Best Life Insurance Policies in India in 2024

Table of Content

What is Life insurance policy?
Types of life insurance policies
Premiums of life insurance policies
How to buy the best life insurance policy?
Documents required to buy life insurance plans
Claims under life insurance policies
Claim settlement ratio of life insurance companies

What is Life Insurance Policy?

Life insurance is a policy which primarily covers premature loss of life. Under most life insurance policies, if you die during the selected term of the plan, the policy pays a death benefit to your family. This benefit helps substitute the financial loss that you family suffers in your absence.

Life insurance policies are, therefore, a way through which you can transfer the risk of premature death to the insurance company. The insurance company promises to cover your risk of death while you pay a premium in return for the risk taken by the insurance company.

Life insurance policies play a very important role in your financial portfolio. The importance of life insurance plans can be stressed in the following points –

Since these plans cover the risk of premature death, they provide a sense of financial security for your family. When you buy a life insurance plan you can be assured that even in your absence your family would not suffer financially.
There are investment oriented life insurance plans too. These plans help in creating a corpus for your financial goals. You can choose from traditional life insurance plans which promise guaranteed returns or unit linked plans which invest in the market and give attractive returns.
Child plans offered by life insurance companies are ideal to plan for your child’s secured financial future. These plans, due to their coverage benefits, promise that your child would be financially taken care of even when you are not around.
There are retirement plans too which promise the payment of regular income after you retire so that you don’t feel any financial dilemma once your income stops.

These benefits make life insurance plans a must for every individual.

Types of Life Insurance Policies in India

As is evident from the benefits of life insurance plans mentioned above, life insurance plans come in different variants. These variants include the following –

Each plan caters to a specific financial need and, therefore, can be included in your financial portfolio for different financial goals.

Let’s do a comparative analysis of the different types of life insurance plans available in the market –

Type of Plan	Term Insurance Plan
Meaning	The plan covers the risk of death during the policy tenure. This is a pure protection plan which usually covers only death
Salient features	High levels of sum assured can be chosen for optimal coverage Premiums are the lowest Optional riders are available for enhanced protection
Coverage tenure offered	10 years to up to 35 years or above
Benefits payable	Usually the sum assured is paid in case of death. There is no maturity benefit. However, under return of premium plans, the premiums paid are refunded on maturity

Type of Plan	Whole Life Insurance Plan
Meaning	The plan covers an individual for his/her whole life
Salient features	Premium payments are limited up to a specific age Premiums are low and affordable
Coverage tenure offered	Till the insured reaches 100 years of age
Benefits payable	Death benefit is paid whenever the insured dies before reaching 100 years of age

Type of Plan	Endowment Plan
Meaning	These are savings-oriented insurance plans which also provide insurance cover
Salient features	The plan can be offered as participating plan which earns bonus Guaranteed savings are created under the plan
Coverage tenure offered	Usually from 10 to 30 years
Benefits payable	If the insured dies during the chosen tenure, a death benefit is paid. If, on the other hand, the insured survives the policy tenure, a maturity benefit is paid

Type of Plan	Money Back Plan
Meaning	Traditional insurance plan which creates guaranteed savings and also promises liquidity through regular money backs during the policy tenure
Salient features	A part of the sum assured is paid at specified intervals during the policy tenure The plan participates in bonuses which enhance the corpus In case of death the whole sum assured is paid irrespective of money back benefits already paid
Coverage tenure offered	Usually from 10 to 30 years
Benefits payable	Money back benefits are paid during the term of the plan. In case of death the sum assured and accrued bonuses are paid. If the plan matures, the remaining sum assured and accumulated bonuses are paid.

Type of Plan	Unit Linked Insurance Plan
Meaning	Market linked insurance plans which invest the premium in market-oriented funds and yield attractive returns
Salient features	The plan allows partial withdrawals after the first five years Switching and top-ups are other flexible benefits offered Returns are not guaranteed as they depend on market performance
Coverage tenure offered	Usually from 5 to 30 years
Benefits payable	Higher of the fund value or sum assured is paid in case of death. On maturity, the fund value is paid

Type of Plan	Child Insurance Plan
Meaning	The plan creates a secured corpus for the child whether the parent is alive or not
Salient features	The plan can be offered as a traditional plan or unit linked plan The parent or the child can be insured but the policyholder is always the parent If the parent dies, the premiums of the plan are paid by the insurance company and the plan continues to run till maturity
Coverage tenure offered	Usually from 10 to 25 years
Benefits payable	Death benefit is paid immediately when the parent dies. The plan, however, continues till maturity. On maturity, a maturity benefit is paid again

