Best Term Insurance Plans in India

Finding the best term insurance plan can be difficult in the present-day scenario with many insurance players in the market with different plans. However, there are certain basic parameters that you must check before applying for term insurance. These parameters include the sum assured, premium amount, flexible premium payment terms, availability of riders, claim settlement ratio (CSR), etc. But let us first understand in brief what Term Insurance is before focusing back on the parameters. This way, you could understand things better and choose the best plan easily.

It is the purest and simplest form of life insurance with affordable premiums. Term insurance provides strong financial protection to your family in your absence, thereby helping them lead a peaceful life. In case of an unfortunate demise, the nominee will receive the chosen Sum Insured. But in case there is no such incident, the survivors will be paid the chosen sum insured. Hence, we can conclude that Term Insurance Plans are purely designed to mitigate the risk of financial burden, which could be the case otherwise.

Best Term Insurance Plans in India 2021

Below are the Best Term Insurance Plans in India that can be recommended for the year 2021

1. Aegon Life iTerm Insurance Plan
2. ICICI Prudential iProtect Smart Term Insurance Plan
3. SBI Life eShield Term Insurance Plan
4. HDFC Life Click 2 Protect Term Insurance Plan
5. MaxLife Online Term Plan Plus
6. E-Term Insurance Plan from LIC
7. Click 2 Protect Plus from HDFC Life
8. i-Protect Smart from ICICI Prudential
9. Smart Shield from SBI Life Insurance

Aegon Life iTerm Insurance Plan

Aegon Life was the first company to offer online term insurance in India. As of December 2019, Aegon’s online Term Insurance plans are the most affordable plans available in the market. The company comes with an expert insurance advisory with a lot of important features which are as below:

1. CSR 96.45%
2. Premium Amount: INR 7,970 which is the lowest
3. Claims pending for > 3 months is Nil
4. The plan permits you to increase the coverage for significant milestones of your life, like childbirth, marriage, etc
5. Flexibility to choose riders of Accidental Death Benefits and Critical Illness Benefit
6. Premium needs to be paid online which can be monthly, quarterly or annually

Eligibility of Aegon Life iTerm Insurance Plan

ICICI Prudential iProtect Smart Term Insurance Plan

A unique Term Insurance plan is a non-linked and Non-participating Term plan that will protect your family’s future needs. Key features and benefits of the plan are summarized as below

1. CSR 98.58%
2. Amount of Premium: INR 9,363
3. Claims pending for > 3 months is 5 only
4. Reasonable premiums
5. Coverage for a longer policy term of 40 years
6. Coverage for 34 Critical Illnesses with only copies of your diagnostics reports and no medical bills for 30 years without any change in the premium amount
7. Terminal Illnesses coverage
8. 4 pay-out options to meet all the financial needs – lump sum, a steady monthly pay-put of INR 1 lakh per month for 10 years, cumulative payout of INR 1 lakh per month and lump sum with regular income
9. Accidental Death Coverage with a maximum cover of INR 2 crores
10. Under the MWP (Married Women Property) Act, the insurance cover will remain protected and the amount will be paid to wife and children

Eligibility of ICICI Prudential iProtect Smart Term Plan

SBI Life eShield Term Insurance Plan

This Term plan is an online, non-linked and non-participating life insurance product offered by SBI Life. Its main features are:

1. CSR 95.03%
2. Premium Amount- INR 10,950
3. Claims pending for > 3 months is 15
4. The plan provides complete financial guard to the family
5. Choice between two options of Level Cover Benefit and Increasing Cover. For the level cover, the sum insured remains constant, and for the Increasing cover, the sum insured rises by 10% upon the completion of every 5th policy year
6. Benefit through an in-built Accelerated Terminal Illness Benefit and two-rider benefits for all-inclusive insurance coverage
7. Facility to get a 2nd medical opinion
8. Easy to apply online

Eligibility of SBI Life eShield Term Insurance Plan

HDFC Standard Life Click 2 Protect Term Insurance Plan

HDFC Term Insurance plan is crafted to provide an all-inclusive cover of risk at a reasonable rate. Let us see the main features of the plan.

