"COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF

DIFFERENT INSURANE
PRODUCTS
DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE

UNIVERSITY OF MUMBAI
IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIRMENT
FOR THE AWARD OF DEGREE OF
BACHELOR OF COMMERCE
(BANKING & INSURANCE)
(SEMISTER-VI)

SUBMITTED BY
Miss. ANAM IMRAN PATHAN
UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF
MRS. Dr. WATWANI KIRAN DEEPAK

MOHINDAR SINGH KABAL SINGH DEGREE COLLEGE

AGRA ROAD, KALYAN (W), DIST. THANE
(AFFILATED TO UNIVERSITY OF MUMBAI)
MARCH 2022

MOHINDAR SINGH KABAL SINGH OF ARTS, COMMERCE

 (Affiliated to University of Mumbai)

BACHELOR OF BANKING AND INSURANCE

CERTIFICATE

THIS IS TO CERTIFY THAT Miss. Miss. ANAM IMRAN PATHAN OF T.

[Link] (BANKING AND INSURANCE) (SEMESTER-VI) HAS SUCCESFULLY
COMPLETED THE PROJECT ON “COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF DIFFERENT
INSURANCE PRODUCTS". UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF MRS. Dr. KIRAN D.
WATWANI

PROJECT GUIDE

COURSE CO-ORDINATOR

INTERNAL EXAMINER

EXTERNAL EXAMINER

DECLARATION
I, ANAM PATHAN, studying in Third Year of [Link]. (Banking & Insurance). Semester
VI in MOHINDAR SINGH KABAL SINGH DEGREE COLLEGE OF ARTS,
COMMERCE AND BANKING & INSURANCE, KALYAN (W) hereby declare that I
have completed this project on "COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF DIFFERENT
INSURANCE PRODUCTS" for semester VI in the academic year 2021 – 22 as part of
[Link]. (Banking & Insurance). The information presented through this project is true and
original to the best of my knowledge.

______________________
(ANAM PATHAN)

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
I would like to thank the University of Mumbai for giving me the opportunity to do project
work that helped me learn practically, rather than just theory.
I thank my Principal, MR. PRAKASH MALI
I thank my Project Guide MRS. [Link] KIRAN DEEPAK vice principal who
motivated me strongly to complete my project, she helped at every stage of the project,
making me change the parts that were not appropriate and helping me polish and presents this
work in its present form. I also thank full to our coordinator Asif Shaikh for valuable
guidance. I also wish to thank Prof. Tushar K. for his timely assistance in the project work
I would like to express my hearty thanks to our Library head Mrs. Geeta Mane and staff who
helped me throughout.
Finally I wish to thank my friends and my parents and all those people who have lent me a
helping hand in finishing this project.
 Table of Contents
1. Authorization……………………………………………………………………………………...4
2.
Acknowledgement………………………………………………………………………………..5
3. Executive Summary………………………………………………………………………………
6
4.
Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………..7
5. Review of Literature
5.1 About Insurance Industry………………………………………………………………….8

5.2 Advantages of Life

Insurance…………………………………………………………….13

5.3 Types of Insurance Products………………………………………………………….....15

5.4 India : The next Insurance giant……………………………………………………..…..18

5.5 Valuing the Invaluable……………………………………………………………….

….....21

5.6 Busting some Insurance Myths………………………………………………….

……....23

6. Company profile……………………………………………………………………….………..25
7. Birla Sun Life insurance……………………………………………………………………….27
8. Life Insurance Corporation Of India…………………………………………...…………....28
9. National insurance company limited….…………………………………………….………29

10. Tata AIG life……………………………………………………………………………………30

11. Reliance General Insurance………………………………………………..……………….30

12. RSEARCH METHODOLGY

12.1 Sources…………………………………………………………..……..……………….31

12.2 Methodology…………………………………………………………..………..………32

13. COMPARTAIVE ANALYSIS………………………………………………...…….………….33

14. Findings and Interpretations………………………………………………...……….….....39

15. Results……………………………………………………………………….………………47
16. Suggestions and Recommendations…………………………………………………..48
17. Conclusion………………………………………………………….………………………49
18. Limitations……………………………………………………....………………………….50
19. Attachments………………………………………………..………………………………51
20. References……………………………………………..……..……………………………53
 Authorization

THIS REPORT IS SUBMITTED AS PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE

REQUIREMENT OF MBA PROGRAM OF ITM

THE MAKING OF THIS HAS BEEN AUTHORIZED BY THE KARVY STOCK

BROKING LTD. (INSURANCE DEPARTMENT)
 Executive Summary
Summer Internship Program is conducted by every business school as a part of their
curriculum so that the students get an exposure to the real corporate world. The
internship enables the student to get a feel of the working environment of big
corporate houses. This report provides the outline of my work till now as a part of the
Summer Internship Program, which corroborate the application of my theoretical
knowledge to the practical business world. For my industrial spotlight and a first
exposure to the corporate world, I had selected “KARVY STOCK BROKING LTD”.

I joined Karvy Stock Broking Ltd. on 1st May 2009. I have been given chance to work
in the Sales department. On my first day I met my company guide [Link] Mahipal,
who is the broking head of eastern region. I had initial discussion about my project
with him. He explained me in brief the workings of the department.

The project is all about comparative analysis of different insurance products of

different companies. The objective of the project was to check the awareness level of
Insurance and attitude of the people towards insurance in the current market. Survey
was also done regarding the preference of insurance sector depending on the age
group (whether they prefer private players or public companies) .

In the beginning, we gain an insight about the company and its values and inherit
them in our life, and then studied different types of insurance plans like ULIP’s, term
plan, endowment plan, and various other plans.

Now, on to the statistical part, we designed a questionnaire that will provide a base
for studying the awareness level and perception of the life insurance. The project
helped me in developing my communication skill and interpersonal skills. During the
tenure of my internship I learned a lot from my seniors, colique etc but above all I
learned a lot from my own personal experience.
4. INTRODUCTION
About the project
The project deals with comparative analysis of different insurance products offered
by insurance companies.

Purpose of the project

The main purpose of the project is to do comparative analysis of different insurance
products, check the awareness level and perception of insurance by the individuals.
The project would also help in understanding preference of people regarding private
and public insurance companies. The main objective of the research is

 Making comparative analysis between:-

i) Birla sun life insurance with life insurance Corporation of India.

ii) Birla sun life insurance with Tata AIG life insurance.
iii) National Health Plan with Reliance Health Wise Policy.

 Finding out the features and benefits of these plans

 To find out the awareness level of insurance in Kolkata

 To determine customer preference towards private insurance companies and

public insurance companies.

 Marketing of different insurance products.

Scope of the project

The entry of foreign MNC’s and the conductive business environment fostered by the
government, it is no wonder that the re-entry of private insurance has marked a
second coming for the sector. In just five years, the sector has undergone a
makeover, offering more choice, better services, quicker settlement, tighter
regulation and greater awareness ‘s the environment become more and more
competitive and services and products become alike, creating a differentiation is
becoming extremely tough. Thus, the main objective of my project was to find out
the preference of people regarding insurance companies, which would help karvy
employees to market their product. The study then goes on to evaluate and analyze
the findings so as to present a clear picture of recent trends in the Insurance sector.
OTHER LIFE INSURERS

1. HDFC Standard Life Insurance Company Ltd.

2. Max New York Life Insurance Co. Ltd.

3. ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company Ltd.

4. Kotak Mahindra Old Mutual Life Insurance Limited

5. Birla Sun Life Insurance Company Ltd.

6. Tata AIG Life Insurance Company Ltd.

7. SBI Life Insurance Company Limited.

8. ING Vysya Life Insurance Company Private Limited

9. Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance Company Limited

10. MetLife India Insurance Company Ltd.

11. Future Generali India Life Insurance Company Limited

12. IDBI Fortis Life Insurance Company Ltd.

13. Reliance Life Insurance Company Limited.

14. Aviva Life Insurance Co. India Pvt. Ltd.

15. Sahara India Insurance Company Ltd.

16. Shriram Life Insurance Company Ltd.

17. Bharti AXA Life Insurance Company Ltd.

18. Future Generali India Life Insurance Company Limited

19. IDBI Fortis Life Insurance Company Ltd.

20. Canara HSBC Oriental Bank of Commerce Life Insurance Company Ltd.

21. Aegon Religare Life Insurance Company Ltd.

22. DLF Pramerica Life Insurance Company Ltd.

23. Star Union Dai-chi Life Insurance Co. Ltd.

Market share of life insurance companies in India in at the end of FY2010

 Market Share
LIC ICICI Predential Allianz bajaj SBI Life HDFC Standard
Birla Sunlife Reliance Life Max New York OM Kotak AVIVA
Tata AIG MetLife ING Vysya Shriram Life Bharti Axa Life

0.2%
1
. 0.2%
1.5%
9 1.8%
% 1% 1%

2.4%

3.4%

3.4%

4.1%

48.1%
6.2%

10.3%

13.7%

CONCEPTUALIZATION
What Is Insurance?
Basically insurance is assurance. Insurance is transfer and sharing of risk by equitable loss
sharing. Insurance does not get back or replace the assets, it only compensates for the loss
suffered. In other words, we can say that insurance is a mechanism that provides compensation
for the financial value of the assets in case of loss or damage. At last insurance an important
social security tool that offers the counter balance to risk, that is, security.

Essential Features to Insurance-

 There must be large numbers of similar risks.

 The loss caused by the risk must be definite.

 The occurrence of the loss must be accidental.

 The potential loss must be large enough to cause hardships.

 The cost of insuring must be economically feasible.

Need for Life Insurance:

 Possibility of damage caused by any event the risk.

 Uncertainty and unpredictability about future losses or damages which may or may not
happen, which may happen suddenly and unexpectedly.

 Insurance is relevant about the risk.

 Insurance is done against the contingency of the happening of such events.

 If there is no risk then no need of insurance7.

 Special need like medical expenses.

 Today insurance has become even more important due to the disintegration of the
prevalent joint family system, a system in which a number of generations co-existed in
harmony, and a system in which a sense of financial security was always there as there
were more earning members.

Types of Insurance
There are two type of insurance.
 Non- life insurance
 Life insurance

1. Non life insurance:

In this we include health and general insurance. GIC was set up by nationalizing the non-life
business of insurance sector in 1972. The GIC operates as the holding co. of its four
subsidiaries, namely,
 National Insurance Company Ltd.

