Top and Best Term Insurance plans in India for 2015

Top and Best Term Insurance plans in IndiaTop and Best Term Insurance plans in India for 2015


There are various term insurance plans in India. However, we may always get confused on assessing which is the top and best term insurance plan in India to buy. Insurance is a need. Instead of buying money-back insurance plans, one can buy a good term insurance plan with low premiums and secure their family. Which are the popular term insurance plans in India? What are the top and best term insurance plans in India to be considered.

What is a Term Insurance Plan in India?


If you are aware of this, you can skip this section. In simple terms, the Term insurance plan is one which provides risk coverage to the nominee in case of death of the policy holder without any maturity amount.

Wikipedia defines a Term insurance plan as,

“If the life insured dies during the term, the death benefit will be paid to the beneficiary. Term insurance is the least expensive way to purchase a substantial death benefit on a coverage amount per premium dollar basis over a specific period of time

Also Read: Should you opt for Religare Joy health insurance for maternity and new born cover?

What are the features of Term Insurance Plans?


  • Term insurance plans are designed for risk coverage only. In case of death, the sum assured is paid to the nominee.
  • Zero maturity amount.
  • Tax benefits u/s 80C for the premiums paid
  • Premium depends on age, the sum assured, life style (smoker/non-smoker) and any premium discounts for high sum assured etc.,

Top and Best Term Insurance plans in India for 2015


1) LIC e-Term Insurance Plan


LIC has highest life death claim settlement ratio of 98.14% (2013-14). Some of the important features are indicated below:

  • Entry age of policy holder – 18 to 60 years.
  • Maximum age at maturity – 75 Years
  • Mimum Sum assured – ₹ 25 Lakhs
  • Maximum Sum Assured – No limit
  • Policy term – 10 to 35 years
  • This is the Pure Term plan
  • Differential premium rates for Smoker/Non-Smoker lives
  • Proposal on own life ONLY will be considered
  • No riders are available in this policy
  • LIC e-Term is no doubt a best term insurance plan in India compared to other competitors / private insurance companies.

Also Read: Should you buy LIC online e-Term Term Insurance plan?

2) ICICI Pru I-Care II Term Insurance plan


ICICI Pru life insurance has a second highest life death claim settlement ratio of 94.10% (2013-14). Some of the important features are indicated below:

  • Entry age of policy holder – 18 to 60 years.
  • Maximum age at maturity – 65 Years
  • Maximum Sum Assured – ₹ 50 Lakhs
  • Policy term – 5 to 30 years
  • Option to select accidental death benefit where in case of death of policy holder due to an accident, an additional equal sum assured would be paid to the nominee. This feature comes with additional premium.
  • ICICI Term insurance is top term insurance plan available among private insurance companies based on high claim settlement ratio.

3) HDFC Click 2 Protect Plus Term Insurance Plan


HDFC has a third highest life death claim settlement ratio of 94.01% (2013-14). Some of the important features are indicated below:

  • Entry age of policy holder – 18 to 65 years.
  • Maximum age at maturity – 75 Years
  • Minimum Sum assured – ₹ 25 Lakh
  • Maximum Sum Assured – No limit
  • Policy term – 10 to 40 years
  • Increase life coverage at key milestones. This makes this as unique term insurance plan.
  • There are 4 plan options to receive death benefit. 

HDFC click 2 protect Plus-plan options

Also Read: Complete review about HDFC Click 2 protect plus term insurance plan

4) Max Life Term Insurance Plan


Maxlife has 4th highest life death claim settlement ratio of 93.86% (2013-14). Some of the important features are indicated below:

  • Entry age of policy holder – 18 to 60 years.
  • Maximum age at maturity – 70 Years
  • Minimum Sum assured – ₹ 25 Lakh
  • Maximum Sum Assured – ₹ 100 Crores
  • Policy term – 10 to 35 years
  • There are 3 plan options to receive death benefit.
  • Get additional cover by way of rider sum assured in case of Death or Dismemberment (impairments are listed under the Rider contract) due to accident. You have the option to add this rider at the time of purchase of the base policy or anytime during the policy term.
  • Max Life Online Term offers lower premium rates for Non-Smokers.
  • There are discounts built in the plan if select higher sum assured.
  • Lower premium rates for female lives.