Type of Plan	Annuity Plan
Meaning	Retirement oriented life insurance plans which create a steady stream of annuities
Salient features	The plan can be a deferred annuity plan or an immediate annuity plan Under deferred plans, you can create a corpus and then receive annuity pay-outs later on Under immediate annuity plans, annuity pay-outs commence immediately after buying the policy Spouse can also be covered to receive annuities if the insured dies
Coverage tenure offered	Deferred Annuity Plans – 5 years to up to 30 years Immediate Annuity Plans – depends on the annuity option selected
Benefits payable	Under deferred annuity plans, a death benefit is payable if the insured dies during the policy tenure. On maturity, 1/3rd of the accumulated corpus can be withdrawn. The remaining has to be used to avail annuities Under immediate annuity plans, annuities are paid to the policyholder lifelong

Type of Plan	Health Insurance Plans
Meaning	These policies cover specified illnesses and help individuals deal with the high medical costs associated with such illnesses
Salient features	Specific illnesses are covered under the plans The benefit is paid in lump sum The benefit paid can be used for availing medical treatments or for any other financial needs
Coverage tenure offered	Usually from 5 to 10 years
Benefits payable	If the insured suffers from the covered illness, a lump sum benefit is paid. There is no maturity benefit under these plans

Which is the Best life insurance plans in India

Among the different types of life insurance policies available in the market you must be wondering which policy would be the best. The choice of the best life insurance policy actually depends on your financial requirements. There are different life stages of an individual and for each stage there is an ideal life insurance policy. So, let’s understand which life insurance policy would be the best at different stages of your life –

Life stage	Age bracket	Financial requirement	Best life insurance policy
Young adult	25-30 years	At this stage you are young and have just started earning. You have limited responsibilities. You are unmarried and your parents might or might not be financially dependent on you. You can, therefore, choose investment oriented life insurance plans to create funds for future liabilities. You can also invest in a term insurance plan because it is essential at every stage of life stage and when you buy young, you can save on the premium costs	Term insurance Endowment/money back plans if you are risk averse Unit linked insurance plans
Young married	30-35 years	At this stage you get married and start a family. Responsibilities increase and your parents might also start depending on you financially. A term insurance plan is a must along with investment oriented life insurance plans. You also need a health plan for covering against unforeseen medical contingencies.	Term insurance Endowment/money back plans if you are risk averse Unit linked insurance plans Health insurance
Married with kids	35-40 years	When you have kids, your responsibilities multiply. You have to provide for your family and also start planning for your children’s secured financial future	Term insurance Child plan Unit linked plans if you have invested in term and child plan and have surplus disposable income Health insurance
Married with older kids	40-50 years	When your kids are adults or nearing maturity, you have to start thinking about retirement planning. You might also want to create assets like investing in a house or property to create a legacy for your children	Term insurance Endowment/money back plans if you are risk averse Unit linked insurance plans Deferred annuity plans
Pre-retirement	50-60 years	This is the stage when you are in your late 40s or early 50s and retirement is looming on the horizon. Investment and retirement planning is your main focus at this life stage	Deferred annuity plans Unit linked insurance plans
Retirement	60-65 years	In this stage you are looking forward to retirement. Creating a steady source of income for your retired life is your primary financial goal	Deferred annuity plans with a short term investment period Immediate annuity plans
Post -Retirement	65 years onwards	When you are finally retired, you need a plan which would give you a steady source of income. You might also have to provide your spouse if you predecease them.	Immediate annuity plans. Joint life annuity option can be selected to provide for the spouse.

So, you should choose a life insurance plan based on your life stage because each stage has a different requirement. When you choose a plan suitable to your life stage you can ensure that you get the best life insurance policy matching your financial needs.

Premiums of life insurance policies

As stated earlier, premium is the cost that you pay the insurance company for covering your risk of premature death and also for the different benefits that the company offers under its life insurance plans. The premiums for different individuals, however, are different. The premium charged from you might not be the same charged from your neighbor. Life insurance premiums are calculated individually for each policyholder depending on different factors.

Let’s understand what these factors are which determine the premium of a life insurance policy –

Age – Age is the primary factor which affects your life insurance premium. Since mortality risk increases with increasing age, premiums are higher at older ages
Gender – Premiums are different for males and females of the same age. Females are charged a lower rate of premium than males because they have a low mortality rate
Medical history – Your medical history determines your death risk. If you have some medical complications or if you had any conditions in the past, it increases the chances of death. That is why individuals with health issues are charged a higher premium than normal individuals
Policy tenure – Annual premiums are lower for policies which are taken for long term durations than those which have short term duration
Sum assured – Premium directly depends on the sum assured that you select. Higher the sum assured higher would be the premium
Coverage benefits – If the plan offers better coverage benefits, the premiums would be higher
Lifestyle habits – If you drink or smoke, the premiums would be higher because both drinking and smoking create health hazards which increase the chances of death
Physical build – Your height and weight also affect your premiums. If you are overweight or underweight it is bad for your health and might create health risks. That is why people with weight issues are charged higher premiums
Occupation – There are some dangerous occupations under which there is a high mortality risk. For example, mining, aviation, adventure sports, politics, etc. are considered to be high risk occupations. Individuals engaged in these occupations are charged a higher premium
Family history – If there is an adverse medical history in your family, it increases the chances of hereditary diseases. As such, premiums are higher for individuals having a family history of illnesses
Riders – There are optional coverage benefits under life insurance plans which are called riders. Each rider, however, involves an additional premium. So, if you choose additional riders under the plan, your premiums would increase
Discounts available – Life insurance policies also allow premium discounts for different factors. If the discounts are applicable to your policy, your premiums would reduce