1. CSR 99.04%
2. Premium Amount- INR 11,678
3. Claims pending for > 3 months is 9
4. Choice of 4 options namely:
   • Life Option -The legal heir receives the claim after the demise of the life insured
   • Extra Life Option -This option provides additional coverage upon an Accidental Death
   • Income Option- 10% of the death benefit is given as a lump sum upon the death of the life insured and 90% will be paid in monthly equated amount for 15 years
   • Income Plus Option- 100% of the Sum Insured is being paid upon death. Also, 0.5% of the sum insured is paid as a monthly equated amount for 10 years

Eligibility of HDFC Standard Life Click 2 Protect Term Insurance Plan

MaxLife Online Term Plan Plus Plan

Another best and an appropriate Term Insurance plan which intends to provide a great amount of financial protection at a much cheaper rate. The main features are as follows:

1. CSR 98.74%
2. Premium Amount – INR 12272
3. Claims pending for > 3 months is nil
4. Choice of 3 options namely:
   • Basic Life Coverage -The legal heir receives the amount after the demise of the life insured
   • Basic Life Coverage with monthly income-Upon death, the sum insured is being paid and 0.4% of the sum insured will be paid monthly for 10 years
   • Basic Life Coverage with monthly income – the Fixed amount is being paid to the family upon the death of the insured person. Additionally, 0.4% of the sum insured will be paid in the 1st year for each month. And this monthly payout rises by 10% for the remaining period
5. 3 Riders benefit availability namely Critical Illnesses coverage, Accidental Death and Disability benefit and Waiver of Premium benefit

Eligibility of MaxLife Online Term Plan Plus Plan

E-Term Insurance Plan from LIC

When it comes to life insurance, very few companies in India can match the Life Insurance Corporation of India. Fondly called as LIC by many, the insurance company has some of the best life insurance plans, including term life covers. The e-Term Insurance Plan from LIC is amongst the very best. Anyone above 18 years of age can buy this plan, which offers a large sum assured. The policyholder can stay covered for a maximum of 35 years under this plan. LIC has a claim settlement ratio of over 99%, so this plan is always a very safe bet.

Click 2 Protect Plus from HDFC Life

The next plan to feature on the list is HDFC Life’s Click 2 Protect Plus. HDFC Life is one of the leading private insurance companies in India and the plans they offer are very good. The Click 2 Protect Plus term insurance plan offers a minimum sum assured of Rs 25 lacs and there is no limit on the upper margin. Anyone between the ages of 18 years and 75 years can buy this life cover. The premium can be paid annually, semi-annually, quarterly or monthly, making the term insurance plan quite flexible. The policy term available is between 10 years and 40 years.

i-Protect Smart from ICICI Prudential

The i-Protect Smart Plan from ICICI Prudential Life Insurance is one of the best term insurance plans in India. You can get the plan if you are between the ages of 18 and 60. The plan offers multiple payout options, tax benefits, a comprehensive life cover and an affordable premium. These factors make the ICICI Pru i-Protect Smart plan one of the most sought after term insurance plans in India these days.

Smart Shield from SBI Life Insurance

To round off the list, we have the Smart Shield plan from SBI Life Insurance. SBI Life is a very good life insurance provider who offers this comprehensive and affordable term plan. You can add various riders to this plan and keep your loved ones safe. The minimum sum assured available insurance is INR 25 lakh while there is no limit on the upper value. Non-smokers get special discounts and offer, making this plan a very sought after life cover in the country.

Parameters to Check Before Buying a Term Insurance Plan

There is a wide range of Term Insurance Plans which are present in the market, however, you need to consider the following aspects before deciding on the best Term Insurance plan.