 The New India Assurance Company Ltd.

 The Oriental Insurance Company Ltd.

 United India Insurance Company Ltd.

All the 68 Indian insurers and 45 non-Indian insurers who did business before nationalization
got merged and taken over by the four subsidiaries of GIC. These four subsidiaries have
branches all over the country and concentrate on non-life insurance business like marine, fire,
accident, medical expenses, Car and vehicle insurance etc. GIC can invest up to 50% in
private corporate and non-government sector.

2. Life insurance:
Life insurance or life assurance is a contract between the policy owner and the insurer where
the insurer is agree to pay a sum of money upon the occurrence of the occurrence of the
policy owner‘s death. In return policy holder agrees to pay a stipulated amount called a
premium at regular intervals.
Endowment Insurance Plan:
Endowment plans provide life insurance cover for a specified period. The important aspect is
that on maturity i.e. if the insured survives the term of the insurance, he/she receives the sum
assured at the end of the term.
Term Insurance Plan:
Term life insurance plans provide insurance cover for a specified period. The defining
characteristic of this type of life insurance plan is the complete absence of survival benefit i.e.
on maturity (surviving the term of the policy), you receive no money from the insurance
company.

Unit linked Insurance Plan:

Unit-linked Insurance Plans (ULIPs) combine the benefits of life insurance policies with
mutual funds. A certain part of the premium is invested in listed equities/debt funds/bonds,
and the balance is used to provide for life insurance and fund management expenses. Yields
earned on investments i.e. the value of the investment or the sum assured, whichever is
higher, is paid to the insured or nominee. This varies from company to company i.e. some
insurance companies pay the value of the investment in addition to the sum assured.
ULIPs have gained high acceptance due to attractive features they offer. These include:
 Flexibility
-Flexibility to choose sum assured and premium amount.
-Option to change level of Premium/ Sum Assured even after the plan has started. Flexibility
to change asset allocation by switching between funds.
 Transparency
-Charges in the plan & net amount invested are known to the customer.
-Convenience of tracking one‘s investment performance on a daily basis.
 Liquidity
-Option to withdraw money after few years (comfort required in case of exigency) Low
minimum tenure.
-Partial / Systematic withdrawal allowed.
 Fund Options
-A choice of funds (ranging from equity, debt, cash or a combination) is available.
-Option to choose your fund mix based on desired asset allocation.

COMPANY PROFILE
Bharti AXA Life Insurance
Bharti AXA Life Insurance is a joint venture between Bharti, one of India‘s leading business
groups with interests in telecom, agri business and retail, and AXA, world leader in financial
protection and wealth management. The joint venture company has a 74% stake from Bharti
and 26% stake of AXA.
The company launched national operations in December 2006. Their business philosophy is
built around the promise of making people "Life Confident".
The Company Profile:
NAME OF THE COMPANY: BHARTI AXA LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY
HEAD OFFICE: Goregaon (East), Mumbai, India
FOUNDED: The company came into existence in DEC 2006 by the
merger of India‘s telecom major BHARTI AIRTEL
with a 74 % stake and the global insurance majors AXA
with a 26% stake in the company.
VISION OF THE COMPANY: To be the leader and one of the preferred companies for
financial protection and wealth management in India.
VALUES OF THE COMPANY:
Professionalism
Innovation
Team Spirit
Pragmatism
CHAIRMAN: Mr. Sunil Bharti Mittal
CEO: Mr. Sandeep Ghosh
BRANCHES: Currently the company has 198 branches in INDIA.
EMPLOYEES: The Company has more than 5200 employees all over
India.

STRATEGY:
 To achieve a top 5 market position in India through a multi-distribution, multi-product
platform.
 To adapt AXA's best practice blueprints as a sound platform for profitable growth.
 To leverage Bharti's local knowledge, infrastructure and customer base.
 To deliver high levels of shareholder return.
 To build long term value with our business partners by enhancing the proposition to
their customers.
 To be the employer of choice to attract and retain the best talent in India.
 To be recognized as being close and qualified by our customers.
STRENGTHS:
  Strong partner Bharti provides access to more than 20 million customer multi channel
execution capability.
 Current Asia product range which is a strong match to products sold to the mass and
the mass affluent.
 Global scale providing cost effective and speedy re-use of systems, products and
business capability.
 Strong AXA and Bharti brands which can be leveraged to attract and retain a high
quality management team.

Bharti-AXA Life insurance products:

Bharti-AXA basically offers two types of plans:
1) Individual plans, and

2) Group plans

INDIVIDUAL PLANS:
Individual plans are further of two types:
a) Unit-linked insurance plans, and

b) Traditional plans

Unit-linked insurance plans:

a) Bharti AXA Life Bright Star
b) Bharti AXA Life Spot Suraksha
c) Bharti AXA Dream Life Pension
d) Bharti AXA Life Aspire Life
e) Bharti AXA Life Invest Confident

f) Bharti AXA Life Wealth Confident

g) Bharti AXA Life Future Confident II

h) Bharti AXA Life Future Confident

Traditional plans:
 a) Bharti- AXA Life Save confident

b) Bharti-AXA Life Secure confident

GROUP PLANS:
Group plans includes the following:
a) Bharti AXA Life – Swasthya Sanjeevani
b) Bharti AXA Life – Sanjeevani
c) Bharti AXA Life Mortgage Credit Shield
d) Bharti AXA Life Credit Shield
e) Bharti AXA Life Life Shield

INTRODUCTION ABOUT THE PLANS

1. CHILD PLANS
 BHARTI AXA LIFE BRIGHT STAR PLUS

Features:
Entry Age(Last Birthday) Minimum Age 18 years.

Policy Term (PT) 7-25 years, subject to maximum maturity

age of 70 years

Premium Payment Term(PPT) 3 years/5 years/equal to policy term

Annual Premium Minimum Rs. 15000 if PPT = PT

Minimum Rs. 50,000 if PPT = 3years/5years

 Maximum=No Limit

Top-up Premium Minimum: Rs. 1,000;

Maximum: 25% of total regular premium paid

Sum Assured (SA) Minimum: 5* Annual Premium
Maximum: 10*Annual premium

Riders Available In Built: Waiver of Premium

Optional:
Accidental Death Benefit (ADB) Rider.
Comprehensive Health Benefit (CHB) Rider.
Premium Frequency
Yearly, Half yearly, Quarterly, Monthly

Fund Options Grow money plus fund, Growth opportunities

plus fund, Build India fund, Save and Grow
money fund, Steady money fund, Safe money fund.

Partial Withdrawal Regular Premium: After 5 Policy Years

Top-up Premium: After 3 Years

Minimum: Rs. 1000

Maximum: Fund Value should not be less

than 120% of annual premium.

Switches 1st 12 switches free of charge in a Policy

year

Subsequent switches are charged at Rs.100

per switch is levied.

Minimum switch amount: Rs. 1000

Benefits:
Death Benefit
-Sum Assured will be paid immediately.
-All the future premiums will be paid by Bharti AXA Life in to the policy fund value.
Jumpstart Benefit
The Jumpstart benefit is credited to the investment funds during the policy term
depending upon the policy term option chosen.
Policy Term Jumpstart Benefit Credited to investment

Funds

7 years & 10 years 5% of average fund value. At maturity.

15 years 7% of average fund value At maturity.

20 years & 25 years 7% of average fund value. 5 years before maturity

Tax Benefit
The premium paid will be eligible for tax benefit as per Section 80C, 80D and Section
10(10D) of the Income Tax Act, 1961.

Charges:
Policy Administration Charges:
This charge is deducted by cancellation of units from the policy fund value on
monthly basis. The charge is Rs. 60 per month increasing at 5% p.a. on every policy
anniversary.

Fund Management Charges:

Fund Name Percent of Policy Fund Value (p.a.)
Growth Opportunities Plus 1.35%
Grow Money Plus 1.35%

Build India 1.35%

Save and Grow Money 1.25%
Steady Money 1.00%
Safe Money 1.00%

Allocation Charges:
Regular premium:
Allocation charges for PT
Policy Annual premium 7 Years 10 Years 15 Years 20 25 Years
Term Years
Policy
Year

Year 1 >100000 28% 35% 35% 45% 50%

<=100000 25% 32% 32% 36% 50%

Year 2 Both Premium 9% 15% 15% 24% 24%

bands

Year 3 Both Premium 5% 5% 5% 5% 5%

bands

Year 4++ 0% 0% 0% 0% 0%

Surrender Charge:
This charge is as a percentage of fund value.
Policy Term 7 Years 10 Years 15 Years 20 Years 25 Years
Policy Year

Years 1 75% 75% 91% 91% 91%

80%
Years 2 50% 50% 80% 80%

Years 3 25% 25% 50% 50% 50%

Years 4 0% 0% 25% 25% 25%

Years 0% 0% 10% 10% 10%

Years 0% 0% 0% 0% 0%

If the policy is surrendered before completion of first three policy years, surrender
value will be payable after completion of three policy years.
  ICICI PRU SMART KID UNIT-LINKED REGULAR PREMIUM
Features:
Entry Age(Last Birthday)
Parent: 20 – 60 years
Child: 0 – 15 years

Policy Term (PT) Parent: 75 years

Child: 19 – 25 years

Premium Payment Term(PPT) 10 -25 years, subject to maximum maturity age of

75 years

Annual Premium Minimum Rs. 10000

Maximum=No Limit

Top-up Premium Minimum: Rs. 2,000;

Maximum: 25% of total regular premium paid

Sum Assured (SA) Minimum: 1,00,000
Maximum: 5*Annual premium

Riders Available Waiver of Premium

Accidental Death & Disability

Benefit (ADDB) Rider.

 Income Benefit(IB) Rider
Premium Frequency
Yearly, Half yearly, Quarterly, Monthly

Fund Options R.I.C.H II, Multiplier II, Flexi Growth II,

Flexi Balanced II, Balancer II, Protector II,

Preserver, Return Guarantee Fund.