Maxlife Term Insurance plan options

5) SBI Life e-Shield Term Insurance Plan
SBI life has one of the highest life death claim settlement ratio of 91.1% (2013-14). Some of the important features are indicated below:
  • Entry age of policy holder – 18 to 60 years.
  • Maximum age at maturity – 70 Years
  • Minimum Sum assured – ₹ 20 Lakh
  • Maximum Sum Assured – No limit
  • Policy term – 5 to 30 years
  • Available in 4 different options. Level Cover, Level Cover with Accidental Death Benefit, Increasing Cover, Increasing Cover with accidental death benefit.

Also Read: How claim settlement ratio would influence your decision to buy term insurance plan?

6) Kotak eterm / Preferred Term Insurance Plan


Kotak Life has one of the highest death claim settlement ratio of 90.7% (2013-14). Some of the important features are indicated below:

  • Entry age of policy holder – 18 to 65 years.
  • Maximum age at maturity – 75 Years
  • Minimum Sum assured – ₹ 25 Lakh
  • Maximum Sum Assured – No limit
  • Policy term – 10 to 40 years
  • Waiver of Basic Premiums on Total & Permanent Disability.
  • Customized Claim Payout Option

Readers, what is your view on some of these top and best term insurance plans in India?

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Suresh
Top and Best Term Insurance plans in India

Suresh KP

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66 comments

  1. hello sir. thanks for the article. it is very informative. sir is claim ratio really important sir? i want to buy indiafirst life term plan because it is very cheap. but claims settlement ratio is verry low for that company. i read in mintwise.com that claim ratio is not fully reliable because of various factors like company age, and type of policies sold by company. then can i ignor e claim ratio and buy indiafirst life term insurance? is it good company, sir?

  2. I am a kidney transplant patient surgery done before 40 months. Which company will offer me a term insurance. 07569636454 is my contact number

  3. Hi
    I am 33yr old male non smoker
    I have shortlisted 3 companies for a term plan of 40 yrs for a sum of 1cr

    1)Kotak with claim settlement ratio of 92% and good solvency ratio and premium of rs.11736
    Kotak has a consistent claim settlement ratio of above 90% for 3 consecutive years
    2)PNB metlife with similar claim settlement ratio of Kotak and same premium of rs.11781
    PNB is a big nationalised bank and Metlife is one of the largest insurance companies in the world
    3)Aegon life with claim settlement ratio of 89% and premium of rs.11172
    Aegon is in partnership with bennett coleman company which is a times group company
    Aegon doesn’t have a very good claim settlement ratio in the past but by paying an additional premium of 500rs you can get a waiver of future premiums on discovery of critical illness.

    Please advise which policy should I go for considering I am taking a policy for 40yrs based on the data available of a few years.

    Thanks
    Abhishek

  4. Very informative article.

    Need your suggestion with choosing the best plan for myself.

    After some extent of analysis, I have shortlisted the following online term insurance plans (1 Cr)
    LIC e-term – 35 yrs
    ICICI Pru i-protect smart – All in one – 30 yrs
    SBI e-shield – Increasing cover with accidental death benefit

    The premium for LIC and ICICI policies is almost the same (with difference in benefits ofcourse!)
    SBI is on little lower side (again can’t comapre with the riders available with ICICI)

    Which one would you think is better?

    I have chosen only online plans and never gave a thought about offline plans. Do I need to do some analysis on offline plans as well?

    Also, is it advisable to go with 2 companies instead of one for a cover of 50 Lakhs each.

    Kindly let me know your views on this.

