Part of the same group
The cover your family would actually need.
Work out the cover your family would need if your income stopped, then choose a plan that provides it without paying for what it does not.
What life insurance can cover
The benefits, and the condition attached to each. Your policy wording is what finally decides.
Term cover
A sum assured paid to your nominee if you die during the policy term.
Pays on death only. Nothing comes back if you outlive the term, which is why it buys the most cover per rupee.
Endowment and savings
Protection during the term, and an amount paid to you if you are alive at the end of it.
Only the guaranteed portion is certain. Bonuses, where a plan offers them, are declared by the insurer each year and are not promised in advance.
Whole life
Cover that runs to a very high age rather than ending on a fixed date.
Premiums are payable for the term the policy states, which is usually shorter than the cover itself.
Retirement and annuity
Builds a corpus while you are working and converts it into a pension afterwards.
The annuity rate is fixed at the moment you buy the annuity, not when you start saving, and the pension is taxable as income.
Unit linked plans
Cover combined with investment in funds you choose and can switch between.
The fund value moves with the market and that risk is yours. Charges apply and there is a five-year lock-in.
Riders
Optional additions such as critical illness, accidental death, disability or waiver of premium.
Each rider has its own definitions, waiting periods and exclusions, separate from the base plan and worth reading separately.
Nomination
The person you name to receive the money, recorded on the policy itself.
Under Section 39 of the Insurance Act a nominee who is a parent, spouse or child is a beneficial nominee and receives the proceeds in their own right.
Tax treatment
Premiums and proceeds are treated under the tax rules in force at the time.
What you can claim depends on the regime you are taxed under, on the premium relative to the sum assured, and on limits that have changed more than once in recent years.
Worth adding
Critical illness rider
A lump sum on diagnosis, paid while you are alive.
Accidental death
An additional sum assured for accidental death.
Waiver of premium
Premiums are waived if you become disabled.
Income benefit
Paid monthly rather than as a lump sum.
What to check before you choose
These decide whether cover is real when you claim. Read them before the premium.
How much, and for how long
Ten to fifteen times annual income is a starting point, not an answer. Add what is owed, subtract what is already saved, and set the term to run until the youngest dependant is earning or the last loan is cleared, whichever is later.
What you have to disclose
Non-disclosure is the commonest reason a life claim is refused. Health, family history, tobacco use, income, occupation, hazardous pastimes and any other policies all have to be stated as they are. An advisor filling the form in for you does not move that duty.
The three-year rule
Section 45 of the Insurance Act bars an insurer from questioning a policy after three years from commencement, revival or rider date, except for proven fraud. Within those three years a misstatement can be acted on. It is a protection, not a waiting game.
The suicide clause
Death by suicide within twelve months of commencement or of revival pays only a stated proportion, typically the premiums paid or the surrender value, rather than the sum assured.
Grace, lapse and revival
Premiums carry a grace period of thirty days, or fifteen for monthly payment. Cover stops if the premium is still unpaid after it. A lapsed policy can usually be revived within five years, subject to arrears, interest and fresh underwriting.
Surrendering early costs a great deal
Ask the insurer for the current surrender and paid-up values before deciding. Eligibility, deductions and the effect on benefits depend on the policy terms and applicable requirements.
What a rider actually promises
A critical illness rider pays on the conditions it lists, as it defines them, and usually only if you survive a stated number of days after diagnosis. A condition by the same everyday name is not necessarily the condition the rider covers.
Tax is a consequence, not a reason
A plan chosen for a deduction is usually the wrong plan held for the wrong length of time. Decide what cover your family needs first and treat the tax treatment as what it is, a side effect that the rules can change.
How Beema1 supports you
What we do at each stage. The claim decision itself rests with the insurer.
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Work out the numberWhat your household spends, what is owed, who depends on it and for how long. The figure comes out of that, not out of a rule of thumb.
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Explain the optionsTerm, endowment, whole life or a pension, what each costs for the same protection, and what each gives up.
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Help with the applicationGetting the disclosure right, arranging the medical where one is needed, and following the underwriting through rather than leaving you to chase it.
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Keep the policy aliveA reminder before the grace period runs out, and help reviving a policy that has lapsed, because cover that stopped is the most expensive mistake here.
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Stand with the familyAssembling the claim papers and dealing with the insurer at the point when the family should not have to.
If you need to claim
- Tell usCall your advisor, or the number on your policy.
- We register itWe help you notify the insurer and understand the documents requested.
- AssessmentThe insurer reviews the claim and may request documents. Timing depends on the claim and applicable requirements.
- SettlementPayment depends on the policy terms and the insurer’s decision. Ask about the cashless or reimbursement process that applies.
How to choose, and what to check
Four things worth more than the premium figure.
Claim settlement ratio
Read the insurer’s report and check the reporting period, calculation basis and limitations. A ratio based on the number of claims differs from one based on claim amounts. Neither guarantees that an individual claim will be approved.
