Life Insurance in Kolkata

Overview Life Insurance in Kolkata

Kolkata is one of the prominent cities in the country and is the capital city of the eastern state of West Bengal. The state has traditionally been an important political stage and also has a great cultural and historical history it is one of the earliest metro cities in the country. it also had a pivotal role in the independence of the country with many major contributions from the residents of this city. The city was originally known as Calcutta but was officially renamed in the year 2001. The city is also of great strategic importance as it a vital for communication with the northeast region of the country.

Life insurance has traditionally been a very important form of investment for the citizens of the country. It is considered to be one of the go-to investment options for investors of every class and category. Given below are a few details of the life insurance in the city of Kolkata.

What are the types of life insurance policies available in Kolkata?

Life insurance is the most common and most favoured type of insurance available in our country. It is a safety net that provides financial security to the policyholder and his/her family members. There are many types of insurance plans available in the market today which provide the benefits of insurance along with providing market returns like mutual funds.

Some of the basic types of insurances that can be opted by the customers for themselves or their family members are mentioned below.

Unit Linked Insurance Plans (ULIPs)

ULIPs are one of the traditional investment options in the Indian market for decades. This type of insurance can be used to provide long term protection for policyholders and their family members. A portion of the premium paid by the policyholders is used for insurance while a portion of the premium will be invested to take units of the investment chosen by the insured person. It is important to note that such plans have a minimum lock-in period of 3 to 5 years and risk protection for the investor.

Term Insurance

Term insurance was often associated as the only type of life insurance available in rural India. It is the most basic and cheapest form of life insurances. Under this policy, there are no maturity benefits given to the policyholder but death benefits are given to the nominee of the insured person in the unfortunate event of death of the insured person. It is a plain vanilla insurance cover without any benefits like market returns. The tenure of the policy is fixed from 5 years to 50 years.

Term insurance with return of premium

This is a modified version of the plan above. Under this plan, policyholders get back a portion of the premium paid. Such premium is returned at the end of the policy term if there is no claim payment made. This option is preferred by investors who are relatively low risk and may not need an insurance claim during the policy term. The probability of a claim to be paid is considerably low which makes it an attractive option to get back the premium paid as well as safeguard the death benefits.

Child insurance plans

These plans are targeted at parents of young children for securing their ward’s future. These plans provide the benefit of insurance along with investment. Parents can take these plans for their children from the time of their birth to gradually build a fund for their education or higher education needs. Many plans also provide the option to withdraw from the policy at regular intervals. The amount under the policy can be withdrawn at the time of maturity of the policy or when the child reaches adulthood.

Group life insurance

A group life insurance as the name suggests is a blanket cover taken by the employer of the organisation for their entire staff. The benefit of the cover is continued till the employee is part of the company. After leaving the company, the employee is no longer eligible for the benefits of the plan. Upon leaving the company employees have the option to convert their group policy to individual policy upon leaving the company.

Retirement plans

The goal of these plans is to provide retirement benefits to the policyholders in addition to the life cover. Policyholders get a fixed amount of money at regular intervals as per the agreement between the insurer and the policyholder. Returns under the plan is received in the form of pension in the vesting period. Death benefits under the plan are provided to the nominee of the policyholder.

Moneyback policies

This policy is also in line with the previous plans as it also provides for premium returns. This policy allows the Insured person to get back the amount of premium paid by them during the tenure of the policy. Under this policy, a fixed percentage of the sum assured is given to the policyholders at regular intervals. At the end of the term, the balance amount of the sum assured is given to the policyholder. This policy does not provide for any accrued bonuses at the time of maturity. Nominees are eligible to get death benefits in the event of death of the insured person.

Endowment plans

Endowment plans are another type of life plan that offer the benefit of savings cum insurance plans. Under these plans, the policyholder will not only get a life cover for themselves and their family but also accumulate wealth along the way. The insurer will provide a lump sum benefit at the end of the policy tenure which can be used to meet long term financial goals.

Whole life insurance 

This is another form of term insurance that is available for the residents of Kolkata. Coverage under this plan is used to secure the insured person for their entire life. The tenure of the policy is 100 years giving them the maturity benefits if they survive the policy term. The legal heirs of the policyholders are eligible to get death benefits under the plan. Many policies also provide the option to make payment for the premium on these plans for the first 10 to 15 years and enjoy the benefits of the plan for their lifetime.

Life Insurance in Kolkata FAQs