  5. in kotak life term policy it is sated that “waiver of premium for total & permanent disability” what does it means. how it really benefits buyer or simply marketing gimmick

  6. hello sir nice article about term insurance.

    my age is 33 i would like to take term insurance for 1 crore along with critical illness rider cover. upto 75 years

    can i take with LIC for 1 crore OR split and take with 2 different companies

    also suggest me in detail what riders available

    thanks in advance

  7. Hi Suresh,

    A friend of mine told me that her father has chosen a plan that will give a fixed 1 crore Rs. after 20 years. All they will invest is 1 lac per annum for 20 years. They won’t get any death benefit, just a fixed amount on maturity.

    Please enlighten me, this is toooo good to be true. How can a company guarantee such high returns?

    Regards,
    Sagar

    1. Sagar, 7 years back, I have been told by LIC agent about LIC money plus in similar manner. I need to invest Rs 10K for 10 years and I would get Rs 30L in 10 years. My friends brought that plan and paid  more than Rs 70,000 and the investment amount is now only Rs 90K. Peopel would cheat with all such cheap tricks. Send me more about such plans, I would tell you more through an article. Would await your response

  8. Hello Suresh,
    Thanks for the blog.

    Do we need to compare only the claim ratio as the parameter to be the top performers?
    If we look on the long term of 30-40 years from now, the ratio can go wrong.
    Appreciate if you could provide insight on the others factors which helps to decide Term Plans.

    Recently, i had purchased Aegon Religare as the Term Plan, which even though the claim ratio was less compared to LIC /HDFC but the duration and other factors differed.

    Thanks!
    Neeraj

    1. Neeraj, We need to start somewhere. If insurance companies are rejecting claims not itself, how you can trust them after 30 or 40 years?: If you see top 5 claim settlement ratio companies, these are consistently have high claim settlement ratio. This creates some trust on such companies.

  9. hello suresh,
    Im an NRI. Im planing to take 50Lakhs cover in HDFC(as ICICI not offering Online plan for NRIs.I chose HDFC). and 25 Lakhs in Kotak with critical illness rider. pls advice about my choice. please reply.

  10. Hi Suresh KP
    Please provide how to calculate the Minimum Sum Assured. May be it depends upon my monthly income.
    Please provide the calculation…..

  11. Hi suresh , I am Sajith .Basically I am an agriculturist ,recently I got married ,I would like to have your suggestion on the best insurance investment policy for better foundation of my married life .i am experiencing a lot of confusions regarding the selection of insurance plans,so I kindly request your suggestions and advices .

  12. hi Suresh,
    As I’m an NRI, Which insurance company offer NRI plans?. Kindly please suggest me a best term insurance plan for NRIs like me.
    which plan is covers critical illness?
    and if anything happend due to accidents(parts of the body loss),which plan will cover?
    Waiting for ur Great reply suresh ji.
    thanks in advance.

    1. Hi Mani, ICICI Pru life, Kotak Life etc. offers online term insurance plans. None of the online term insurance plans offer critical illness, however you can check for offline policies from these insurance companies.

  13. Hi. This is Virendra. I am looking for a term plan with option for waiver of premium in case of permanent disability. I have chosen Kotak Preferred ETerm Plan, which has this option, and which has more than 90% Claim Settlement Ratio in FY 2013-14. Kindly suggest whether it is good as other options like ICICI iProtect, HDFC Click 2 Protect, SBI eshield, Max Life Insurance, etc. don’t have this option, which I think is must while taking term insurance. I have heard a lot about HDFC plan, but it doesn’t have waiver of premium in case of Permanent Disability.

    Also, whether i should take 2 policies of 50 lakhs each or only 1 policy of 1 crore, and if 2 policies, then from same company or two different companies.

    Thanks and regards
    Virendra

  14. I am 24 yrs old earning about 50k and I want to invesf for tax benefits and also need money back after 5 yrs

  15. Hello, My age is 34 and have 3 years kid and parents above 60 years. I need to know about type of policy i need to have (term,moneyback,health) Currently i have nothing, i have SBI home loan too.Thanks

  16. Hello Suresh ji, Good morning .. I am 35 years old and i have 3 years son. I have my parents as senior citizen. Please suggest best insurance policies and coverage that i need to buy. I don’t have one. Also pls advice if i need pure term insurance/money back kind or Health insurance plan at this stage.

