The usual response to “Can I buy term life insurance if I have no dependents?” is, “No, it is unnecessary. Life insurance is only for those with dependents”. While this is perfectly fine, my view on this – initially aligned with the standard answer – has changed over the years. Often, young, unmarried earners ask…

Have you ever pondered over how life insurance companies manage to settle substantial death claims? Let’s begin by delving into the fundamental concept of insurance and then transition to reinsurance. While reinsurance is a vast subject, I’ll provide an overview of its basic principles. About the author: Ajay Pruthi is a fee-only SEBI registered investment advisor….

One of the biggest impediments to buying a term life insurance policy is its lack of “return”. Therefore the life insurance industry, knowing fully well that term insurance plans are becoming popular, comes up from time to time with innovative term insurance variants. The latest is the zero-cost term insurance plan. What is zero-cost term…

Buying a term insurance policy is one of the first things to do in money management if you have dependents or if you wish to leave your networth to a person or organisation. Insurance purchase is a leap of faith resulting in a contract between the insurer and buyer based on trust. However, there is…

The life insurance claim settlement ratio for FY 2020-21 is presented below. These were published in the IRDA annual report in Dec 2021. The reader must appreciate that the claim settlement ratio (CSR) is not a life insurance claim acceptance probability! Even if you make the mistake of assuming it represents a probability, a high …

We are living in the era of a pandemic, which has altered the way we used to look at insurance. Most Indians perceived insurance as an ‘investment’ or tax-saving instrument earlier, but the pandemic has made us realize the importance of protection. About the author: Vivek Sulegai is a SEBI Registered Investment Adviser and member of…

Deepesh asks, “I calculated the term life insurance cover required for me to be close to two crores. However, I doubt if I will get this cover given my current income profile, even if I’m willing to pay the associated premium. In such a case, should one consider buying a term plan with increasing cover?”…

This is a term insurance buying guide that covers all the need-to-know essentials before you purchase a term insurance cover. About the author: Ragesh G R is a Software Architect with 13 years of experience. His interests are computers, personal finance, cars, technology, maths and music. He helps his friends and family with their personal…

The claim settlement ratio is the number of death claims settled divided by the total number of death claims received. Many people assume/claim that this ratio represents the probability of life insurance claim settlement. Here is why this is incorrect. Take the case of dice used in gambling. A single die is a cube with…

In a limited premium payment term life insurance, the policyholder pays the premium for only the first few years of the coverage period. This may seem profitable at first sight but here is how much one loses by opting for this

The Claim settlement ratio for 2018-19 published by IRDA is analysed in detail to show how it can be used, what it can be used for, and how it is not useful (just like last year, even more so now!) to choose a term life insurance policy!