Term insurance is one of the purest and a cheaper form of life insurance products. This type of life insurance pays death benefit to the nominee in case of the policyholder’s unfortunate death. The death benefit amount may be given as a lump sum amount or in periodic pay-outs depending on the features of the plan.

A term insurance plan ensures that your family can maintain their current lifestyle and meet their life goals even in your absence. It can take care of liabilities and other expenses so that your other investments remains intact, which otherwise might have been required to be liquidated by your dependents to meet expenses due to loss of income. With a term life insurance policy, you can ensure adequate insurance coverage (sum assured) by paying a nominal premium amount.

Term insurance premium is cost effective because it mainly provides death benefit and no maturity benefit to the policyholder. That is unless you buy a term plan with return of premium benefit.

 

How term insurance works

 

Term insurance only provides death benefit to the nominee in case of the life assured’s death. However, there are term plans that have varied features to meet the needs of people with varying goals.

• Increasing term insurance

Here, the sum assured increases every year while the premium amount remains unchanged.

• Term insurance with return of premium

If you want to get your term life premium (subject to deduction of applicable taxes and charges) back at maturity, this is the right policy for you. However, the premiums for an ROP option are a bit on the higher side.

It is important to have adequate term insurance coverage or sum assured if you want your term insurance to take care of your family during times of need. While taking various factors such as age, monthly expenses, current income, existing liabilities, and life goals into consideration, you can use a term insurance calculator to arrive at an estimate. Also with time, your life goals keep changing and hence you need to be prepared accordingly.

When you buy term insurance online or offline, you are required to submit a few documents in order to satisfy the underwriting guidelines, hence it becomes important for you to submit the required documents in the first instant itself. If you are buying term insurance online, you can just upload the documents required for term insurance on the insurer’s website. You may also send them the same by email or courier the documents to the nearest branch.

 

List of documents required for term insurance claim

 

When filing a term insurance claim for death benefit, the nominee or claimant need to submit the following list of documents to ensure approval of the claim.

Mandatory documents required

• Original policy document(s)

• Original/attested copy of death certificate issued by local municipal authority

• Death claim application form

• NEFT mandate form attested by bank authorities along with a cancelled cheque or bank account passbook of Nominee.

• Nominee's photo identity proof such as copy of Passport, PAN card, Voter identity card, Aadhar (UID) card, etc.

Additional documents required on basis of cause of death

• For Medical/Natural death

o Attending Physician’s statement

o Employer certificate

• Accidental/Unnatural death

o FIR or Panchnama/Police complaint

o PMR

o Final Police Investigation Report (if any)

 

Conclusion

 

The COVID-19 pandemic has made us realize the uncertainty of life and underlined the importance of term insurance protection. Whether you are the breadwinner in the family or have an earning spouse, having the protection of term insurance is essential today. Life can take an unexpected turn any moment and your family’s quality of life can suffer without the protection of term life insurance. Decrease in the level of income can negatively affect their lifestyle and completely derail the life goals you have set for them. Do not delay; secure their future with a term insurance plan, today!