Partial Withdrawal Regular Premium: After 5 Policy Years

Top-up Premium: Ant time during PT

Minimum: Rs. 2000

Maximum: 25% of Fund Value

1 PW in a Policy Year

Maximum 5PW during entire PT

Switches 1st 4 switches free of charge in a Policy year

Subsequent switches are charged at Rs. 100

per switch

Minimum switch amount: Rs. 2000

Benefits:
Death Benefit:
-Sum Assured will be paid immediately.
-All the future premium will be waived and paid by the company till maturity of the policy.
Maturity Benefit:
Fund value pertaining to Regular Premium and Top-up Premium will be paid at the
time of maturity.
Tax Benefit:
The premium paid will be eligible for tax benefit as per Section 80C, 80D and Section
10(10D) of the Income Tax Act, 1961.

Charges:
Policy Administration Charges:
Policy administration charge will be Rs. 60 per month.

Fund Management Charges:

This charge is levied on each of the investment funds and is adjusted daily in the unit price
calculation.
Fund Name Percent of Policy Fund Value (p.a)

Protector II 0.75%per annum

Preserver 0.75%per annum

Balancer II 1.00%per annum

Flexi Balanced II 1.00%per annum

Flexi Growth 1.50%per annum

Multiplier II 1.50%per annum

Return Guarantee 1.50%per annum

Allocation Charges:
Regular premium:
Annual Year 1 Year 2 – 5 Year 6 – 10 Year 11
Premium Onwards

<20,000 20% 5% 2% 1%

>=20,000 to 19% 5% 2% 1%
<50,000

>=50,000 18% 5% 2% 1%

Top-up Premium:
The allocation charge shall be 1% of top-up premium.
Surrender Charges:

Completed policy years Surrender value as a % Surrender Charge

for which premiums are of Fund Value
paid
Less than 1 year 0% 100%

1 year 25% 75%

2 year 40% 60%

However, this surrender value would be payable only after completion of three policy
years or whenever the policy is surrendered thereafter.
Following are the surrender values and charges applicable after payment of 3 full years of
premium.

No. of completed policy Surrender value Surrender Charge

years

3 policy years 9 4%

4 policy years 9 2%

5 policy years 1 0%

 SBI LIFE- UNIT PLUS CHILD PLAN

Features:
Entry Age(Last Birthday) Parent: 18 – 57 years

Child: 0 – 15 years

Policy Term (PT) Min.: 8yrs or (18 – child‘s age at entry)

 whichever is higher

Max. : 25 yrs

Premium Payment Term(PPT) 3yrs/ 5yrs/ 7yrs/ Till the child attains 18yrs

Annual Premium Minimum Rs. 84,000; for PPT = 3yrs

Minimum Rs. 60,000; for PPT = 5yrs Minimum Rs.

48,000; for PPT = 7yrs Minimum Rs. 12,000; for
PPT = PT Maximum = No Limit

Top-up Premium Minimum: Rs. 2,000;

Maximum: 25% of total regular premium paid.

Sum Assured (SA) Minimum: 5*Annual Premium

Maximum: For age 18 – 40 yrs = 25*AP For age 41

– 50 yrs = 20*AP

For age 51 – 57 yrs = 15*AP

Riders Available Waiver of Premium

Accidental Death & Disability(ADD) Rider

Dhanvantri Supreme (CI) Rider.

Maturity Age Parent: 65 years

Child: 18 - 25 years

Sum Assured (SA) Minimum: 5*Annual Premium

Maximum: For age 18 – 40 yrs = 25*AP For age 41

– 50 yrs = 20*AP

For age 51 – 57 yrs = 15*AP

Fund Options Equity Optimizer Fund, Equity Fund, Bond

Fund, Growth Fund, Balanced Fund.

 Partial Withdrawal (PW) Regular Premium: After 3 Policy Years

Top-up Premium: Any time during PT

Minimum: Rs. 2000,

Maximum: 25% of Fund value

4 PW are free in a Policy Year

Maximum 5 PW during entire PT

Switches 1st 4 switches free of charge in a Policy year

Subsequent switches are charged at Rs. 100

per switch.

Minimum switch amount: Rs. 10,000.

Benefits:
Death Benefit:
Sum Assured will be paid immediately.
The entire future premium will be waived and paid by the company till maturity of the policy.
Maturity Benefit:
Fund value pertaining to Regular Premium and Top-up Premium will be paid at the time of
maturity.
Loyalty Benefit:
To celebrate the 18th birthday of your child, SBI Life offer loyalty units by way of free
allocation of units based on the average of last 24 months Fund value.
0.15*average last 24 months fund value*No. of policy till age 18
Tax Benefit:
The premium paid will be eligible for tax benefit as per Section 80C, 80D and Section
10(10D) of the Income Tax Act, 1961.

Charges:
Policy Administration Charges:
Policy administration charge will be Rs.60 per month. This charge will increased by 2% per
annum for each subsequent year on the 1st business day of the policy month following 1st
April each year, subject to maximum of Rs.300 per month.

Fund Management Charges:

This charge is levied on each of the investment funds and is adjusted daily in the unit price
calculation.

Fund Name Percent of Policy Fund Value (p.a.)

Equity Fund 1.50% per annum

Equity Optimiser Fund 1.50% per annum

Bond Fund 1.00% per annum

Balanced Fund 1.25% per annum

Growth Fund 1.35% per annum

Allocation Charges:
Regular premium:
Annual Year 1 Year 2 – 3 Year 4 – 7 Year 8 Onwards

Premium

Up to 500,000 18% 5% 2% 1%

500,100 to 17% 5% 2% 1%
10,00,000

10,00,000 & 15% 5% 2% 1%

Above

Top-up Premium:
The allocation charge shall be 1% of top-up premium.
Surrender Charges:
 Year 2 3 4 5 6 & Onwards

Surrender 25% 15% 4% 2% Nil

charges

2. PENSION PLANS
 Bharti AXA Life Dream Life Pension Plus:

Features:
Entry Age Min: 18 years

Max: 75 years

Vesting/Maturity Age Min: 40 years

Max: 90 years

Policy Term Min: 10 years

Max: Vesting age chosen

Annual Premium Min: Rs.12,000 For PT > 20 years

Rs.15,000 For PT > 15 years

Rs.10,000 For PT< 15 years

Rs. 50,000 for Single Premium

Max: No Limit

Additional Regular Premium Minimum: Rs.1000

Maximum: No Limit

Top-up Premium Minimum: Rs.1000

Maximum: No Limit
 Fund Options Grow Money Pension Plus, Growth
Opportunities Pension Plus, Build India
Pension Fund, Save and grow Money
Pension, Steady Money Pension.

Switches 1st 12 switches free of charge in a Policy

year

Subsequent switches are charged at Rs. 100

per switch,

Minimum switch amount: Rs. 1000.

Benefits:
Death Benefit:
In case of death during the policy term, the nominee will get the entire fund value and the
policy will cease to exist.
Maturity Benefit:
Take up to 1/3rd of the fund value as lump sum and use the balance to purchase an annuity
from Bharti AXA Life.
Buy an annuity from any other life insurance company.

Tax Benefit:
Tax benefit will be as per Section 80C/80CCC (1) & Section 10(10A)(3) of the Income Tax
Act, 1961.
Charges:
Policy Administration Charges:
Policy administration charge will be Rs.60 per month (Rs.35 in case of Single Premium
policies). This charge will increase from 1st Jan every year by 5%.
Fund Management Charges:
The charge is levied on each of the investment funds and adjusted in a unit price calculation
on a daily basis.
Fund Name Fund Management Charge (p.a.)

Grow Money Pension Plus 1.35%

Growth Opportunities Pension Plus 1.35%

Build India Pension Fund 1.35%

 Save and Grow Money Pension 1.25%

Steady Money Pension 1.00%

Safe Money Pension 1.00%

Allocation Charges:
Annual Regular Premium:
Annual Regular Year 1 Year 2-4 Year 5+

Premium Band

Rs.12,000 – 99,999 19% 9% 0%

Rs.1,00,000 & above 12% 9% 0%

Single Premium:
Single Premium Band Premium Allocation Charge

Rs.50,000 – 99,999 6%

Rs.1,00,000 & above 2.5%

Top-up Premium:
The allocation charge shall be 2% of top-up premium

Surrender Charge:
The surrender charge is applicable as and when customer surrenders his policy. The surrender
value that you will receive will be the policy fund value less this charge. If policy is
surrendered within first three years policy years then the surrender value as on the date of
intimation of surrender will be paid only after completion of three policy years.
Surrender Charge as a Percentage of Policy Fund Value.
Policy Annual Regular Premium Single Premium
Year

1 91% Surrender Not Allowed

2 50% Surrender Not Allowed

3 30% Surrender Not Allowed

4 15% 5%

5 10% 3%

6 NIL 0%

 ICICI PRU LIFE TIME SUPER PENSION

Features:
Entry Age Min: 18 Years

Max: 65 Years

Vesting/Maturity Age Min: 45 years

Max: 75 years

Policy Term (PT) Min: 10 years

Max: 57 years

Annual Premium(APE) Min: 10,000

Max: No Limit

Sum Assured(SA) Minimum: 100,000

Maximum: PT*Annual Premium

Top-up Premium Minimum: 2000

Maximum: No Limit
 Fund Options Pension R.I.C.H. II, Pension Flexi Growth II,

Pension Multiplier II, Pension Flexi Balanced

II, Pension Balancer II, Pension Protector II,
Pension Preserver, Pension Return Guarantee

Switches 1st 4 switches free of charge in a Policy year

Subsequent switches are charged at Rs. 100

per switch

Minimum switch amount: Rs. 2000

Riders Available Accidental Death & Disability Rider, Waiver

of Premium Rider

Benefits:
Death Benefit:
The Nominee will get the higher of sum assured or fund value as lump sum where spouse is
not the nominee.
Where spouse is nominee, this amount can be given as lump sum or can be used to purchase
an annuity from the company. Alternately, 1/3rd of this value can be taken as lump sum and
balance can be used to purchase an annuity.

Maturity Benefit:
Take up to 1/3rd of the fund value as lump sum and use the balance to purchase an annuity
from ICICI Prudential.
Buy an annuity from any other life insurance company.
Tax Benefit:
Tax benefit will be as per Section 80CCC & Section 10(10A) of the Income Tax Act, 1961.

Charges:
Policy Administration Charges:
Policy administration charge will be Rs. 40 per month.
Fund Management Charges:
The charge is levied on each of the investment funds and adjusted in a unit price calculation
on a daily basis.
Fund Name Fund Management Charge (p.a.)

