New Delhi:
Like most other products and services, financial products like life insurance plans are also available online. There are many advantages of buying term plan online. Most significantly the availability of options. If you are one of those who believe in taking control of their financial decisions, an online channel for buying term life cover is perfect for you.
Before You Buy
All you need is some commonly available and reliable information to compare and decide. You can look at the insurer’s website for the product information and compare it with other preferable insurance plans.
However, in case of term insurance plans, where most features remain the same, you need only to look for certain features which are unique, for example
#Increasing life cover as per the life stage, i.e. marriage, child-birth, etc.
#Joint life cover
#Availability of additional covers
#Maximum age of maturity, etc.
Once your eyes are set on a term cover, which fulfills all your needs, move to the next step.
Generate Your Quote
At this stage, you can use the insurer’s online term plan premium calculator to get an estimate of your insurance premium. All you need to provide at this stage is:
#Your name and contact details (make sure the e-mail ID provided is correct since most future communications will happen through this channel)
#Date of birth (in case of joint cover for both spouses)
#Tobacco consumption status
#All the additional benefits available with the plan
#Sum-assured pay-out option
The premium cost you receive at this stage is a tentative premium for the cover. The final premium amount is generated after you submit complete family details and medical test reports (if needed). Once satisfied with the quote, proceed to fill up the rest of the details.
Selecting Riders
Enter the sum assured or simply fill your financial details, and the calculator will automatically assign a maximum sum assured for your online term plan.
Choose the policy term. Choose the premium paying frequency. You can choose only lump sum risk benefit or select monthly payout option besides lump sum payout. Some policies give options to include a spouse. If you want to cover a spouse, fill up details. You need to select riders which are add-on covers.
Several riders like accident cover, critical diseases, heart attack etc. are optional riders. The more riders you select, your premium amount goes up, but these riders provide you additional protections.
In case of accidental death, the accidental death benefit can give your family an additional amount apart from the amount payable via pure life cover alone.
So if you have a Rs 50 lakh life cover and a Rs 50 lakh accidental death benefit, the total benefit paid by the insurer will be Rs 1 crore in case of death due to the accident. It costs a fraction of the term cover.
You will see the premium amount based on your inputs.
Filling up Details
At this stage, you need to fill up details related to family, medical history, occupation, etc. Don’t forget to mention the nominee details though. If you are a bachelor at this time, you can select one of your parents or siblings as a nominee. Once married you can change the details in favor of your spouse. You can also choose multiple nominees and define their percentage share out of total sum assured.
Proposal form
You will have to fill up a detailed life insurance proposal form. The proposal form is the final document that is sent to the insurer. It will contain all the details filled by the proposer (you) like personal details, health status, nominees, tobacco and alcohol consumption frequency, disease history, exposure to hazardous occupation, existing life cover information etc.
Insurance is a contract of good faith, and the proposal form is the basis of the contract. Never give false information in the proposal form or be negligent while filling up the form. One false information may lead to rejection of the claim. Also, as far as possible fill the form yourself. Online forms are short and simple, and it should take 5 to 10 minutes to fill up.
In case you must leave the process in the middle, save the information you have entered. You can access your half-filled forms later.
Payment of Premium
Next, you need to pay the premium online. The payment mode shall be as per the frequency is chosen by you. Generally, you can pay by net banking, credit/debit/prepaid cards. You may need to provide an OTP received at your registered phone no before going ahead with the payment, and on successful payment, a confirmation will be sent to your registered email id & phone no.
Furnishing Documents
You are required to upload identity, address proof and health-related documents and reports. The list of documents to be uploaded is conveyed to you during the form filling process.
Medical Test
If mandated, you need to go through a medical examination at the suggested medical center, and they send the report directly to the insurance company.
Policy Issuance
Upon verification of proposal form and medical report, the insurance company will decide whether they should issue life insurance policy or not. Once the online term policy is issued, you will receive confirmation and policy documents at your correspondence address.
