You could use some of the insurance policies as investment products.
Insurance companies now offer a variety of products that allow the insured to choose his investment option. There are policies that offer a fixed guaranteed rate of return, some offer a market-linked rate while some allow the insured to select his investment option. In the current state of the market, yields from insurance products can be expected to vary in the range of 6.5 -7.5 - 8% per annum (pre tax).

Source: SBI Life Insurance

Remember that nothing is free of cost. Even if you take ULIP plans, Money Back Plans, Endowment Plans or Whole Life Plans every plan attracts mortality charges which you have to pay. If you take term plan then in very small amount you can take higher sum assured.

The two basic elements to all individuals are

• Risk coverage (i.e. Term Insurance)
Savings for future (i.e. Pure Endowmen)

Source: SBI Life Insurance

There are multiple benefits in holding insurance policies in electronic form under a single eInsurance Account (e IA). These benefits include:

a. Safety: There is no risk of loss or damage of a policy as may happen with paper policies; the electronic form ensures that the policies are in safe custody and can be easily accessed when needed.
b. Convenience: All insurance policies, be it life, pension, health or general, can be electronically held under a single e IA. This means all details of all policies are available in a single account (place). The details of any of the policies can be accessed at any time by logging on to the online portal of Insurance Repository. Premium for all the policies can be paid online and many service requests or complaints can be logged at this website.
c. Single Point of Service: All service requests in respect of e IA or any of the electronic policies held under the e IA can be submitted at any of the Insurance Repository service points – there is no need to go to the offices of individual insurance companies for service.
d. Less Paper work: When you want to buy a new electronic insurance policy under an existing e IA, you don’t need to go through KYC verification all over again, if there are no changes to your KYC details already recorded in your e IA. Further, if you want to make any changes to your personal details like address or contact no, it is enough to change the details in your e IA with the Insurance Repository by submitting a single request – the Insurance Repository, in turn, will inform all the insurance companies with whom you hold electronic policies, about the changes.

ID Proof:

• AADHAR CARD or
• PAN Card

Address Proof:

A copy of any one of the following documents should be submitted as proof of address; the original of the relevant address proof should be produced for verification by the Insurance Repository:

I. Ration Card
II. Passport
III. Aadhar letter
IV. Voter ID card
V. Driving license
VI. Bank Passbook (not more than 6 months old)
VII. Verified copies of

a) Electricity bills (not more than 6 months old),
b) Residence Telephone bills (not more than 6 months old) and
c) Registered Lease and License agreement / Agreement for sale.

VIII.Self‐declaration by High Court and Supreme Court judges, giving the new address in respect of their own accounts.

IX. Identity card/document with address, issued by

a) Central/State Government and its Departments,
b) Statutory/Regulatory Authorities,
c) Public Sector Undertakings,
d) Scheduled Commercial Banks,
e) Public Financial Institutions,
f) Colleges affiliated to universities; and
g) Professional Bodies such as ICAI, ICWAI, Bar Council etc. to their Members.

Some insurance policies guarantee the amount of money that you would receive upon maturity or the minimum amount that you would receive upon maturity.
Usually, this amount is a proportion of the sum assured such as a bonus or a guaranteed addition of say Rs 70 per Rs 1,000 of the sum assured. This means if you have an insurance policy for a sum assured of Rs 100,000 then you earn a bonus of Rs 7,000 each year on the sum assured.

Other policies may offer you a guaranteed bonus as a percentage such as a guaranteed addition of 3.5% per annum on a compounded basis. This means you earn Rs 3,500 on a sum assured of Rs 100,000 in the first year while in the second year you earn Rs 3,623 (3.5% of Rs 103,500).

Source: SBI Life Insurance

Under Sec 80C of Income Tax Act
Available for Premium paid (max. up to 20% of SA) on Life Insurance policies with a maximum ceiling p.a. Rs. 1,00,000 irrespective of the Gross Total Income.

A maximum of Rs. 1,00,000 p.a. paid as a contribution on a pension plan is fully deductible from the taxable income (within the max. ceiling Rs. 1 lakh )

Under Sec 80D of Income Tax Act
Premium paid for Critical Illness rider is deductible as medical insurance premia from the annual income chargeable to tax up to a maximum amount of Rs. 10,000.