Pension R.I.C.H. II 1.50% per annum

Pension Flexi Growth II 1.50% per annum

Pension Multiplier II 1.50% per annum

Pension Return Guarantee Fund 1.50% per annum

Pension Balancer II 1.00% per annum

Pension Preserver 0.75% per annum

Allocation Charges:
Regular premium:
Annual Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 – 10 Year 11

Premium Onward

10,000-19,999 20% 9% 1% Nil

20,000-49,999 17% 9% 1% Nil

50,000 & above 14% 9% 1% Nil

Top-up Premium:
The allocation charge shall be 1% of top-up premium.

Surrender Charge:
Completed policy years Surrender value as a % Surrender Charges

for which premiums of Fund Value

Less than 1 year 0% 100%

1 25% 75%

2 40% 60%
However, this surrender value would be payable only after completion of three policy years
or whenever the policy is surrendered thereafter.
Following are the surrender values and charges applicable after payment of 3 full year‘s
premium.
No. of completed policy Surrender Value Surrender Charge

3 policy years 96% 4%

4 policy years 98% 2%

5 policy years & above 100% 0%

SBI LIFE UNIT PLUS II PENSION

Features:
Entry Age Min: 18 Years

Max: 65 Years

Vesting/Maturity Age Min: 50 years

Max: 70 years

Policy Term (PT) Min: 5 years

Max: as per the vesting age chosen

Annual Premium(APE) Min: 24,000

Min: 25,000 for single premium

Max: No Limit

Sum Assured(SA) Single Premium Mode

Age 18 – 35 125% of SP. MAX: 10

lakh

36 – 45 years Same, MAX: 5 lakh

40 – 60 years Same, MAX: 12 lakh

 Regular Premium Mode

Age 18 – 35 MAX: 10 lakh

36 – 45 years MAX: 5 lakh

40 – 60 years MAX: 1.2 lakh

Top-up Premium Minimum: 5000

Maximum: No Limit

Fund Options Equity Optimizer, Equity Pension, Bond

Pension, Growth Pension, Balanced Pension

Switches 1st 4 switches free of charge in a Policy

year

Subsequent switches are charged at Rs. 100

per switch

Minimum switch amount: Rs. 10,000

Riders Available Accidental Death & Permanent Disability

Rider, Dhanvantri Supreme (Critical illness)

Rider

Benefits:
Death Benefit:
The Nominee will get the higher of sum assured or fund value.
Maturity Benefit:
Take up to 1/3rd of the fund value as lump sum and use the balance to purchase an annuity
from SBI Life. Buy an annuity from any other life insurance company.
Tax Benefit:
Tax benefit will be as per Section 80CCC (1) of the Income Tax Act, 1961.

Charges:
Policy Administration Charges:
Policy administration charge will be Rs.60 per month. This charge will increased by 2% per
annum for each subsequent year on the 1st business day of the policy month following 1st
April each year, subject to maximum of Rs.300 per month.
Fund Management Charges:
The charge is levied on each of the investment funds and adjusted in a unit price calculation
on a daily basis.
Fund Name Fund Management Charge (p.a.)

Equity Optimizer Fund 1.50% per annum

Equity Pension Fund 1.50% per annum

Bond Pension Fund 1.00% per annum

Growth Pension Fund 1.35% per annum

Balanced Pension Fund 1.25% per annum

Allocation Charges:
Regular premium:
Annual Year 1 Year 2 & 3 Year 4 & 5 Year 6-10 Year 11

Premium Onward

24,000 - 15% 7.5% 5% 2% Nil

 99,999

100,000 - 12% 5% 5% 2% Nil

49,999

500,000 & 9% 3% 3% 2% Nil

above

Single Premium:
Annual Premium Allocation Charges

25,000-100,000 4%

100,000-500,000 3%

500,000 & above 2%

Top-up Premium:
The allocation charge shall be 1% of top-up premium received during 1st 10 policy years.
11th onward allocation charges will be nil.

Surrender Charge:
The surrender charge is applicable as and when customer surrenders his policy. The
surrender value that you will receive will be the policy fund value less this charge

Policy Year For Regular Premium For single Premium Mode

Mode

Year 4 & 5 2% of F.V. Nil

Year 6-10 1% of F.V. Nil

11 onwards Nil Nil

3. PROTECTION PLANS

 BHARTI AXA LIFE SECURE CONFIDENT

Features:

Entry Age Minimum: 18 years

Maximum: 55 years

Maturity Age Minimum: 28 years

Maximum: 65 years

Policy Term (PT) 10 – 30 years

Sum Assured (SA) Minimum: 5 lacs

Maximum: Rs.24,99,999
Premium Frequency Single

Regular: Yearly, Half-yearly, Quarterly &

Monthly
Riders Available In-Built: No

Additional: Accidental Death Benefit, critical

illness benefit rider

Benefits:
Death Benefit:
In case of your unfortunate death during the policy term, nominee will receive the full Sum
Assured.
Maturity Benefit:
As this is a purely protection plan (Term Plan), there is no maturity benefit.
Tax Benefit:
Tax Benefits will be as per the Section 80C, 80D & 10(10D) of the Income Tax Act, 1961.

ICICI PRU PURE PROTECT:

Features:
Entry Age Minimum: 18 years

Maximum: 55 years

Maximum Coverage Age 75 years

Policy Term (PT) 10 – 30 years

Premium Minimum: 2400 per annum

Sum Assured (SA) Maximum: 24,99,999 for Classic

Minimum: 25 lacs for Elite

Maximum: No Limit

Riders Available In-Built: No

Additional: Accidental Death & Disability

Benefit Rider, Waiver of Premium Rider

Benefits:
Death Benefit:
In case of your unfortunate death during the policy term, nominee will receive the full Sum
Assured.
Maturity Benefit:
As this is a purely protection plan (Term Plan), there is no maturity benefit.
Tax Benefit:
Tax Benefit as per section 80C.

SBI LIFE- SHIELD

Features:
 Entry Age Minimum: 18 years

Maximum: 60 years

Maximum Coverage Age 65 years

Policy Term (PT) 5 – 25 years

Sum Assured (SA) Minimum: 3 lakh

Maximum: No Limit

Riders Available In-Built: No

Additional: Accidental Death & Permanent

Disability Benefit Rider, Premium Waiver
Benefit Rider

Benefits:
Death Benefit:
In case of your unfortunate death during the policy term, nominee will receive the full Sum
Assured.
Maturity Benefit:
As this is a purely protection plan (Term Plan), there is no maturity benefit.
Tax Benefit:
Tax Benefit as per Section 80C & 10(10D).

5. REVIEW OF LITERATURE
5.1 About Insurance Industry
"Insurance is a contract between two parties whereby one party called insurer
undertakes in exchange for a fixed sum called premiums, to pay the other party
called insured a fixed amount of money on the happening of a certain
event."Insurance is a protection against financial loss arising on the happening of an
unexpected event. Insurance companies collect premiums to provide for this
protection. A loss is paid out of the premiums collected from the insuring public and
the Insurance Companies act as trustees to the amount collected. For Example, in a
Life Policy, by paying a premium to the Insurer, the family of the insured person
receives a fixed compensation on the death of the insured. Similarly, in a car
insurance, in the event of the car meeting with an accident, the insured receives the
compensation to the extent of damage. It is a system by which the losses suffered by
a few are spread over many, exposed to similar risks.

Logic of insurance
It is a system by which the losses suffered by a few are spread over many, exposed
to similar risks. Insurance is a protection against financial loss arising on the
happening of an unexpected event. Insurance companies collect premiums to
provide for this protection. A loss is paid out of the amount premiums collected from
the insuring public and the Insurance Companies act as trustees to the collected.

Need of insurance
Insurance is desired to safeguard oneself and one's family against possible losses
on account of risks and perils. It provides financial compensation for the losses
suffered due to the happening of any unforeseen events. By taking life insurance a
person can have peace of mind and need not worry about the financial
consequences in case of any untimely death. Certain Insurance contracts are also
made compulsory by legislation. For example, Motor Vehicles Act 1988, stipulates
that a person driving a vehicle in a public place should hold a valid insurance policy
covering “Act" risks. Another example of compulsory insurance pertains the
Environmental Protection Act, wherein a person using or to carrying hazardous
substances (as defined in the Act) must hold a valid public liability (Act) policy.

Insurance in India
Insurance is a federal subject in India and has a history dating back to 1818. Life and
general insurance in India is still a nascent sector with huge potential for various
global players with the life insurance premiums accounting to 2.5% of the country's
GDP while general insurance premiums to 0.65% of India's GDP. The Insurance
sector in India has gone through a number of phases and changes, particularly in the
recent years when the Govt. of India in 1999 opened up the insurance sector by
allowing private companies to solicit insurance and also allowing FDI up to 26%.
Ever since, the Indian insurance sector is considered as a booming market with
every other global insurance company wanting to have a lion's share. Currently, the
largest life insurance company in India is still owned by the government.

History of Insurance in India

Insurance in India has its history dating back till 1818, when Oriental Life Insurance
Company was started by Europeans in Kolkata to cater to the needs of European
community. Pre-independent era in India saw discrimination among the life of
foreigners and Indians with higher premiums being charged for the latter. It was only
in the year 1870, Bombay Mutual Life Assurance Society, the first Indian insurance
company covered Indian lives at normal rates.

At the dawn of the twentieth century, insurance companies started mushrooming up.
In the year 1912, the Life Insurance Companies Act, and the Provident Fund Act
were passed to regulate the insurance business. The Life Insurance Companies Act,
1912 made it necessary that the premium rate tables and periodical valuations of
companies should be certified by an actuary. However, the disparage still existed as
discrimination between Indian and foreign companies. The oldest existing insurance
company in India is National Insurance Company Ltd, which was founded in 1906
and is doing business even today. The Insurance industry earlier consisted of only
two state insurers: Life Insurers i.e. Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) and
General Insurers i.e. General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC). GIC had four
subsidiary companies.

With effect from December 2000, these subsidiaries have been de-linked from
parent company and made as independent insurance companies: Oriental Insurance
Company Limited, New India Assurance Company Limited, National Insurance
Company Limited and United India Insurance Company Limited.

