List of insurance companies in India

This list of Indian insurance companies is based on the list of insurance companies registered and approved with the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority.

A. General insurance companies 

Public Sector : Government of India wholly owned 4 companies:

•     National Insurance Company Limited
•     New India Assurance Co Ltd
•     Oriental Insurance Co Ltd
•     United India Insurance Co Ltd

Private Sector :

•     Bajaj Allianz General Insurance
•     Bharti AXA General Insurance
•     Continental Insurance Services
•     Future Generali India Insurance
•     ING Vysya Life Insurance
•     HDFC ERGO General Insurance
•     ICICI Lombard
•     IFFCO Tokio
•     Liberty Videocon General Insurance Co Ltd
•     L & T General Insurance
•     Magma HDI General Insurance Co Ltd
•     Max Life Insurance Co ltd
•     Raheja QBE General Insurance
•     Reliance General Insurance
•     Royal Sundaram
•     SBI General Insurance
•     Shriram General Insurance
•     Tata AIG General
•     Universal Sompo General Insurance
•     Cholamandalam MS General Insurance Company Limited

B. Standalone health insurance companies
 

Private Sector

•     Apollo Munich Health Insurance
•     Max Bupa Health Insurance
•     Religare Health Insurance Company Ltd
•     Star Health and Allied Insurance company Ltd

Export credit guarantee insurance companies 

Public Sector

•     Export Credit Guarantee Corporation of India

Agriculture Insurance Companies

• Agriculture Insurance Company of India Ltd.

C. Life insurance companies 

Public Sector : Government of India Fully owns 1 company

•   Life Insurance Corporation of India

Private Sector

•     AEGON Religare Life Insurance
•     Aviva Life
•     Shriram Life Insurance
•     Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance
•     Bharti AXA Life Insurance Co Ltd
•     Birla Sun Life Insurance
•     Canara HSBC Oriental Bank of Commerce Life Insurance
•     Star Union Dai-ichi Life Insurance
•     DLF Pramerica Life Insurance
•     Edelweiss Tokio Life Insurance Co. Ltd
•     Future Generali Life Insurance Co Ltd
•     HDFC Standard Life Insurance Company Limited
•     ICICI Prudential
•     IDBI Federal Life Insurance
•     IndiaFirst Life Insurance Company
•     ING Vysya Life Insurance
•     Kotak Life Insurance
•     Max Life Insurance
•     PNB MetLife India Life Insurance
•     Reliance Life Insurance Company Limited
•     Sahara Life Insurance
•     SBI Life Insurance Company Limited
•     TATA AIG Life Insurance

Re-insurance companies

•    GIC Re (General Insurance Corporation of India - Re-Insuer)

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Term Plan Or Whole Life Plan - Which One is best ?

There are two basic options available in life insurance – a Term Plan and a Whole life plan. Where term plan offers a cover for a limited period, whole life policies are for a longer duration. Both the options have several features, and are suited differently for individuals. It is thus important to understand both the options fully before making a decision.

What is a Term Plan?
A term plan is the simplest form of insurance. Offering pure protection, it is the cheapest form of insurance available. The plan is for a pre-determined tenure, and does not provide any maturity benefit. The sum assured of the plan would be paid to the nominee only in case of death of the insured during the course of the policy.

Pros:

• Term plans are characterized by low premiums. A true value for money, they offer higher life cover at low costs.
• Term plans are ideal for those with fixed needs such as mortgage, children's education etc that exists only for a specific time. Insurers generally offer term plans for 5, 10, 15, 20 0r 30 years and you have the flexibility to choose a tenure as per your needs.

Cons:

• Term plans do not offer a maturity benefit. It does not offer any cash build up during the course of the policy. Thus if you survive the policy term, you don’t receive anything from the plan.
• Premiums of term plans are definitely lower in younger age. However, in case the policy expires, and you need to renew its term, premiums would be much higher as they increase as you grow older.

What is a Whole Life Plan?
As the very name suggests a whole life plan offers cover for the “whole” or entire lifespan of the policy holder. Though meant for the entire life span, in reality it does not exactly work this way. Insurance companies place a cap on the maturity age of the policyholder at anywhere between 70 to 100 years. After this maturity age, the cover ceases to exist and the policy benefit would be paid out. In comparison to a fixed term plan, whole life plans offer a much longer duration of life cover. They have an attached savings or endowment component to it, making them more expensive.