Claim Settlement Ratio or CSR – This is a very crucial condition when you are selecting the best Term Insurance plan. CSR is known as the number of claims cleared and settled by the insurer as a percentage of the overall claims which are received in any financial year. A high CSR would essentially mean that the insurer has settled a high number of claims. It would further instill trust and confidence for the insurer as there is a much higher probability that your claim would be settled

Solvency Ratio – You would like to invest your hard-earned money in a company that is financially stable and can provide what you are looking for. Solvency Ratio is the ratio of company assets to the company’s unsettled liabilities which helps us identify the companies with a high solvency ratio

Inexpensive Premium – A company which provides the highest benefits with the least cost is always preferable

Online Facility – Buying an online plan helps you to avoid the charges of the intermediaries and therefore the product will be available to you with a cheaper premium rate.

Major Characteristics of the Best Term Insurance Plans in India

Let us begin by discovering the true characteristics of the best term insurance plans. They include:-

Affordable – A good term insurance plan is always affordable. Try to get an economic option when looking to buy term insurance online. Fortunately, there are many term life insurance policies available at some great prices. Make a budget and stick to it. Compare insurance quotes to see what the best options are. The different term insurance plans from the different life insurance companies in India are priced different. A life cover of INR 5 lacs is available for an insurance premium of INR 500 from Exide Life Insurance, while a similar cover from Kotak Life is available for INR 700. It is, therefore, crucial to compare the different term insurance quotes and find a plan that is affordable to make it the best plan for yourself.

Easy to obtain – The ideal term life insurance policy should be easy to obtain. Nowadays, most of the top and best life insurance companies in India offer term insurance online. The plan can easily be bought over the internet in a few minutes. The digital platform makes it very easy to get term life insurance. No one should be forced to buy term insurance offline, through an insurance agent when they want their plan to be bought online. The best plans are always available online, in an easy and hassle-free manner. An online term life insurance policy makes the job of buying life cover simple, as well as safe and secure. You deal directly with the life insurance company, and if there are any doubts, the customer support cell is present to sort them out.

Comprehensive – Some plans have more features and some have fewer features. This is a factor based on which some of the term insurance quotes are decided as well. Not all features are suitable or required for everyone. Since insurance is a very specific need, depended greatly on an individual’s life requirements, you need to find the best plan that has the best features matching your requirements. The best term insurance plan should ideally have a comprehensive set of features and covers, but should also be available at a modest price. Look for a term insurance plan that is wholesome yet economical and it will definitely become the best option among the rest.

Flexible – Next, we come to the flexibility factor. Term insurance riders are easily available. When buying term insurance, look to add a few riders to the base insurance policy. Riders make a term life cover more flexible. Flexibility is an important life insurance requirement. The best term insurance plan is always flexible and tailor-made for your needs. Therefore, it is very important to look for a policy that has the option of riders being added to it. However, riders push up the overall cost of the plan, so choose the riders with care and only get the ones that are of the most help.

Easy claim process – A term insurance policy is taken to help the family members of the policyholder after his or her death. It is therefore very important to keep in mind that you won’t be around when an insurance claim will be made. The nominees will have to process the claim on their own, which can be difficult especially if they are aged parents or young children. The best term insurance plan thus keeps the claim process very simple. If the policyholder pays the premiums on time and the claim is made following the correct procedures, the payout should happen quite easily, without putting the nominees through too many complications.

The option of payout – Term insurance payouts can happen in multiple ways. There is the option of the lump sum payout. Here, the nominee gets the entire death benefit, after the policyholder’s demise, in one go. After that, the term life insurance policy ends. The other option is the income benefit payout, where the death benefit is paid out in instalments over a fixed period of time. It acts as an income replacement of the policyholder. The best term insurance plan should allow you to choose the option you feel is best suited for your family. Any plan that has a rigid or single payout option can never be considered to be the best term life insurance plan in India.

These are some of the most defining characteristics of a good term life insurance policy. When looking to buy term insurance, make sure the plan is chosen ticks all these points. Only then will you be assured of having the best term insurance coverage that can offer the maximum coverage at the best possible rates.

How Do These Life Insurance Companies Operate?

Insurance business in India is being regulated by IRDAI and all the insurance companies, big or small, strictly follow all the rules and guidelines laid down by the insurance regulator. So, if you are planning to buy term insurance, go ahead and buy the best term insurance plan as suggested without any worries and give complete financial coverage to your family and lead a peaceful life.