IRDA relaxes ULIP norms

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The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) has revised upwards by 20 per cent the investment cap in money market instruments in respect of unit linked insurance policies (ULIP).
According to the revised guideline, ULIP holders can invest up to 40 per cent of their portfolio in money market instruments. The insurers have to ensure that at no point of time the investment in money market instruments exceed the new limit. They should also revise their sales literature accordingly.

Bank Of India + Dai-Ichi New Venture

Bank of India (BoI) along with the Japanese insurance major, Dai-Ichi Mutual Life Insurance Company, and the Union Bank of India have entered into an arrangement to set up a life insurance company as a joint venture.
The company will split the capital stake at 51 per cent, 26 per cent and 23 per cent respectively, amongst the three partners, BoI officials said. Incidentally, the bank will also start a joint venture in Zambia soon.

Humor - Military Insurance

Airman Jones was assigned to the induction center, where he advised new recruits about their government benefits, especially their GI insurance. It wasn't long before Captain Smith noticed that Airman Jones was having a staggeringly high success-rate, sellinginsurance to nearly 100% of the recruits he advised. Rather than ask about this, the Captain stood in the back of the room and listened to Jones' sales pitch.
Jones explained the basics of the GI Insurance to the new recruits, and then said: "If you have GI Insurance and go into battle and are killed, the government hasto pay $200,000 to your beneficiaries. If you don't have GI insurance, and you go into battle and get killed, the government only has to pay a maximum of $6000.
Now," he concluded, "which group do you think they are going to send into battle first?"

Tips for Buying Life Insurance

Following are some useful tips if you are planning to buy insurance. Do follow the suggestions to benefit more from your purchase.

Conduct Need Analysis
Ascertain your insurance need by conducting a thorough Need Analysis Exercise. Most Insurance companies provide ‘Need Analysis Forms’. Advisors of such companies are trained to help you conduct the exercise to determine insurance need right from Basic Insurance Coverage till Post Retirement Planning.
Check out for “Need Analysis Form” available on the net, if you wish to do it yourself initially.

Shop Around

Life Insurance premiums can vary widely from company to company. Thanks to the Internet and other mediums, it's now easier than ever to collect information about company, products. Visit Insurance company’s websites, gain knowledge about available products. Compare features – advantages – benefits of a product over competitor. Decide best suitable option.

Buy Required Coverage Only
Buy enough coverage to meet your needs. More life insurance coverage than you need means more outgo towards unnecessarily high premiums. On the other hand, it's important not to have too little coverage, resulting in, you being underinsured.

Better Health, Better Rates

You will be asked to pay a higher rate for anything that cut down your life expectancy (e.g., if you smoke, take medications regularly, are overweight, bad medical history). Poor health attracts Loading or high chances of proposal rejection.
It's true – healthy people get better rates on life insurance.

Early Bird, Catches Worm
If you trying to postpone Life Insurance purchase due to unwillingness to pay premiums, you are doing disservice to yourself. Younger the age, lower the premium. Take advantage of your age, secure yourself early. Take benefit of more insurance cover for lesser premium.

Review Insurance Cover Periodically
Life takes you through events which change your levels of responsibility, e.g. Marriage, Birth of a Child, Schooling, and Marriage of children. Review your life insurance coverage to ensure right coverage. Make sure events don’t leave you underinsured.

Select Premium Payment Term Wisely
Premium attracts interest loading when paid in higher frequencies like Half Yearly, Quarterly or Monthly. Annual Premium payment option offer discounts. So, judiciously select Premium Mode and save on Premium.

Don’t Rely alone on Employer Provided Insurance
Many employers offer their employees some sort of group life insurance. But this amount of coverage is usually not enough to adequately meet your life insurance needs. In addition, group life insurance policies are not portable, meaning that if you leave your job, you can't take your life insurance coverage with you.

Follow Principle of Insurance
Do not hide information about your health or life style at the time of proposal. If Insurer finds ambiguity, they can decline a proposal. If found later, can have direct impact on maturity payment or proceeds. Follow the principle of ‘Utmost good faith’.