Pros:

• Whole life policies are for a longer duration and hence accumulate substantial cash value. This is paid out either at the time of death or maturity.
• Whole life plans help to accumulate wealth in the long run. They could either be traditional plans with profit sharing or unit linked plans with market investments.
• As the life cover is available for a longer term, policy holders do not have the hassle of renewing and paying increased premiums. Premiums remain constant through the course of the premium paying term.

Cons:

• The premiums of these plans are more expensive than term covers. As premiums need to be paid for a longer term, paying premiums post retirement may seem to be a burden for many.
• Returns from investments may not be guaranteed especially in unit linked plans. Investors may thus have to settle with lower returns on maturity.

The Decision- Which one is best?The choice between whole life and a term plan primarily depends on your age and stage of life you are in. Term plans may suit you fine if your primary aim is to get a life cover for a limited period cover of say around 20 years, during which time you are sure your goals would be fulfilled.  If you are young and single, opting for a longer period Term Plan, it would work out as a cost effective option.

On the other hand, Whole Life Plans let you accumulate wealth. If you are in mid career, with growing children, a Whole Life Policy would help you accumulate for not only their future but also for your retirement, considering the current scenario of longer working years and increased life expectancy.

To sum up, a Term Plan is ideal for youngsters at the initial stage of their careers who have limited financial resources that is required to start a Whole Life Plan. For those is the later years, a Whole Life Plan makes more sense as it helps build a retirement corpus, or towards estate planning for children.

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Top Child Insurance Plans of LIC

There are many Child Insurance Plans of LIC and most parents are extremely confused while shopping for the same. Child Plans are simple Endowment Plans which have been designed in a way so as to benefit the child or the parent who has a child. A child plan needs to be purchased according to requirement only and not for any other reason.

Here is a list of some of the most popular Child Plans from LIC.

 

1. LIC Jeevan Ankur Plan: is a child benefit Endowment Plan where the life of the parent is insured and the child has been made the nominee. In this plan, if the parent dies within the policy tenure, the basic Sum Assured is paid as Immediate Death Benefit and the policy continues. There is a further payment of 10% of the Sum Assured every year from the date of death of the Life Insured till the end of the policy tenure as Income Benefit to meet regular expenses like the child’s school fees, etc. The Sum Assured along with the Loyalty Additions would be paid at the end of the Policy Tenure as Maturity Benefit irrespective of whether the Life Insured is alive or not.

 Thus, if anything were to happen to the parent, the benefits would be paid for the child’s future. Thus, the child’s life is secured even if the parent does not survive till the end of the policy tenure.

 

2. LIC Komal Jeevan Plan is a child money back policy. In this plan, the life of the child is insured. The premium is paid till the child attains 18 years of age. Then the money starts coming back. The Money starts coming back on the policy anniversary after the child attains 18 years, 20 years, 22 years and 24 years respectively. However, if the child dies within the policy tenure after risk commencement, then the Sum Assured along with Guaranteed Additions are paid and the policy is terminated.

 LIC’s Komal Jeevan Plan is a perfect answer to take care of the child’s higher educational expenses. It can be taken by the parent or gifted by grandparents. A premium waiver benefit rider can be added to increase the level of protection such that the parents’ dream about the child’s future education is fulfilled under any circumstance.

 

3. LIC Jeevan Kishore Plan: is a Child Benefit Endowment Assurance Plan where the life of the child is insured. In this plan, premium needs to be paid throughout and when the policy matures the Sum Assured would be paid along with Bonus. There is an option of Premium Waiver benefit rider, by which the parent can choose to further secure the child’s future such that if anything were to happen to the proposer, the insurance policy would still continue and provide the maturity benefit for the child’s secured future. Once the child attains majority, the policy gets transferred to his name and then he can also opt for Accidental Death Benefit rider by paying additional premium.