Exemption from the Life Insurance proceeds

Under Sec 10(10D) of IT Act


• Maturity benefits are tax-free in the hands of the policyholder if, at any point of time during the policy life, premiums paid within one year do not exceed 20% of the basic Sum Assured.

• Death benefits are tax-free.

• Please note that tax laws are subject to change and changes in tax laws could be with retrospective effect.

This information should not be construed as tax, legal or investment opinion from SBI Life Insurance Company Limited. SBI Life Insurance Company Limited is not responsible in any manner for decisions made on the basis of the above information.

• Please consult your tax advisor in connection with your taxability.

Source: SBI Life Insurance

The insurance sector is classified into Life and Non-life (or General insurance as we know it).
Under Life insurance, an individual’s life is covered i.e., the insured’s nominee receives a certain sum of money if the insured individual dies within a specified time.

Under General Insurance, everything but an individual’s life is covered. Thus, an individual could insure himself for his health, home, automobile, travel, office, shop, and even pets.

Source: SBI Life Insurance

Hospitalization expenses for treatment of disease and accident for min of 24 hrs, pre and post hospitalization expenses generally upto 30 days are paid max upto sum assured. Hospitalization expense includes Room Rent, Medicine Expenses, Doctor Fees, Diagnostic Expenses and other medical expenses related to treatment.

Expenses which are not paid by insurance company are registration charges, service charges/ nursing care chares, personal expenses such as telephone, fax, refreshment etc., taxes levied by government from time to time and other expenses which are not related to treatment.

You could apply for a duplicate document from the insurance company. You will receive a duplicate policy after paying the necessary fees and executing an indemnity bond.

You could facilitate the process of verification by carrying a premium receipt and an identification card at least.

Source: SBI Life Insurance

It is best to submit ALL requests in respect of either your e IA or any of your electronic policies to the Insurance Repository. If the changes are with respect to an account level detail (like address or phone number), the Insurance Repository will execute the change after the necessary KYC verification, if any. The Insurance Repository will then intimate the changes to all the Insurance Companies whose policies are held in that e IA, so that the changes are effected in all the policies, in one go (so there is no need for the policy holder to approach the various insurance companies individually for the changes).

In case of any changes at the policy level, the Insurance Repository is expected to forward the request to the respective insurance company and ensure that the same is executed and reflected in the electronic policy held with the Insurance Repository.

A Peace of mind, that you have secured your family from major risks – be it death, illness, accidents, theft or natural calamities

In monetary terms, you can claim tax-deductions under section 88 (although now the deductions will depend on your income bracket).

Premium paid towards a life insurance policy, up to Rs 1,00,000, can be claimed as a tax-deduction u/s 88. However, the amount that can be claimed as a tax-deduction depends on the income bracket (given below in the table).

• Survival benefits or Interim benefits, i.e. money received during the term of a money back policy are tax-free. For example, money received from SBI Life’s Back policy, during the term of the policy, is guaranteed and tax-free.

• Maturity benefits or the amount received at the end of the term of a policy is also tax-free.

• Premium paid towards certain pension policies such as SBI Life – Lifelong Pension Plus is eligible for tax deduction under section 80CCC.

• Regular pension received under pension policies is taxable. However, the lump-sum cash option available under these policies is tax-free.

• Proceeds of a life insurance policy, received by the nominee, are tax-free.

• For a Health insurance policy, you can claim the premium amount, up to a maximum limit of Rs 10,000 u/s 80D.

Moreover, the money you receive from the insurance company, during the term of the policy and/or upon maturity, is tax-free (with the exception of the pension policies).

Source: SBI Life Insurance

If you have purchased a term policy, you may not receive any money from the insurance company upon maturity. However, some companies offer a term policy with return of premium or the sum assured upon maturity.

For policies that offer bonus or profits upon surviving the term of the policy, you would receive the sum assured along with the accumulated bonus (if you have a with bonus policy) for the term of the policy. For example, if you have insured yourself for 25 years you will receive the sum assured plus the accumulated bonus for 25 years.

Source: SBI Life Insurance

All the services provided by Insurance Repositories are absolutely FREE of charge to policy holders. Policy holders need not pay anything extra to buy an electronic policy or to convert an existing paper policy into electronic form. Similarly they need not pay anything to avail of any services from the Insurance Repository, including online premium payment and services at the respective online portal.

