Top Insurance Policies in India

About Insurance Policy

In insurance industry terminology, an insurance policy is an agreement, which is more often than not a standard form of contract, between the insured and the insurer. The insurance policy is used to decide the claims that a policyholder is legally entitled to and the insurer is supposed to pay as per the terms agreed to in the contract.

The insurer pays the damages to an insured for any situation that is covered in the policy - the payment is done according to the premium that is paid by the insured. Insurance policies have various types of features and conditions that vary according to the type of policy taken and the requirements that the plan is supposed to satisfy.

As the insurance policies are standardized contracts they feature a similar sort of language in spite of differences in kind.

How to buy insurance policies?

The basic function in purchasing an insurance policy is to do comprehensive research on the internet or in the insurance market and find out which companies are the best in the type of insurance that one is looking for.

Interested proposers can also look up policy aggregator sites that provide comparative information on particular types of policies so that they can get a fair idea of how much a policy costs and how much it is providing. These websites also provide one a good idea of the various terms and conditions applicable for the proposers.

Following are some important factors that need to be kept in mind while buying insurance policies:

• How much is the premium

The proposer needs to carefully factor in whether he or she would be able to pay the premium throughout the policy term period. If they are unable to pay at any time they might incur penalties or the policies might be cancelled.

• Is the insurance plan serving the purpose

One should not avail an insurance policy just because it is being provided by a top insurer or because the sum insured is very rewarding. They should carefully look at what the policy covers and what procedures have to be followed to recover claims - this is especially applicable for health policies that cover critical illnesses and accident plans.

• Claims procedures

The proposers should have a proper idea of how quickly their claims will be settled and they should discuss this with the agent or the company, depending on the entity that has provided them the policy in the first place.

They should also have a clear idea of which documents will be required to file the claims and what process of hospitalization needs to be followed in order to make a claim.

Certain policies require the third party administrators to be informed within a specified period of time of hospitalization in order to make the claim. So these things have to be kept in mind as well.

• Terms and conditions

The proposers should know every term and condition mentioned in the policy properly so that they are not caught unawares in a critical situation. This includes important areas like how much of the sum insured will be paid in various conditions or what tests will have to be taken in order to avail a policy, and also when the payments would be made.

• Coverage

This factor needs to be covered while deciding on the riders associated with various policies. Like someone who is not very healthy can look for a critical illness rider or someone who is facing financial problems with his or her treatment can look at various cash benefits provided by the insurers. Proposers who are married with children and stay with their parents can look family cover riders.

When to buy insurance policies

Just like a loan, the ideal time to buy an insurance policy is best taken when the proposed is young and earning on a regular basis. This has two major benefits - firstly due to the young age and presumably lesser physical complications the premiums are lesser and secondly due to the regular income it is easy to pay the premiums.

In case someone decides to avail insurance during old age then the premiums are normally double than their younger counterparts. Then they often need to undergo several pre-acceptance tests on which the chances of getting the policy depend. Moreover, since the senior citizens are most likely to make claims, it can make them less attractive propositions for the insurers.

Types of Insurance Policies

Following are the various types of insurance policies:

Health Insurance

• Accidental death and dismemberment insurance
• Long term care insurance
• Dental insurance
• National health insurance
• Disability insurance (Total permanent disability insurance)
• Payment protection insurance
• Income protection insurance
• Vision insurance

Life Insurance

• Mortgage life insurance
• Universal life insurance
• Permanent life insurance
• Variable universal life insurance
• Term life insurance
• Whole life insurance

Business Insurance

• Bond insurance
• Protection and indemnity insurance
• Directors and officers liability insurance
• Trade credit insurance
• Fidelity bond
• Umbrella insurance
• Professional liability insurance

Residential Insurance

• Contents insurance
• Lenders mortgage insurance
• Earthquake insurance
• Mortgage insurance
• Flood insurance
• Property insurance
• Home insurance
• Title insurance
• Landlords insurance

Transport/communication Insurance

• Aviation insurance
• Satellite insurance
• Computer insurance
• Travel insurance
• Public auto insurance
• Vehicle insurance
• Marine insurance

Top Insurance Plans in India

Following is a list of the leading insurers in India and their best products:

Insurer	Products
LIC	LIC Jeevan Vaibhav
ICICI Prudential	ICICI Pru Child Plans ICICI Pru iCare
Reliance Life Insurance	Classic Plan II Money Multiplier Plan Care for You Plan
Bajaj Allianz	Family Floater Health Guard Plan Car Insurance CashRich
Birla Sun Life	BSLI Guaranteed Wealth Plan
HDFC Life Insurance	HDFC Life Smart Woman Plan Click2Protect Online Protection Plan
Tata AIG Insurance	Tata AIG Motor Insurance Tata AIG Travel Insurance Tata AIG Wellsurance Family
ING Vysya Life Insurance	ING Star Life ING Market Shield
Kotak Life Insurance	Kotak Assured Protection Plan Kotak Assured Income Plan Kotak Ace Investment Plan
Aviva	Aviva i-Life
Future Generali	Future Generali Smart Life Future Generali Health Suraksha
MetLife	Retirement Plans
Shriram Life	ShriLife Wealth Plus Money Back Shriram Ujjwal Life SP
Bharti AXA General Insurance	Car Insurance
Bharti AXA Life Insurance	Bharti AXA Life Secure Savings Bharti AXA Life Triple Health Insurance Plan
AEGON Religare	iTerm
IDBI Federal Life Insurance	Termsurance Wealthsurance Childsurance Lifesurance Healthsurance
Canara HSBC OBC Life Insurance	Dream Smart Plan Secure Smart Plan Grow Smart Plan Smart Sanchay Plan Future Smart Plan
DLF Pramerica	DLF Pramerica Income Rakshak
IndiaFirst Life Insurance	IndiaFirst Maha Jeevan Plan
Sahara India Life Insurance	Sahara Vatsalya-Jeevan Bima
Apollo Munich Health Insurance	Optima Senior
ICICI Lombard	ICICI Lombard Complete Health Insurance
Star Health Insurance	Family Health Optima Senior Citizen Health Insurance Star Comprehensive Insurance Policy
IFFCO-TOKIO General Insurance	Auto Protector Private Car Medishield Travel Protector
New India Assurance	Householder's Policy Motor Insurance Policy Overseas Mediclaim Policy Fire and Machinery Policy Industrial All Risk Policy Shopkeeper's Policy
Oriental Insurance	Motor Insurance
Cholamandalam MS General Insurance	Chola MS Family Healthline Chola MS Student Travel Chola MS Private Car
HDFC Ergo General Insurance	Motor Insurance Travel Insurance Health Insurance Home Insurance
Universal Sompo General Insurance	Individual Health Insurance Travel Insurance Shopkeepers Insurance Policy Motor Insurance Policy Householders' Insurance Policy
L&T Insurance	my:health Medisure Prime Insurance
RELIGARE Health Insurance	CARE

Last Updated on 09/11/2012

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