 Thus, this plan is a very good option for the child to start saving from a very early age as the policy is vested to the child once he attains 18 years if age. Hence this plan can also be an ideal gift to the child from parents for a secured future. Hence, all plans have their unique benefits and are different from each other, but all you need to choose is the one which best suits your needs.

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How to choose Best Term Insurance Plans ?

Do you know the best term insurance plans in India? Do you think buying a term insurance plan from best insurance company would be sufficient? Do you have all the information on which you can decide the best term insurance plans? Today we would discuss about the factors which contributes in choosing the term insurance plans which are best.

What is term insurance plan?
Term insurance plan is life insurance which provides coverage at a fixed premium for a limited period of term. After the period expires, coverage at the previous paid premiums is no longer guaranteed and customer would forgo coverage unless renewed.

Why you should buy term insurance plan?Term insurance plans are available with low premiums. Since there is no maturity amount attached, these term insurance plans are available with low premiums. These plans would provide coverage for higher insurance with low premium.

How to choose best term insurance plans in India
Broadly there are 3 factors which would effect in choosing the best term insurance plans

1)   Check high claim settlement ratio: The important factor of selecting any term insurance plans or any other insurance plans is claim settlement ratio. Claim settlement ratio is nothing but the no. of claims the insurance company has settled over the total claims received. Say if an insurance company has received 100 claims, but settled only 90, it would be 90%.

    If you are not there and your family is supposed to receive the insurance claim, but insurance company has rejected this. Then why you need to buy the term insurance plan? Hence it is important that you check the claim settlement ratio before taking the policy.
    However there are various factors which would affect your claim rejection.
    When you buy an insurance policy, do read all the terms and conditions. Your agent might be hiding certain conditions where later the claim might get rejected.
    Disclose all factors like whether you are smoker and drinker. If you hide this and it would get detected later on when you are not there, there are 100% chances that your family claim gets rejected
    When you are taking multiple insurance policies, you better disclose them. There are chances that the data might be incorrect in some of the policies and it would be a positive point to insurance company to reject any such claims at a later point of time.

2)   Do not look just low premium term insurance plans as best: If you are thinking of choosing a term insurance plan which offers with low premium, then you might be wrong. Low premium could be a factor but cannot be only factor. Low premiums term insurance plans might have several conditions attached to process the claim. Know them upfront, else your family would be trouble at later point of time.

3)   How good the insurance company is? There are several private insurance companies which came in the last few years. People still trust Life Insurance Corporation. If you see above data it says claims settlement ratio is 97.42% for LIC. Now you believe why people believe LIC. I do not say you should not go for private insurance companies. But how the companies are able to build trust among the insurers is the question we should ask. One of the methods of check is looking at the growth in insurance policies taken the insurers from an insurance company.

4)   Comparison of terms and conditions: Another factor can be, to look at the terms and conditions of various insurance companies offering term insurance plans and choosing the best one among them. This is a tricky one as there are no standard rules as to what is the impact of such terms and conditions.

5)  Take two term insurance plans: One way of diversifying the risk is taking two term insurance plans from two different insurance companies. In case there is a rejection from one company, you can still hope to get claim from another insurance company.

Conclusion: Choosing a best term insurance plans is easy once you know the factors which would affect it. I feel the above 5 factors would definitely help in choosing the good term insurance plans.

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8 Easy Tips for Cheaper Home Insurance

8 Easy Tips for Cheaper Home Insurance

No one likes paying for home insurance, but it's a necessary evil for most of us. This doesn't mean you have to pay through the nose for it though - try these 8 easy tips for cheaper home insurance and see how much you could reduce your premiums by.

- Shop Around

By comparing prices from several insurance companies, you'll probably be able to reduce your premiums by a substantial amount. This may seem obvious, but research has shown that a surprisingly large proportion of people either just renew their current policy, or get only one or two quotes. Many insurance web sites will automatically compare dozens of policies for you, making this one of the easiest ways to reduce your insurance bill.

- Buy online

If you buy your policy online you can often get a discount of up to 20% on normal prices, because there are less administration costs involved and the savings can be passed on to you.

- Combine your buildings and contents policies

Many insurers will give you a discount if you take out both types of home insurance with them, and this usually works out cheaper than getting the two kinds of policies from different companies.