      1. Hello Suresh ji, some how i searched for your comments but couldn’t get so.. 🙁 . Could you please point me to that or may i request you to kindly paste reply here.. Thanks in advance..

          1. Hi Suresh ji,on link above that user is different.. He is asking about sip…just coincidence in name..i am 34 yrs he is 28!! :)Request to paste advice on policies here..

          2. Opps sorry. Ashish, you can buy any of these top term plans as I have reviewed them carefully and give my views. Don’t go for money back policies, please consider term plan and balance invest in MF through SIP or you can invest in bank FD

  17. This article is very informative and specially for people like me who have started working and don’t have enough knowledge about investments and financial planning, and most importantly a little guidance always helps. I have recently bought tata aia life’s Smart growth plus plan which offers flexibility in choosing policy term, has good policy returns and tax benefits u/s 80C & 10(10D).

  18. Hi Suresh,

    Is any company offers Term Plans for NRE Indians. If so, what will happen after they come back to India ( suppose i joined a 25 year term plan and after 5 years if i repatriate & settle down in India , what are the payment options then & terms & conditions).

    Please suggest.

    Thank you,

    Loyit.

  19. Recently I started following your my investment ideas, I started learning investments and insurances from this site. Thank you very much. I have some questions regarding term insurance and child plan. Couldn’t decide any, and too much confusion.
    My husband is the primary source of income, his take home salary is 80,000/pm. he is 38 yrs. which term plan would be better with around 8000/-PM premium for 15 yrs. Is ‘death’ coverage also covers accidental death too? After the maturity say after 15 years full assured money will be given to the holder right?
    Similarly my daughter is 6 yrs old, would like to buy a policy costing around Rs 8-10000pm. For maturity around 15-20 yrs.which one would be better?
    Thanks a lot.

    1. Jayshree, You can consisder any of the top 5 term insurance plans. Insurance providers are offering additional benefit for Accidental death which pays double the money. Otherwise in normal insurance it is already covered. For your daughter, just buy an additonal term insurance policy, invest your savings in mutual funds and bank FD’s. They would provide double returns than your life insurance policies. Re-think your decision.

  20. Hello Suresh Ji
    I have certain queries regarding term insurance as mentioned below:-

    Is the 49% FDI in insurance sector has been implemented or not.
    Implementation of FDI will bring the term insurance premiums down. The premium of top rated companies (likes of LIC) will be affected with the implementation of FDI.

    1. It would be implementd over a period of time. However let us not expect premiums to come down drastically. Yes under competitive environment, these may come down little bit.

      1. Sir
        Thanks for reply. Plz advice me in below stated case.

        I have a LIC plan of Jeevan Mitra(Double Cover Endowment Plant)(T. No. 88) commenced on dated 28/12/2008 at the age 0f 25years with policy term & premium payment term of 21 years. The premium is Rs.9636/- yearly.
        Till date on LIC site, the bonus is showing Rs.57600/-. I want to review this policy. plz advice me and if i surrender this policy what will be the plenty for that.
        After that i will go for term insurance and for PLI. As i have taken a 5 Lac. PLI recently in Jan.-2015 up to the age of 58yr.

  21. my annual income is 2.4lakh….recently got job … and i want to take term plan of 60 lakh…lic 30l and sbi e shiel 30 lakh…..can i take ….or is there any criteria

  22. Hi
    Nice blog. I have a term plan from Aviva since 5 yrs, even they are good in providing best customer care services even they have 87.5 CSR for 2013-14. Am not saying this because am a customer of Aviva. In my opinion there is not top and best term plans in india. All the insurace companies are one and the same cos all these are governed by IRDA, so the policy holder does not need to worry about his claim even when the JV exits its business from india.

    We cannot judge the insurance co based on the CSR, CSR is on of the way but its not mandatory to check the CSR before purchasing the insurance policy. This CSR varies year on year. As per me if you state all the true facts about you in the proposal form for the contract with insurance co, no claims will be repudiated.