How to buy the best life insurance policy?

There are two ways to buy life insurance plans. These are as follows –

Offline – Buying a policy offline means buying it from a life insurance agent or from a life insurance company. You can meet with an agent and buy the policy from him/her or you can visit the company’s branch and buy a policy from the company itself.
Online – Nowadays life insurance companies allow you to buy a life insurance policy directly from their websites. You can visit the website of the insurance company and choose the policy that you want to buy. Then you can provide your details and pay the premiums online and the policy would be issued easily.

When talking about buying the policy online, you can also choose to buy the policy through Turtlemint. Turtlemint is an online platform which gives you various benefits of buying a life insurance policy. These benefits are as follows –

You can compare before buying. Comparing allows you to check the plans offered by different companies and their comparative advantages. By comparing you can ensure that you buy the policy which has the maximum coverage benefits at the minimum premiums
Turtlemint is tied up with all the leading life insurance companies in India. You can, therefore, be assured that you would get the list of best life insurance plans to compare and choose from
Turtlemint allows you to get your insurance queries solved before buying the plan. If you have difficulty understanding the plans and their benefits Turtlemint’s expert executive’s guide you and help you understand all the technical aspects of the plan you are considering. You can get your queries solved and then buy the plan after understanding all its features in detail
Turtlemint also helps you at the time of claims. You can contact Turtlemint’s team when you suffer a claim and the team would coordinate with the life insurance company to get speedy settlements of your claim.

Thus, buying through Turtlemint has its advantages. To buy, here are the simple steps that you should follow –

Visit Turtlemint at www.turtlemint.com
Choose ‘Life’
Depending on your life stage and financial requirements, choose the type of policy that you want to buy
Provide your details like age, gender, income, smoking habits, location, etc.
Provide your contact details if you want assistance in buying the policy
You can then check the different insurance plans on Turtlemint’s website along with their coverage benefits and premium rates
You can compare the available policies and choose the best as per your suitability
Pay the premiums and the policy would be issued at the earliest

Documents required to buy life insurance plans

When buying life insurance plans, you have to submit some documents which are required by the insurance company to verify your personal details. The documents which would be required to be submitted include the following –

Copy of a valid age proof like your driving license, passport, Aadhar card, Voter’s ID card, birth certificate, etc.
Copy of your residential address proof like utility bills of the last three months, Aadhar card, passport, lease agreement, property documents, etc.
Copy of a valid identity proof like your Aadhar card, driving license, PAN Card, passport, etc.
Recent coloured photographs
Income proof like your IT returns of the last three years if the premium is high
Medical examination report, if required under the policy
Any other questionnaire is required by the insurance company

These documents should be submitted with the proposal form so that the proposal can be underwritten and the policy can be issued at the earliest.

Claims under life insurance policies

Claims under life insurance policies happen under two main circumstances – if the insured dies during the term of the plan or if the plan tenure comes to an end. While in the former instance a death benefit is paid, in case of the latter, maturity benefit is paid.

Death claims are paid to the nominee who has been nominated by the insured to receive the policy proceeds on his/her death. Maturity claims, on the other hand, are paid to the policyholder himself/herself.

You would have to intimate the insurance company about death claims to get the claim settled quickly. In case of maturity claims, though, the company processes the claims itself for policies approaching maturity. Once the policy matures, the insurance company pays the maturity claim automatically.

Claim settlement ratio of life insurance companies

A life insurance company can be judged by its claim settlement ratio. The ratio measures the percentage of claims settled by the life insurance company against the total claims made upon it in a financial year. The higher the ratio the better the company is considered to be. The claim settlement ratio of life insurers is prepared and published by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) after every financial year.

When comparing life insurance companies, you can, therefore, compare the claim settlement ratios of different insurance companies and then choose the best life insurance company. A higher ratio would ensure that your life insurance claims would be settled by the insurer.

So, before buying a life insurance policy, understand the different types of policies available. Then find out which policies would suit your life stage. Once you have shortlisted the policies which you need for your financial goals, compare the available plans. Choose a plan which gives you the best coverage benefits at lowest premiums and get yourself insured.