If you do not have a term policy in your portfolio yet, you may be wondering what a term plan is, and what benefits it offers. Simply put, a term plan offers not only a life cover, but also gives you term insurance tax benefits too. Let us begin at the basics to understand all of this in a better manner.
What is term insurance?
A term insurance policy is a pure protection plan that offers life cover for relatively low premiums. Among the different types of life insurance policies, a term plan is the affordable option for the long-term financial security of your family. When you opt for a term policy and pay timely premium, your nominees or beneficiaries become eligible for death benefit. This helps them lead a comfortable and stable life even in the absence of a primary or secondary source of income.
Another defining feature of term insurance is that it comes with low premium. Term policies are affordable kinds of life insurance, since they offer pure protection. Therefore, if you are looking for life cover at low premium rates, a term plan is the suitable option. With online term plans, you can even make your purchase right from the comfort of your home.
How term insurance works?
Before your purchase a term policy, it is important to know exactly how term insurance works. That way, you can understand its benefits more clearly.
When you buy an online term plan or purchase one through an agent, it essentially provides you with life insurance coverage for a specific period or "term". In the event of your unfortunate demise during this term, the insurance service provider will pay out a death benefit to your nominees.
For instance, let us suppose that a policyholder has a term insurance cover of Rs. 1 crore, for a policy term of 10 years. If the policyholder dies within these 10 years, the insurance company will pay out the sum of Rs. 1 crore to the beneficiary or nominee of the policyholder.
In addition to the life cover, term insurance tax benefits are also very advantageous to the policyholder. The premiums paid for a term policy are eligible to be deducted from the total taxable income of the taxpayer, thereby reducing the tax payable. This is as per section 80C of the Income Tax Act, 1961, and premium payments up to Rs. 1,50,000 are eligible for this benefit.
Also, in the event of the unfortunate death of the life assured, the insurance pay-out received by the family members are exempt from tax under Section 10 (10D) of the Income Tax Act, 1961. The above mentioned tax benefits are subject to provisions of Income Tax Act, 1961, as amended from time to time.