    So in our recent insurance budget 2015 also the government has given more privileges to the policy holder then the insurance company to protect the policy holders.

    Please comment on my opinion

  23. Hi Suresh,
    As usual, nice research 🙂 I have a basic question, what kind of ‘death’ do term plans cover?

  24. you are a big eye opener. i take your message as granted and invest. i have a doubt regarding health insurance.
    Is it good to go for a health insurance in united india insurance than other private players? i am thinking of a family floater plan. what would u recommend. my age is 29. please suggest me some good health insurance to go with.

    1. Thanks. United India insurance plans are good. You need not doubt private insurance companies, but need to be little careful in considering health insurance. Review the features and then consider them.

  25. I have been married for far too long now 🙂 and me and my wife both work and look after our only daughter. I don’t see myself as a head of the family as me and my wife do the same for the family.
    My daughter is 18 this year. She is studying and has a part time job. When she wants to get married it will be her own savings as we the parents will not pay for it.
    I have thought my daughter to be independent and not to depend on her parents.
    We as family take good care about our health and if sometimes we do fall ill then we have government hospitals which are good.

  26. Recently I underwent the complete process for Term insurance with HDFC. But it was really very disappointing.
    After a wait of about 3 months. I was given a rate-up for some unknown reasons. Wont be suggesting to anyone. Poor service.

  27. hi sir,my age is 24 if i choose lic eterm for 35 yrs,when maturity my age is 59 after that can able to continue the same plan???or have to go with new plan..kindly clarify sir

  28. Hi Suresh,

    Good Article and thanks for explaning in detail.
    Do any of the term insurance anyway covers “Permanent Disabilty” ?

  29. Thanks for the article.

    Instead of buying money-back insurance plans, one can buy a good term insurance plan with low premiums and secure their family.

    I am a housewife and earns nothing. Am I eligible to take a term insurance? Few days back my husband and myself approached an Agent for taking term insurance for both of us. and I have been told that only earning members can take Term insurance. Is that true? My husband took term insurance with L&T.

  30. I dont have any Insurance plans or any pension. i dont understand why do people need one? i feel like its just waste of money.
    I do save money and put it FD in banks.

    1. What happens to the family, when any unfortunate things to the head of the family. They can safely secure family future, kids education, daughther marriage by paying small money through term insurance plans. Family should not be in trouble in absense of family head right ?

  31. Hi Suresh,
    Thanks for article. Very helpful.

    Need your expert opinion. I am Planning to buy 1 Cr Term insurence plan.

    Should I go with single company for 1 Cr or two different companies with 50-50 lakhs?

    I am planning to go with below approach: Is my approach right?

    1. 50 lakhs simple plan with 30 year term: SBI e-shield
    2. 50 lakhs Advance plan with 40 year term : HDFC Click to protect plus with income option

    Could you please give your frank opinion on same.

  32. Hi Suresh,

    There is small correction in 2 Term insurance details. It should read ICICI but currently reading ad HDFC.

    HDFC has a second height life should read ICICI

    Thanks
    Santosh

  33. Hi Suresh,

    Nice information, but you didn’t concluded which is best? Can I assume the order you described each as the best?

    I thought of taking LIC e-term but I feel that I may get reject because of my obesity. I feel choosing ICICI is better because it is having rider options too.

    Kindly suggest me.

    Thank you
    Kishore

    1. Hi Kishore, Long time no comment. I hope you are finding our articles useful, else give some suggestions. Regarding your queries. Yes, I have not concluded, but you can consider in the same order. LIC e-Term, yes I heard many rejections. I have personally taken ICICI Pru term insurance policy. I feel you can consider HDFC / ICICI Term insurance policies. 

  34. Hello sir,
    I am Shalin, Age : 25.

    I was planning to take
    AEGON RELIGARE ONLINE TERM PLAN.

    As it covers till 75 years of my age..

    Will it be a good idea?
    Or i should go for some other insurance company?

    Please reply me as soon as possible..

    THANK YOU..

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