Life Insurance Corporation Act, 1956

Even though the first legislation was enacted in 1938, it was only in 19 January
1956, that life insurance in India was completely nationalized, through a Government
ordinance; the Life Insurance Corporation Act, 1956 effective from 1.9.1956 was
enacted in the same year to, inter-alia, form LIFE INSURANCE CORPORATION
after nationalization of the 245 companies into one entity. There were 245 insurance
companies of both Indian and foreign origin in 1956. Nationalization was
accomplished by the govt. acquisition of the management of the companies. The Life
Insurance Corporation of India was created on 1 September, 1956, as a result and
has grown to be the largest insurance company in India as of 2006 .
General Insurance Business (Nationalization) Act, 1972
The General Insurance Business (Nationalization) Act, 1972 was enacted to
nationalize the 100 odd general insurance companies and subsequently merging
them into four companies. All the companies were amalgamated into National
Insurance, New India Assurance, Oriental Insurance, and United India Insurance
which were headquartered in each of the four metropolitan cities.

Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA)

Act, 1999
Till 1999, there were not any private insurance companies in Indian insurance sector.
The Govt. of India then introduced the Insurance Regulatory and Development
Authority Act in 1999, thereby de-regulating the insurance sector and allowing
private companies into the insurance. Further, foreign investment was also allowed
and capped at 26% holding in the Indian insurance companies. In recent years many
private players entered in the Insurance sector of India. Companies with equal
strength started competing in the Indian insurance market. Currently, in India only 2
million people (0.2 % of total population of 1 billion), are covered under Medi claim,
whereas in developed nations like USA about 75 % of the total population are
covered under some insurance scheme. With more and more private players in the
sector this scenario may change at a rapid pace

Different Insurance Companies

Insurance is an upcoming sector, in India the year 2000 was a landmark year for life
insurance industry, in this year the life insurance industry was liberalized after more
than fifty years. Insurance sector was once a monopoly, with LIC as the only
company, a public sector enterprise. But nowadays the market opened up and there
are many private players competing in the market. There are fifteen private life
insurance companies has entered the industry. After the entry of these private
players, the market share of LIC has been considerably reduced. In the last five
years the private players is able to expand the market (growing at 30% per annum)
and also has improved their market share to 18%. For the past five years
private players have launched many innovations in the industry in terms of products,
market channels and advertisement of products, agent training and customer
services etc.
The various life insurers entered India:-

1. Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance Company Limited

2. Birla Sun Life Insurance Co. Ltd

3. HDFC Standard life Insurance Co. Ltd

4. ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Co. Ltd.

5. ING Vysya Life Insurance Company Ltd.

6. Max New York Life Insurance Co. Ltd

7. Met Life India Insurance Company Ltd.

8. Kotak Mahindra Old Mutual Life Insurance Limited

9. SBI Life Insurance Co. Ltd

10. Tata AIG Life Insurance Company Limited

11. Reliance Life Insurance Company Limited.

12. Aviva Life Insurance Co. India Pvt. Ltd.

13. Sahara India Life Insurance Co, Ltd.

14. Shriram Life Insurance Co, Ltd.

15. Bharti AXA Life Insurance Company Ltd.

16. Future General Life Insurance Company Ltd.

17. IDBI Fortis Life Insurance Company Ltd.

18. Canara HSBC Oriental Bank of Commerce Life Insurance Co. Ltd

19. AEGON Religare Life Insurance Company Limited.

20. DLF Pramerica Life Insurance Co. Ltd.

21. Star Union Dai-ichi Life Insurance Comp. Ltd.

The various other general Insurance Companies are as under:-

 1. National Insurance Company Limited.

2. Reliance General Insurance.

3. Star Health Plus Insurance.

4. Oriental Insurance Company.

5. United India Insurance Company Ltd.

6. New India Assurance Company Ltd.

7. Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Company Ltd.

8. Universal Sompo Insurance Company Ltd.

9. Future General Insurance Company Ltd.

10. ICICI Lombard General Insurance Ltd.

5.2 ADVANTAGES OF LIFE INSURANCE

i) Protection against risk of untimely death

Life insurance is a product, which offers protection against the risk of death
the full sum assured is made available under a life assurance policy, whereas under
other savings schemes, the total accumulated savings alone will be available.

ii) Protection during old age

Life insurance can also be used as a means of saving for one’s future.
There are a number of life insurance policies, which in addition to life cover also
provide the means of investing one’s income. The sum as per the policy will be
received only after a period of time. This amount thus provides for the old age.

iii) Forced savings

Payment of life insurance premiums is compulsory and becomes a habit.
Savings in other scheme can be easily withdrawn and may be used for less worthy
purpose. Termination of a life insurance policy by the policyholder usually results in
substantial loss in benefits under the policy to the policyholder. One is thus
encouraged to save and keep one’s policy alive.

iv) Educational requirements and charity

 The object of insurance may be to serve as a security to educational funds
in respect of loans advanced for educational purpose or to provide donations to
charitable institutions like hospital and school.

v) Nomination and assignment

The life insured can name the person or persons to whom the policy money
would be payable in the event of his death .the proceeds of a life insurance policy
can be protected against the claims of the creditors of the life insured by effecting a
valid assignment of the policy. The beneficiaries are fully protected from creditors
expect to the extent of any interest in the policy retained by the
insured.21Marketability and suitability for borrowing
After 3 years, if the policyholder finds that he is unable to continue payment
of premiums he can surrender a policy for a cash sum. A life insurance policy is
accepted as a security for a commercial loan.

vi) Loans from the insurance company

A policy holder can take a loan from his insurance company against the
Security of his life insurance policy provided the terms of the terms of his policy allow
such a loan. This loan can be taken usually after a period of 3 years from
commencement of the policy and is a percentage of its surrender value.

vii) Investment options

The unit link products gives comprehensive insurance solutions that cater
to an individual’s dual need of earning potentially high returns as well as stay for life.
Thus there is an option to invest money in the products that combine the best of
insurance and investment. In a volatile market conditions it is possible to secure both
as one can hedge the investment with saver investment vehicles that provide a
diversified portfolio.

viii) Tax benefits

The Indian income tax act provides tax concessions to the policyholder
both on payment of premium and on the maturity amount. Under sec 88 the tax
benefits on premium paid by an individual for life insurance policies on his own life\
on the life of spouse \children minor or major, including married daughters.
Under sec 6 of the married women’s property act if a married man takes a
policy of life insurance on his own life and expenses on the face of it to be for the
benefit of his wife or of his wife and children or any of them, then it shall be deemed
to be a trust for the benefit of his wife and children or any of them, According to the
interest so expressed and shall not so long as any object of trust remains be subject
to the control of the husband or to his creditors or form part of his estate. An
insurance policy taken by a married man in the above manner is ideal way to protect
the interest of his wife and children, even after his untimely death.
5.3 Types of insurance products
Term assurance plan- In insurance language this is a “pure risk cover” and can
be described as an insurance or risk management product in its purest and simplest
form. In case of your untimely death, your dependents will receive the risk-cover
amount or the ‘sum assured’. On the other hand, there is no survival benefits if you
survive the policy term, and you also do not get back the premiums paid.

Endowment assurance plans- It is a traditional investment-cum-insurance

plan. In other words, it provides both life cover (in the event of death of life insured)
or maturity benefits if he/she survives the policy term. Endowment plans are typically
front-loaded. Therefore it makes sense for you to remain in the policy for at least 12-
15 years.

Money-back policy- It is a variant of the endowment assurance policy-the

difference is that you get the survival benefits intermittently over the life of the policy.
Thus taking care of his lump-sum monetary requirements to enable him to meet his
financial goals and major commitments. The maturity benefit is the sum assured
value less the survival benefits already paid under the policy, plus bonuses accrued,
if any. In case of untimely death the nominee will receive the entire sum assured
without considering the payouts already made to you before the unfortunate death.

Whole life plan- This policy provides the life assurance cover for almost the
entire life. Most of the insurance companies provide protection up to the age of 100
years. The sum assured is paid to you once you reach this age, and the policy is
terminated. In this payment of premium is for whole life, and the sum assured is paid
to your nominee in the event of your death. In other words, this is equivalent to a
term plan over your lifetime.

Pension plan- A pension plan can be looked as more of an investment product

offered by insurers to cater to the “golden” retirement years of an individual. Also
referred to as retirement plans, these are designed to ensure that you are financially
independent during your retirement years. Most of the pension plans also provide an
optional life assurance cover in them.

Child plan- It basically aims at ensuring the achievement of life goals of your child.
The goal can be higher education, financial help in establishing a business or
profession, or even marriage. In a child plan, the life assured can be the parent or
the child. The beneficiary for the policy, however, is the child. As a child is a minor,
the life insurance contract is between the parent and the insurance company. In case
of early death of the parent, the premium payment is waived off by the insurance
company and the policy continues as originally planned.

Unit Linked Insurance Plan- ULIPs have been the darling of insurance
companies, intermediaries and the insured population alike over the last five years.
The main reason for this popularity is the twin advantage of a pure life cover
(insurance component) and a range of investment funds or options (savings
component) to match your risk profile. While the pure life cover provides the much
needed financial security to your dependents in the event of your untimely death, the
savings component allows you to participate in the capital markets and build wealth
over the long-term tenure of the policy.

Changing face of Indian insurance industry

Indian life-insurance market is the target market of all the companies who either want
to
extend or diversify their business. To tap the Indian market there has been tie-ups
between the major Indian companies with other International insurance companies to
start up their business. The government of India has set up rules that no foreign
insurance company can setup their business individually here and they have to tie up
with an Indian company and this foreign insurance company can have an investment
of only 24% of the total start-up investment. Indian insurance industry can be
featured by:

 Low market penetration.

 Ever growing middle class component in population.
 Growth of customer’s interest with an increasing demand for better insurance
products.
 Application of information technology for business.
 Rebate from government in the form of tax incentives to be insured.

