the demise of the insured, that too at lowest premiums.

The primary aim of term life insurance is to provide sizeable death benefits instead of maturity or investment benefits. The amount of sum assured is significantly high. As it is affordable, you don’t even need to compromise on your regular lifestyle when it comes to paying premiums.

 Benefits You Can Avail with Term Insurance Plans

Affordable Premiums

A Term insurance policy is always affordable, even for those who are on the threshold of career and life. Since there is no any cash-value benefit to avail, term life insurance premiums are very affordable. The premium is approximately one per cent of your annual income. The tenure or the policy duration can be chosen from five years to 25 years, based on your requirements.

Death Benefits

The key benefit for which term insurance plans are designed, you can choose to sum assured as significant as Rs. 1 Cr or more. It is usually advised that the sum assured you select, must be at least ten times of your annual income in addition to the regular lifestyle-related expenses.

Maturity Benefits

As term insurance plans aim to provide purely a life insurance benefit, no maturity benefit are provided by the insurers. If you survive the policy tenure, you are no longer entitled to receive any amount in the end.

Critical Illness Cover

Today, many term insurance plans are supplemented with critical illness cover, which helps you get coverage against a list of critical illnesses. In case of occurrence of any such event, the insurer pays you out the critical illness sum immediately on the diagnosis. The base sum assured will be continued till the end of the tenure.

Tax Benefits

Term insurance plans offer tax benefits for premiums paid and the death benefits under Section 80C and Section 10(10D) of the Income Tax Act. The tax exemption can be up to Rs.1.5 lakh, subject to changes in the tax structure.

Online Availability

Traditionally, buying any life insurance policy was a bit hassle as you had to find an agent, and purchase the policy through him. Today, you can buy term insurance online in a few easy steps. It not just saves your time but also minimises multiple costs such as paperwork, brokerage etc. You need to pay premiums online through net banking or using your credit/debit cards to purchase the policy.

Flexibility

If you feel that death occurring due to a particular event is not covered under your term insurance policy, you can always opt for a rider. The accidental death benefit, hospital cash, waiver of premium and several other riders are available to choose from.

Term Insurance Calculator

What do you usually do when it comes to finding a suitable policy? Advises gained by your friend circle or colleagues may not be wrong, but certainly, they may not suit your personal financial needs. Here, insurers offer a tool known as term life insurance calculator. It merely helps you get the right quote for your desired term insurance policy. You just need to provide some basic details along with any medical history and other essentials. You can also get multiple quotes and compare different plans accordingly. Nowadays, almost all the insurers and life insurance aggregators offer term premium calculators on their websites.

How to Buy Term Insurance Online?

Experience a completely hassle-free process when you buy term insurance online. Here is what you need to do-

• You have two options from where you can buy term insurance plans – either an aggregator or directly from the insurer’s website.
• Once you open the website and login with your credentials, you need to fill your contact details along with some other necessary information.
• In the next step, choose the sum assured, the policy term, and the desired mode of payment.
• Once all the inputs are given, you will see the premium amount for your plan.
• Once you decide to go with a particular quote, you will have to submit a few more details along with scanned copies of necessary documents.
• Pay the premium amount using credit/debit card or net banking. You will get an acknowledgement message from the insurer immediately when the transaction is successful.
• Before issuing the policy, the insurer may ask you to undergo a medical exam if needed. Here, your work is done. The medical report is delivered directly to the insurer.
• Within the period of three weeks, the insurer shall get back to you with the confirmation.
• You will receive policy documents on your residential address, and a soft-copy is sent across the registered email address.

Claim rejection

As per the mandate issued by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI), an insurer cannot reject your claim or terminate your policy after two years of becoming effective due to non-disclosure of facts. You just need to submit all essentials documents and disclose all the facts related to health conditions and habits.

 Conclusion

To conclude, term insurance plans are suitable for everyone; be it a newly employed youngster or even someone who can’t afford to buy cash-value policies. Spending a small amount towards a term insurance policy is worth it. Because, even when your life is precious, it also important to take care of the financial future of your loved ones in your absence.