- Pay upfront

Although most insurers let you pay your premium in monthly installments, many will charge interest for this. If you can afford to pay a full year's premium in advance, then this will work out cheaper in the long run.

- Don't claim for small amounts

Making many small claims can increase your insurance costs, as your insurer may see you as a greater risk and increase your premiums. You will also lose any no claims discount your policy has. Of course, you're entitled to claim for anything your policy covers, but ask yourself if making a small claim is really worth the hassle and possible future costs.

- Voluntary excess

This is related to the last point. Insurance policies feature something known as 'excess', which basically means that the policy won't pay out on claims below a certain value. On some policies, if you choose to raise your excess to a higher level, then your premiums will be lower.

- Increase your home security

Beefing up your home security with better door locks, window locks, outdoor lighting, and alarm systems can all result in lower premiums. Ask your insurer what you could do to get extra discounts.

- Reduce your cover

Many policies feature benefits that you might not need, such as cover for personal possessions while travelling, or 'free' legal advice. Look through your policy and see what parts of it you really need - by cutting your cover down to size you may be able to reduce your premium.

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5 Points for buying life insurance

Life insurance plays an important role in any individual’s financial planning process. For it is life insurance that helps secure the financial future of the nominees. However, many individuals do not know how to go about while considering life insurance products. We have identified five points to remember before zeroing in on a life insurance product.

1. Identify your needs

Before considering life insurance, it becomes imperative that individuals first identify their needs. An individual should understand whether buying life insurance is necessary to begin with. For example, if an individual is single and earning but has no financial dependants, then he may not really need life insurance. This stems from the fact that nobody is going to be ‘financially hurt’ in the absence of the insured (i.e. the individual in question).

On the other hand, we can consider a married individual who has family members dependent on him. He also happens to be the sole earning member in the family. Such an individual obviously needs life insurance. This stems from the fact that his entire family is dependant on him for financial support and in his absence, their lifestyle would be severely impaired. Such individuals should have adequate life cover as early as possible.

2. How much insurance do you need?

After having identified the need to buy insurance, the next step is to ascertain the amount of cover needed. The concept of human life value (HLV) can help in deciding how much life cover an individual should opt for. The HLV takes factors like the individual’s annual income and expenses along with the inflation rate into consideration while calculating the value.

3. Which product should you consider?

After having quantified the need for insurance, the next step is to finalise a plan that will fulfil the individual’s need. There are two kinds of insurance plans - term plans and savings-based plans. A term plan insures the individual for a high sum at a low cost. A term plan makes for a good fit in all individuals’ portfolios, irrespective of their profile.

Many individuals also look at life insurance as a savings instrument. Here, apart from insuring the individual’s life for a certain amount (i.e. the ’sum assured’ in insurance parlance) savings-based life insurance plans also give returns on maturity. This is unlike term plans, which act as a pure risk cover and do not give any returns on maturity.

As can be seen from the table, it could become expensive for an individual to adequately cover himself for the necessary amount with a savings-based plan due to the higher premiums. Instead, individuals can look at covering themselves with a term plan for the necessary amount and invest their savings in various instruments at their disposal like the national savings certificate (NSC), public provident fund (PPF), bank deposits and mutual funds.

4. Select an insurance agent

Having understood how much insurance is needed, an individual then needs to approach a life insurance agent. Individuals wanting to buy insurance should preferably opt for full-time life insurance agents. The agent should have a good track record to show for in terms of offering objective advice in the client’s favour and not his own. This will stand the individual in good stead over the long run since life insurance needs call for evaluation every few years and the insurance agent will help the individual with the same over a period of time.

5. Compare policies across companies

Before zeroing in on an insurance plan from any company, individuals should compare policies across insurance companies. This will help them in evaluating which insurance plan is best suited to their needs. One way of doing this is by contacting the insurance agent and asking him for a comparative analysis of insurance plans. Another way is by visiting the websites of different companies and scouting for relevant information.

For example, an ideal term plan for a 25 year old can be the one that offers him the necessary cover at the cheapest cost. For a unit linked insurance plan however, different criteria like expenses, fund management and flexibility offered will come into the picture. The comparison will differ across various parameters depending on individual needs as well as the type of plan chosen.

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