Today, the Indian life insurance industry has a dozen private players, each of which
are making strides in raising awareness levels, introducing innovative products and
increasing the penetration of life insurance in the vastly underinsured country.
Several of private insurers have introduced attractive products to meet the needs of
their target customers and in line with their business objectives
5.4 India: The Next Insurance Giant
Market Performance & Forecast: In 2000, Indian insurance market size was $21.71
billion. Between 2000 and 2007, it had an increase of 120% and reached $47.89
billion. Between 2000 and 2007, total premiums maintained an average growth rate
of 11.96% and the CAGR growth during this time frame has been 11.96%. It was
one of the most consistent growth patterns we have noticed in any other emerging
economies in Asian as well as Global markets.
Indian Insurance Market
Indian economy is the 12th largest in the world, with a GDP of $1.25 trillion and 3rd
largest in terms of purchasing power parity. With factors like a stable 8-9 per cent
annual growth, rising foreign exchange reserves, a booming capital market and a
rapidly expanding FDI inflows, it is on the fulcrum of an ever increasing growth curve.

Insurance is one major sector which has been on a continuous growth curve since
the revival of Indian economy. Taking into account the huge population and growing
per capita income besides several other driving factors, a huge opportunity is in store
for the insurance companies in India. According to the latest research findings,
nearly 80% of Indian population is without life insurance cover while health insurance
and non-life insurance continues to be below international standards. And this part of
the population is also subjected to weak social security and pension systems with
hardly any old age income security. As per our findings, insurance in India is
primarily used as a means to improve personal finances and for income tax planning;
Indians have a tendency to invest in properties and gold followed by bank deposits.
They selectively invest in shares also but the percentage is very small 4-5%. This in
itself is an indicator that growth potential for the insurance sector is immense. It’s a
business growing at the rate of 15-20% per annum and presently is of the order of
$47.9 billion.

India is a vast market for life insurance that is directly proportional to the growth in
premiums and an increase in life density. With the entry of private sector players
backed by foreign expertise, Indian insurance market has become more vibrant.
Competition in this market is increasing with company’s continuous effort to lure the
customers with new product offerings. However, the market share of private
insurance companies remains very low -- in the 10-15% range. Even to this day, Life
Insurance Corporation (LIC) of India dominates Indian insurance sector. The heavy
hand of government still dominates the market, with price controls, limits on
ownership, and other restraints.
Major Driving Factors

 Growing demand from semi-urban population

 Entry of private players following the deregulation

 Rising demand for retirement provision in the ageing population

 The opening of the pension sector and the establishment of the new pension
regulator

 Rising per capita incomes among the strong middle class, and spreading
affluence

 Growing consumer class and increase in spending & saving capacity

 Public private partnerships infrastructure development

 Dearth of innovative & buyer-friendly insurance products

 Success of Auto insurance sector

Emerging Areas

 Healthcare Insurance & Pension Plans

 Mutual fund linked insurance products
 Multiple Distribution Networks .i.e. Bank assurance

The upward growth trend started from 2000 was mainly due to economic policies
adopted by the then Indian government. This year saw initiation of an era of
economic liberalization and globalization in the Indian economy followed by several
reforms and long-term policies that created a perfect roadmap for the success of
Indian financial markets. On the basis of several macroeconomic factors like
increase in literacy rate & per capita income, decrease in death rate and
unemployment, better tax rebates, growing GDP etc., we estimate that the Indian
insurance sector will grow by $28.65 billion and reach $76.54 billion by 2011 with a
CAGR (compounded annual growth rate) of 12.44% and a growth of 59.82%.

5.5 Valuing the invaluable

Both under insurance and over insurance can often be attributed to the lack of
proper understanding of the exact insurance needs for oneself and the family, and
the failure to spot and cover all liabilities properly and adequately, or being over-
conservative in this regard.

Under Insurance

Under insurance, typically occurs when the existing financial liabilities and insurance
needs are fully taken care of. In the event of the untimely death of the only (or the
main earning) member of the family, his financial liabilities would obviously fall on his
dependents, leaving them in a state of financial distress that could threaten their
need of sustenance.

Over Insurance

Conversely, there are also instances where individuals indulge in life insurance
covers that far exceed in value than what is actually required. This is a classic case
of over insurance, which leads to an unnecessarily higher premium payment, leaving
you much poorer. It results in unnecessary expenditure that could otherwise be
wisely invested elsewhere.

The need for an adequate insurance cover is never static and keeps on varying with
changes in the life stages and important events of an individual. The table below
provides an insight into the various life stages and events when life insurance cover
usually requires a revision.

Life stage Requirement for a life insurance cover

Start work life An individual usually does not have any dependent like spouse or
children, thus allowing the need to take a life cover. However, if
your parents are dependents then you need to take appropriate
life cover on their behalf.
 Moreover, you may have taken a loan to finance your higher
education or professional studies or purchase a car. You should
take a suitable insurance cover so that in the event of your
untimely death, the burden of EMI payments does not pass to
your parents or other members of the family.

Recently married Marriage requires a revision of your insurance needs. This can
take a form of increase in life cover, taking into considerations an
expected increase in expenses and repayment of liabilities, if any.
Also, an insurance cover on the life of the spouse, although for a
lesser amount, can be considered.

However, if both the husband and the wife are working, the extent
and value of life insurance coverage on both lives will depend on
their respective remuneration packages, personal liabilities, as
well as extent of financial dependence on one another.
Birth of children The arrival of a child brings with it a great amount of
responsibility. At this stage, a revision of insurance needs is
based mainly on securing the financial needs of the child up to
the time he/she has grown up and settled in life.
Purchase of a Purchasing a house is a major financial decision not only on
regard to the choice of property but also in regard to the
house, car, etc commitment for repayment of the loan availed to finance the
property. Therefore, you should take out a mortgage redemption
plan to the extent of the outstanding loan amount.

Purchasing a car through a vehicle loan, too, calls for a life cover
of the borrower to the extent of the outstanding loan. The same
holds good for any other asset or event which has been financed
by a loan.
Loan taken for The loan taken to set up or enhance your profession or business
should be fully covered.
business/profession

5.6 Busting some insurance myths

With a range of products flooding the market, people today are more confused about
insurance than ever. Here are a bagful of myths floating around and I have made an
effort to bust a few of the significant ones.

1. I don’t want to put my hard-earned money into a pure term assurance plan if I
don’t even get back all the premiums paid on survival of the term.
  A pure term assurance plan is a risk mitigation tool and not an
investment product. In the event of your untimely death during the
policy term, your dependents get a “sum assured” to enable them to
continue living their existing lifestyle, repay loan liabilities and meet
long-term financial goals. To achieve this, you only need to pay a
premium amount that is a fraction of the “sum assured”. Moreover
unlike investments, where it takes years to build a suitable corpus, the
“sum assured” on your insurance policy is payable, in the event of your
untimely death, from the date of its commencement.

2. It would be enough if only the main breadwinner of the family takes life
insurance.

 While the main breadwinner should take out a life insurance policy on a
priority basis; the other members of the family should also be covered.
If the wife is working, then she should be covered to the extent of loss
of income to the family in the event of her untimely death. On the other
hand, even if she is not working, she should be covered, albeit for a
smaller sum, because her contribution to the family, in form of
household services, has monetary value.

3. I will get back all my premiums when I surrender my endowment policy

prematurely.

 You couldn’t be more wrong! You only get back the “surrender value”,
which is based on the “paid-up value” is a proportion of the original
“sum assured” based on the number of years for which premium was
paid against the total premium-paying years. The paid-up value of the
policy is also calculated and available as per the policy conditions.

4. Insurance is primarily useful as a tax-saving instrument.

 Again, this is a huge misconception! While you do get attractive tax

breaks, the primary objective of insurance is risk mitigations followed
by wealth creation for the long term. Many people end up taking this
myth too seriously, particularly without considering the costs and
benefits involved.

5. After three years, I can walk away from any ULIP, along with the accrued
investment or the fund value.

 Sure, you can do that! However, you need to remember that a ULIP, at
least in the initial years, is very different from a mutual fund. While a
mutual fund only charges o nominal fund management charge every
year, a ULIP is front loaded. That means a significant chunk of your
premium is allocated across various charges in the initial years of the
 policy and only the balance gets invested in a fund of your choice. As
these charges taper off and average over time, it makes sense to stay
in a ULIP for at least 15 years. Therefore, if your investment horizon is
just 3-5 years, you better off in a mutual fund, and you can take out a
separate term assurance plan for the required risk cover.

6. Company Profile

Karvy Stock Broking Ltd.

The karvy group was formed in 1983 at Hyderabad, India. KARVY, is a premier
integrated financial services provider, and ranked among the top five in the country
in all its business segments, services over 16 million individual investors in various
capacities, and provides investor services to over 300 corporates, comprising the
who is who of Corporate India.

KARVY covers the entire spectrum of financial services such as Stock broking,
Depository Participants, Distribution of financial products like mutual funds, bonds,
fixed deposit, Merchant Banking & Corporate Finance, Insurance Broking,
Commodities Broking, Personal Finance Advisory Services, placement of equity,
IPOs, among others. Karvy has a professional management team and ranks among
the best in technology, operations, and more importantly, in research of various
industrial segments.

   Karvy computer share limited is India’s largest registrar and transfer agent with a
client base of nearly 500 blue chip corporate, managing over 2 crores accounts.
Karvy stock brokers limited, member of national stock exchange of India and the
Bombay stock exchange, rank among the top five stock brokers in India with over six
lakh active account it ranks among the top five depositary participants in India,
registered with NSDL and CSDL, karvy commorade, member of NCDEX and MCX
ranks among the top three commodities brokers in the country. A Karvy insurance
broker is registered as a broker with IRDA and ranks among the top five insurance
agent in the country. Registered with AMFI as a corporate agent, karvy is also
among top mutual fund mobilize with over Rs 5000 crores under management. Karvy
realty services, which started in 2006, have quickly established itself as a broker,
who adds value in the realty sector. Karvy global offer niche off to off shoring
services to U.S clients.

Karvy has 575 offices in 375 locations across India and overseas at Dubai and
New York. Over 9000 highly qualified people staff karvy.

Quality Policy
   
  To achieve and retain leadership, Karvy shall aim for complete customer
satisfaction, by combining its human and technological resources, to provide
superior quality financial services. In the process, Karvy will strive to
exceed Customer's expectations. 