How long settlement takes
A claim paid slowly is paid while you are out of pocket. Ask for the average turnaround, not the best case, and ask what happens when a document is queried.
What is excluded
Every policy excludes something, and the exclusions decide whether cover is real. Waiting periods, sub-limits and room-rent caps matter more than the headline sum insured. Read these before you buy; nobody enjoys reading them at claim time.
Who helps when it goes wrong
The difference between a policy and a promise is who answers the telephone on the day of a claim. Ask that question before you pay, of us and of anyone else.
Life Insurance questions, answered clearly
General guidance. Your own policy wording and Customer Information Sheet decide the specifics.
Choosing cover
How much cover does my family need?
Start from what the household spends in a year, multiply by the number of years your dependants would need it, add outstanding loans and any large known cost such as education, then subtract savings and existing cover. Ten to fifteen times income is a useful sanity check on the answer rather than a substitute for it.
Term or endowment?
Term buys the most protection per rupee and returns nothing if you survive. Endowment protects and saves in one product and costs several times as much for the same sum assured. If the amount you can spend will not buy enough endowment cover to replace your income, it is not really a choice.
How long should the term run?
To the point where the people who depend on your income no longer would. For most households that is until the youngest child is earning or the home loan is cleared. Cover that ends at fifty when the mortgage runs to sixty is cover that stops when it is still needed.
Should I buy a unit linked plan?
Only if you want the investment and understand that the risk is yours and the lock-in is five years. Buying protection and investment separately is usually cheaper and always easier to compare, and it lets you change one without disturbing the other.
Can I hold more than one policy?
Yes, and many people do, adding cover as income and responsibilities grow. Every insurer must be told about the others at the application. Cover held with one insurer does not reduce what another will pay.
The application and underwriting
Will I need a medical examination?
It depends on your age, the sum assured and what you disclose. Larger cover and older applicants are more likely to be asked. A medical is to the applicant advantage: a policy issued after one is far harder to question later.
What happens if I smoke?
The premium is higher, sometimes substantially. Saying you do not is the single most common reason a life claim is contested, and it is detectable. A higher premium honestly paid is worth more than a lower one that may not pay out.
I have a health condition. Can I still get cover?
Often yes, at a higher premium, with an exclusion, or after a deferral. An insurer that declines is not every insurer. What is fatal to the claim is not the condition but failing to mention it.
Why does the insurer want my income?
Cover has to bear a sensible relationship to what it is replacing. An insurer will not issue a sum assured far beyond the income it is meant to stand in for, and a proposal that asks for one invites questions.
I think something on my form was wrong. What now?
Tell the insurer in writing now rather than leaving it. A correction made while you are alive is an administrative matter. The same fact found after a death is the argument the family will have to have without you.
Premiums, lapse and surrender
What is the grace period?
Thirty days from the due date for yearly, half-yearly and quarterly premiums, and fifteen days where you pay monthly. The policy stays in force during it. A claim arising within the grace period is payable, with the unpaid premium deducted.
What happens if I miss a premium?
After the grace period a policy in its early years lapses and the cover stops. One that has acquired a surrender value usually becomes paid-up instead, continuing at a reduced sum assured with no further premiums due.
Can I restart a lapsed policy?
Usually within five years of the first unpaid premium, by paying the arrears with interest and satisfying the insurer about your health again. Revival restarts the three-year clock under Section 45 and the twelve-month suicide clause.
What do I get back if I surrender?
Ask the insurer for a written surrender-value quote and any available paid-up option. The amount, eligibility and effect on benefits depend on your policy and the premiums paid.
Can I change the premium frequency or the nominee?
Yes. Frequency can usually be changed at a policy anniversary, and a nomination can be changed at any time by writing to the insurer. Keep the nomination current after a marriage, a birth or a death; an out-of-date nominee is a slow and painful claim.
Claims and your rights
Who makes the claim, and how?
The nominee, by telling the insurer and sending the policy document, the death certificate, proof of their own identity and the claim form. The insurer may ask for medical or hospital records where the death was recent or sudden.
How quickly should a claim be settled?
Promptly where no investigation is needed. Where the insurer does investigate, it is expected to complete that and decide within the period the regulations set rather than leaving the family waiting indefinitely. Dates and documents should be recorded at every step.
Can a claim be refused after three years?
Only for proven fraud. Section 45 otherwise bars an insurer from calling a policy into question after three years from commencement, revival or the date a rider was added, and the burden of proving fraud is on the insurer.
Can I change my mind after buying?
Yes. A free-look period runs from when you receive the policy document, during which you can return the policy and have the premium refunded less the proportionate risk premium, any medical costs and stamp duty. Read the document when it arrives rather than filing it.
What if a claim is refused and I disagree?
Ask for the refusal in writing with its reasons, take it to the insurer grievance redressal officer, and if that does not resolve it approach the Insurance Ombudsman, which is free to use. Keep every document and every date.