• If death takes place during the term of the insurance policy, then the nominee receives the sum assured plus the bonus, if any.
If the policy is a ’with bonus’ policy or ’with participative profits’, the bonus is payable for the number of years the premium has been paid, in addition to the sum assured.

• If death takes place due to an accident, and the insured has purchased the accident benefit rider, then double the sum assured (up to a limit of Rs 500,000-10,00,000 varies by company), is receivable by the nominee. Even if an additional term rider has been purchased, double the sum assured would be receivable by the nominee.

• If death takes place after the policy has matured, then the nominee does not receive anything from the insurance company, unless specifically mentioned in the policy. Certain policies offer to cover the insured for the sum assured or a part of the sum assured, even after the policy has matured. (The insurance company would mention such details in the brochure and the policy.)

Source: SBI Life Insurance

Most insurance companies offer an optional feature called "waiver of premium". This typically states that in the event you become totally disabled for a period of six months or longer, the insurance company will pay your premium until you are no longer disabled. This feature is optional (available at an extra cost) and must be chosen at the time of your application.

Source: SBI Life Insurance

The policy can be surrendered for cash only after the premiums have been paid for at least three years. The minimum surrender value allowed is equal to a certain percentage of the total amount of premiums paid excluding the premiums for the first year and all extra premiums or additional premiums for accident benefits that may have been paid.

Source: SBI Life Insurance

This is the part most agents dislike telling their clients or prospective clients about. Usually, an individual buying insurance for a sum of Rs 600,000 and above has to undergo a medical examination. However time-consuming and cumbersome such a process may appear, an insurance company needs to ensure that the prospective client is healthy. (An insurance company needs to ensure that the prospect's objective to buy a policy is to genuinely insure against a risk and not a plan to deceive the company.

Source: SBI Life Insurance

Unlike endowment plans, in money back policies, the policy holder gets “periodic payments" during the term of the policy and a lump sum amount on surviving its term. In the event of death during the term of the policy, the beneficiary gets the full sum assured, without any deductions for the amounts paid till date, and no further premiums are required to be paid. These type of policies are very popular, since they can be tailored to get large amounts at specific periods as per the needs of the policy holder.

Source: SBI Life Insurance

Whole life insurance risk covers the death of the insured, whenever it may happen. It means that there is no fixed term under whole life insurance. Most policies provide a dividend to the policy holder which helps with retirement.

There are two variations in the whole life insurance products i.e.

Pure Whole Life Insurance: - where premiums are payable continuously throughout the life of the insured till death. Risk coverage is for the entire duration of life and the life insured amount is paid on the happening of the death of the insured at any time.
Limited Payment Whole life Insurance: - where premiums are paid for a limited and shorter period and the option of the insured or till death if earlier. Risk coverage is however throughout the life of the insured.

Source: SBI Life Insurance

A policy holder needs to open an e Insurance Account (e IA) with one of the Insurance Repositories to be able to buy and keep policies in electronic mode. An individual can have only one e IA with any one of the Insurance Repositories. Once an e IA is opened, the account holder can buy and keep all his electronic insurance policies – be it life, pension, health or general - issued by various Insurers under this single account.

Each e IA will have an unique e Insurance Account number; the account holder should quote this number in all correspondence with Insurance Repository. Each account holder will also get an unique Login ID and Password to access his account and electronic policy details online on the insurance repository website.

An Insurance Repository is a facility to help policy holders buy and keep insurance policies in electronic form, rather than as a paper document. Insurance Repositories, like Share Depositories or Mutual Fund Transfer Agencies, will hold electronic records of insurance policies issued to individuals and such policies are called "electronic policies" or "e Policies".

Period between the date of subscription to an insurance-cum-pension policy and the time at which the first installment of pension is received. Such policies generally prescribe a minimum and maximum limit on the deferment period.

Source: SBI Life Insurance

The insurer will receive a lump sum amount either at death during the term or at maturity of the term.

Source: SBI Life Insurance

Your Policy value is the Fund value. It is the total value of units that you hold in funds.
Fund Value = (Nos. of Equity Fund units x NAV of Equity fund) + (Nos. of Bond Fund units x NAV of Bond fund) + (Nos. of Money Market Fund units x NAV of Money Market fund)
For getting the latest NAV, Please select the product in the right hand panel or call our toll free number 1800-22-2123. At each Policy Anniversary and for any payments/withdrawals, you will receive a Fund value statement of your Policy.

Source: SBI Life Insurance