Quality Objectives  

As per the Quality Policy,  Karvy will : 

 Build in-house processes that will ensure transparent and harmonious

relationships with its clients and investors to provide high quality of
services.
 Establish a partner relationship with its investor service agents and
vendors that will help in keeping up its commitments to the customers.
 Provide high quality of work life for all its employees and equip them
with adequate knowledge & skills so as to respond to customer's
needs.
  Continue to uphold the values of honesty & integrity and strive to
establish unparalleled standards in business ethics.
 Use state-of-the art information technology in developing new and
innovative financial products and services to meet the changing needs
of investors and clients.
 Strive to be a reliable source of value-added financial products and
services and constantly guide the individuals and institutions in
making a judicious choice of same.
 Strive to keep all stake-holders(shareholders, clients, investors,
employees, suppliers and regulatory authorities) proud and satisfied.

   

Achievements
   

 Among the top 5 stock brokers in India (4% of NSE volumes)

 India's No. 1 Registrar & Securities Transfer Agents

 Among the top 3 Depository Participants

 Largest Network of Branches & Business Associates

 ISO 9002 certified operations by DNV

 Among top 10 Investment bankers

 Largest Distributor of Financial Products

 Adjudged as one of the top 50 IT uses in India by MIS Asia

 Full Fledged IT driven operations.

Insurance at Karvy
At karvy Insurance Broking Ltd. we provide both life and non-life insurance products
to retail individual, high net worth client and corporate with the opening up of the
insurance sector and with a large number of private players in the business, we are
in a position to provide tailor made policies for different segments of customers. In
our journey to emerge as a personal financial advisor, we will be better positioned to
leverage our relationship with the product providers and place the requirements of
our customers appropriately with the product providers. With Indian market seeing a
sea change, both in term of investment pattern and attitude of investors, insurance is
no more seen as only a tax saving product but also as an investment product. By
setting up a separate entity we would be positioned to provide the best of the
products available in this business to our customers.
Our wide national network, spanning the length and breadth of India, further
supports these advantages. Further, personalized service is provided here by a
dedicated team committed in giving hassle-free service to the clients.
Now as I have made a comparative analysis between the products of various
insurance companies, so its necessary to know something about those companies:-

7. Birla Sun Life Insurance

Birla sun life Insurance Company limited is a joint venture between the Aditya Birla
group, one of the largest business houses in India and Sun Life Financial Inc., as
leading international financial services organization. The local knowledge of the
Aditya Birla group combined with the expertise of Sun Life Financial Inc., offer a
formidable protection for your future. The Aditya Birla group has a turnover of Rs.
1,33,875 corers (as on 31st march 2008). It has over 100,000 employees across all
its units worldwide. It is led by its chairman – Mr. Kumar Mangalam Birla. Some of its
key companies are Hindalco, Grasim and Aditya Birla Nuvo.
Sun Life Financial Inc. and its partners, have operations in key markets worldwide.
These include Canada, U.S, U.K, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Japan, Indonesia,
India, china and Bermuda. Sun Life Financial Inc. has assets under management of
over us$ 404.7 BILLION (as on 31st March, 2008). It is a leading performer in the life
insurance market in Canada.
Birla sun life insurance (BSLI) has been operating for 7 years. It has contributed
significantly to the growth and development of the life insurance industry in India. It
pioneered the launch of unit linked life insurance plans amongst the private player in
India. It pioneered the launch of united linked life insurance plans amongst the
private players in India. It was the first player in industry to sell its policies through
the Bancassurance route and through the internet. It was the first private sector
player to introduce a pure term plan in the Indian market. BSLI has covered more
than 2 million lives since it commenced operations.

8. Life Insurance Corporation Of India

Mission
"Explore and enhance the quality of life of people through financial security by
providing products and services of aspired attributes with competitive returns, and by
rendering resources for economic development."

Vision
"A trans-nationally competitive financial conglomerate of significance to societies and
Pride of India

Every day we wake up to the fact that more than 220 million lives are part of our
family called LIC.

We are humbled by the magnitude of the responsibility we carry and realize that the
lives that are associated with us are very valuable indeed.

Although this journey started five decades ago, we are still conscious of the fact that,
while insurance may be a business for us, being part of millions of lives every day for
the past 52 years has been a process called TRUST.

9. National Insurance Company Limited

National Insurance Company Limited was incorporated in 1906 with its registered
office in Kolkata. Consequent to passing of the General Insurance Business
Nationalisation Act in 1972, 21 Foreign and 11 Indian Companies were
amalgamated with it and National became a subsidiary of General Insurance
Corporation of India (GIC) which is fully owned by the Government of India. After the
notification of the General Insurance Business (Nationalisation) Amendment Act, on
7th August 2002, National has been de-linked from its holding company GIC and
presently operating as a Government of India undertaking.

National Insurance Company Ltd (NIC) is one of the leading public sector insurance
companies of India, carrying out non life insurance business. Headquartered in
Kolkata, NIC's network of about 1000 offices, manned by more than 16,000 skilled
personnel, is spread over the length and breadth of the country covering remote rural
areas, townships and metropolitan cities. NIC's foreign operations are carried out
from its branch offices in Nepal.

National transacts general insurance business of Fire, Marine and Miscellaneous

insurance. The Company offers protection against a wide range of risks to its
customers. The Company is privileged to cater its services to almost every sector or
industry in the Indian Economy viz.
Banking, Telecom, Aviation, Shipping, Information Technology, Power, Oil & Energy,
Agronomy, Plantations, Foreign Trade, Healthcare, Tea, Automobile, Education,
Environment, Space Research etc.

National Insurance is the second largest non life insurer in India having a large
market presence in Northern and Eastern India.

10. Tata AIG life-A New Look at Life

Tata AIG Life Insurance Company Limited (Tata AIG Life) is a joint venture
company, formed by the Tata Group and American International Group, Inc.

The Tata Group holds 74 percent stake in the insurance venture with AIG holding
the balance 26 percent. Tata AIG Life provides insurance solutions to individuals and
corporate. Tata AIG Life Insurance Company was licensed t operates in India on
February 12, 2001 and started operations on April 1, 2001.

Tata AIG Life offers a broad array of life insurance coverage to both individuals and
groups, providing various types of add-ons and options on basic life products to give
consumers flexibility and choice.

11. Reliance General Insurance

Reliance General Insurance is the fastest growing private sector general insurance
company in India with innovative product offerings and customer service standards
that are benchmarked to the best insurance practices in the world.
Reliance General Insurance offers a range of products for corporate and individual
customers. With a focus on customer-centric products, multiple distribution channels
and technology, reliance general insurance aims to increase its presence in the retail
sector.

Reliance General Insurance is 100% subsidiary of reliance capital limited, which is

one of the India’s leading and fastest growing private sector financial services
companies. It ranks among the top three private sector financial companies and
banking groups in terms of net worth.

Reliance capital has interests in asset management and mutual funds, life insurance,
general insurance, private equity and proprietary investments, stock broking and
other activities in financial services. Reliance capital is a part of the Reliance – Anil
Dhirubhai Ambani Group.

12. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

12.1 Sources

The success of any Insurance company depends on how well they are able to align
with the objectives and needs of individual customers, and is able to provide proper
solutions to them. To know how a company is performing and whether they have any
cutting edge advantage over competitors, an intensive study of the market is
absolutely necessary.
In order to understand the performance of different companies in the market, we did
two types of surveys, primary survey and secondary survey.

Primary survey
Primary survey included:-
 Visiting websites and fixing appointments with their agents.

 Creation of database of prospective clients from different

sources calling them up to fix appointment and then visiting
them.

 Prepare a questionnaire for the market survey .

  Meeting different people to know their views, perception and
preference of different insurance companies.

Secondary survey
Secondary survey included of consulting books, magazines, journals, internet and
also taking reference from:-
library.
Internet.
karvy the finapolis.

12.2 Methodology
We would go in for a qualitative research as our objective is to judge the perception
and preference of different insurance products. The research would be done from
primary data.

Sample Design

Target population: The target population for the research would be people who are
in the age group beyond 40 and age group between 25 to [Link] targeted this group
of population because these populations are the potential customers of insurance.

 Sampling Frame: The research would be conducted in Kolkata. The survey

has been conducted among the potential customers of karvy from different
sectors as karvy deals in many sectors of business.

 Sampling Technique: The sampling technique that is adopted is the simple

random sampling wherein every element in the target population has an equal
chance or probability of getting selected in the sample. That means every unit
of the population who is more is in the above mentioned age group, have an
equal chance of getting selected
 Sample Size: I did a survey among 100 people by taking two categories in
consideration of 50 each; that is
1.) Age group beyond 40
2) Age group between 25 to 40

 Data Collection: The research would be conducted from the source of

primary data collection. Secondary data would help us in knowing the trends
prevailing in the insurance market and would help us in analyzing and
interpretation of the primary data.

13. COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS

Birla sun life insurance Life Insurance Corporation Of
India
Name of the scheme Name of the scheme
Saral jeevan plan Jeevan saral

Purpose Purpose
BSLI saral jeevan plan comes with a jeevan saral plan comes with a bouquet
bouquet of benefits, which fulfill of benefits, which fulfill needs of life
needs of life cover and investment at cover.
an affordable rate.

Type of policy Type Of Policy

Unit linked endowment plan Traditional plan

Returns and added benefits Returns and added benefits

1. An easy and simple plan 1. Maturity benefit is total premium
2. Earn efficient returns + bonus (approx Rs 50/thousand)
3. Match your risk profile at every 2. Death benefit is 250 times of
stage monthly premium
4. Death benefits with a plus, that
 is, sum assured plus the fund 3. The policy can be surrendered at
value. any time during the tenure of the
5. Unmatched liquidity policy subject to surrender
6. At the end of policy term you charge. The charge will be zero
get fund value. after 4th policy year.
7. The policy can be surrendered
at any time during the tenure
of the policy subject to
surrender charge. The charge
will be zero after 4th policy year.

Payment of premium
Pay the premiums on an annual,
semi-annual, quarterly or monthly Payment of premium
Pay the premiums on an annual, semi-
mode.
annual, quarterly or monthly mode
Eligibility
18 to 55 years of age Eligibility
18 to 70 years of age
Term of maturity
There is an option of three policy Term of maturity
terms 10 years, 15 years and 20 There is an option of three policy terms
years. 10 years, 15 years and 20 years.

Tax benefit Tax benefit

Avail of tax benefit under section 80C Avail of tax benefit under section 80C
and section 10(10 D) of the Income and section 10(10 D) of the Income Tax
Tax Act, 1961. Act, 1961.
Birla sun life insurance Tata AIG life

Name of the scheme Name of the scheme

Gold-plus II plan Invest assure apex

Purpose Purpose
A simple, hassle free plan it helps you The plan provides a platform ensuring
strike the right proportion between the upside potential of the equity
protection and savings. markets while safeguarding the
investor’s interest by offering a
guaranteed maturity unit price (GMUP).
Type of policy
This is a non-participating unit linked Type of policy
savings plan. This is a unit linked life insurance plan.

Returns and added benefits Returns and added benefits

1. Match your risk profile at every 1. Can make partial withdrawal only
stage. after completion of 3 years. A
2. Unlimited partial withdrawals maximum of 4 partial withdrawals
after 3 policy years, free of cost. is allowed in one policy year. No
3. The policy can be surrendered charges are applicable.
at any time during the tenure of 2. Minimum sum assured: 5 times the
the policy subject to surrender annualized premium.
charge, the charge will be zero 3. Maximum sum assured: 60 times
th
after 4 policy year. the annualized premium.
4. At the end of the policy term 4. The policy can be surrendered any
you get the fund value. time after 3 policy years by a
5. On death the nominee will get written notice, subject to
the greater of (a) the fund value deduction of the applicable
or (b) the sum assured reduced surrender charges.
 for partial withdrawals. 5. On death the nominee will get
higher of: the sum assured or the
6. Minimum sum fund value.
assured:5*annual premium 6. On maturity the nominee will get
higher of the fund value or the
guaranteed maturity unit price
multiplied by the number of units.
Additional coverage Additional coverage
Nil  Tata AIG life accidental death
benefit rider.
 Tata AIG life accidental death and
dismemberment rider
 Tata AIG life critical illness rider

Payment of premium
Payment of premiums
Premium is paid for a period of 3 years
Premium is paid for a period of 3 years
with the option to reduce, subject to
with the flexibility to reduce premium
minimum limit, which is higher of 75% of
(subject to minimum of Rs.10000) from
the first year regular premium paid or
the second policy year onwards without
[Link] sum assured remains same
reduction in sum assured.
even if reduction in premium is affected.

Eligibility
Eligibility
18 to 70 years of age.
18 to 70 years of age.

Term of maturity Term of maturity

The policy term is 8 years. The policy term is 10 years.
Tax benefit
Tax benefits Avail of tax benefit under section 80C
Avail of tax benefit under section 80C and section 10(10 D) of the Income Tax
and section 10(10 D) of the Income Tax Act, 1961.
Act, 1961.
National Insurance Reliance General
Company ltd. Insurance
Name of the scheme Name of the scheme
The National health plan Reliance health wise policy

Purpose Purpose
To provide financial support , To provide financial support,
spiraling cost of health care, spiraling cost of health care,
protect your savings from protect your savings from
unforeseen circumstances unforeseen circumstances.

Type of policy Type of policy

Family floater coverage available Covers your family on a floater
up to 6 members of a family basis applicable to a maximum
including dependent children of four persons you, your spouse
under the age of 25 years and and two dependent children
dependent parents below under the age of 21 years.
65years.
Benefits Benefits
1. Covers pre-existing 1. Covers pre-existing
diseases (excluding diseases after two/four
chemotherapy, continuous renewals.
radiotherapy and dialysis.)
2. Day care treatment
2. Maternity coverage (nine expenses covered
months waiting period
applicable.) 3. Cashless facility

3. Cashless policy 4. Pre-post hospitalization

covered
4. Critical illness buffer cover:
additional coverage up to 5. Double sum insured is
Rs.75000 per family for automatically available as
 hospitalization in case of soon as any of the listed
heart surgery, neuro critical illness is diagnosed.
surgery, organ transplant,
6. Discount on renewal
cancer, road traffic
premium for claim free
accidents.
policy
5. No medical test required.
Payment of premiums
Premium has to be paid yearly
and the amount depends on the
Payment of premiums sum insured and the number of
Premium has to be paid yearly dependents in the family
and the amount depends on the
sum insured and the number of Eligibility
dependents in the family 3 months to 65 years of age

Eligibility Term of maturity

3 months to 65 years of age One year, that is, the policy has
to be renewed yearly.
Term of maturity
One year, that is, the policy has Tax benefits
to be renewed yearly. Avail of tax benefit under
section 80D of Income Tax Act,
Tax benefits 1961
Avail of tax benefit under section
80D of Income Tax Act, 1961

14. Findings and Interpretations

We have presented below the findings and analysis of the questionnaire addressed
to the respondents to gauge the attitude and perception of the people towards
insurance.

Respondents having life Insurance

The question was asked to the respondents to know how many of the respondents
had a life insurance policy.

From the survey it was found out that 85% of the respondents had a life insurance
policy whereas 15% of the respondents didn’t had a life insurance policy.

Insurance policy taken from which company

The question was asked to the respondents so as to get to know from which
insurance company they have bought the policy

The finding which came out from the survey was that 40% of the respondents who
have a life insurance cover bought life insurance from Life Insurance Corporation of
India (LIC). LIC is the most preferred brand in the insurance industry because it is
the only government company which offers insurance. People prefer to buy
insurance from LIC because of the security being one of the prime factors. In the
figure we can also see that nowadays people mindset have changed towards
insurance and are opting for private company for insurance cover or policy.

From whose suggestion have the respondents taken a policy?

It was asked to gain an insight from the respondents that on whose suggestion did
they opt for a life insurance cover or policy.

After the survey it was found that most of the respondents took policy or life
insurance cover from the suggestions of their friends or [Link] only 23
respondents took policy on the recommendation of the [Link] sources like
banks, corporate tie-ups and etc. plays a minute role in reaching out people for
insurance policies.

Type of plan
The respondents were asked which type of plan they go in for when they take up
insurance cover or policy.
After the survey it was found that term plan was the most preferred plan. Next on the
list was endowment plan. Pension plan and health plan are the least preferred by
customers .

Preference of insurance sector according to age group:-

Age group beyond 40
 Graphical presentation
35

30

25

20

15

10

0
LIC TATA AIG BIRLA RELIANCE AVIVA OTHERS

Pie – Chart
 percentage

4%
8%
6%
L.I.C
10% TATA AIG
BIRLA
60%
RELIANCE
12
% AVIVA
OTHERS

Age Group Between 25 – 40

 Graphical presentation
25

20

15

10

0
TATA AIG birla LIC RELIANCE AVIVA OTHERS

Pie-chart
 Percentage

10%
6%
TATA AIG
10% 40% BIRLA
L.I.C
RELIANCE
AVIVA
20% OTHERS

14%

15. Results

After the survey it was found that still major portion of customers go for public
insurance companies, but with the entry of more and more private companies the
scenario is changing rapidly, people with a need of more and better returns are
opting for private companies, and this can be justified by the increasing market share
of private companies in the Indian insurance sector.
There are various ways in which private companies are found much more lucrative
than public companies and the facts which support this statement are as follows:-
1. Versatility of products.
2. Efficient fund managers.
3. Better customer services.
4. More returns.
5. Regular follow up.
6. Quicker settlement

16. Suggestions and recommendation

 People are not aware of the life insurance. Most of them know only one company
which provides life insurance i.e. LIC. So awareness campaign should be run so
that people are aware of different life insurance companies in India.
 People should be educated about the different types of products or plans offered
by the life insurance companies. Most of them don’t know much of the different
types of plan or products.

 It was felt that most of the people took life for tax savings or just to cover up their
life, not as an investment avenue. Life Insurance companies need to advertise in
such a manner that people start investing in life insurance like the way they invest
in the stock market

 Now at the time of global turmoil insurance company had to hold on to the
policyholders trust which might lead the company to the path of success

 Insurance companies should try to adopt different strategies to market their

products or plan. Companies should not primarily focus on the agents for their
business.

17. Conclusion

Insurance is one sector that witnessed continuous growth owing to the reforms in
2000. The insurance sector is likely to attain a size of Rs. 2,00,000 crore ($ 51.2
billion) in 2009-10. In life insurance, the business grew by 23.3% to Rs. 93,000 crore
in 2007-08 (Source:Assocham). The sector alone employs close to 30 lakh people
(including agents and direct employees).
A well-functioning insurance market plays an important role in economic
development and financial stability of developing economies such as India’s. First, it
inculcates and encourages the habit of saving. Second, it provides a safety net to
rural and urban enterprise and productive individuals.

The life insurance market in India is on a growth path. In spite of this, the country
lags far behind the others in awareness about life insurance. The challenge is to
spread awareness about life insurance and it true benefits. The industry has to
convince people to park their hard earned money in long-term insurance and not just
look at it as a tax saving instrument.

18. Limitations

1. Useful Financial insights are not easily available.

2. Due to time constraint sufficient research on all the investment tools is difficult.

3. The survey sample is not very large for analysis

.
4. Properly convincing people to invest in insurance products is challenging.

5. Due to recession there is liquidity crunch in the market.

6. There might have been tendencies among the respondents to amplify or filter
their responses under the testing conditions
.
 7. The research is confined to Kolkata and does not necessarily shows a pattern
applicable to other parts of the country.

19. Attachments.
Questionnaire
1. Sex :

2. Age :

3. Occupation :

4. Income :

5. Marital status :

6. No. of family members :

7. Mobile no. :

8. Are you insured yes/no

9. If yes , then with life/ non-life/both

10. In which company ________________

11. How you rank your insurance company ?

|----------------|-----------------------|------------------|-----------------------|

excellent very good good fair bad

12. Who suggested you to take the Insurance Policy?

Friends Family Agents
Others, please specify
13. In which of the insurance plan have you invested the money?
Term Plan Endowment plan Money Back Plan
Children Plan Pension plan ULIP (Unit Linked Insurance
Plan)
Health Plan Others please
specify_______________________________

14. Rank the insurance co. according to your preference:

a) LIC/GIC _____

b) BIRLA _____

c) TATA AIG _____

d) AVIVA _____

e) RELIANCE _____

f) _______ _____

15. Where do government insurance co. need to improve ? [ ]

a) Service

b) Return

c) Information

d) Varity
 e) Easy claim

16. Reason behind the preference of your insurance company?

___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________.

20. References:
 The monthly fact sheet available from the company for studying the features
of products.
 Online information from the various websites namely:-

[Link]

[Link]

[Link]

[Link]
[Link]

[Link]

[Link]