INSURANCE


Max Bupa, Apollo Munich and Star Health and other standalone insurance companies may benefit from IRDA’s bancassurance exposure draft while bank-promoted insurance companies like ICICI Pru Life, ICICI Lombard, SBI Life and HDFC Life will be adversely impacted The bancassurance exposure draft...

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Its business as usual even after two months of the IRDA circular which asked insurers to not reject claims on technical grounds. With no warning or penalty for specific insurers, will the IRDA circular be taken seriously?  Two months ago the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority...

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Moneylife Digital Team 23 November 2011
Charges are in line with those of other ULIPs Edelweiss Tokio Life Insurance, a new entrant in life insurance business, has launched three ULIPs (unit-linked insurance plans). Wealth Accumulation (Cover Plus) is targeted at customers looking for a balance between death benefit and...

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IRDA’s guidelines on comparison websites will make it impossible for likes of PolicyBazaar.com and MyinsuranceClub.com to survive in their current form The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority’s (IRDA) stringent guidelines for comparison websites are seen as a deathblow for likes...

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Subrahmanyam B, vice president & head, health vertical, Bharti AXA General Insurance, speaks to Raj Pradhan ML: The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) circular says that if an insurer does not respond to a portability proposal within 15 days, it is deemed to be accepted. How...

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ML Digital Team 17 November 2011
Nielsen's dubious study According to Nielsen’s study on the life insurance sector and investment patterns, LIFE 2011, insurance products are the favourite of 60% of urban Indians as an investment option; they are likely to invest more than half of their investable surplus in these products...

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ML Digital Team 17 November 2011
But who will service it? The Oriental Bank Mediclaim policy family floater policy is available for sum insured of Rs1 lakh to Rs5 lakh. For a policy of Rs5 lakh, the premium is as low as Rs6,705 a year. This product will be available to all Oriental Bank customers up to the age of 79 years. It...

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ML Digital Team 17 November 2011
You can now revive ULIPS within two years The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority has mandated insurers to allow policyholders to revive ULIPs (unit-linked insurance plans) in two years of the last premium paid, but not after the lock-in period of five years has expired. It is a good...

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ML Digital Team 17 November 2011
L&T Insurance's novel scheme L&T General Insurance has launched its first product, my:health Medisure Prime. The key feature is that your postal pin code will determine your premium. “Hospitalisation is more expensive in Mumbai and Delhi compared to other cities. One of the reasons for this is...

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Moneylife Digital Team 17 November 2011
PAN for Rs50,000 cash payment of insurance premium From 1st November, you need a permanent account number (PAN) for paying insurance premium of Rs50,000 (or more), if you intend to make insurance payment in cash. The new guidelines are aimed at curbing money laundering and dealing with the...

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IRDA chairman appears to inclined towards the idea of guaranteed pension product even after scrapping of the 4.5% p.a guarantee. According to him, the pension ULIPs sold prior to 1 September 2010 were mis-sold as it was not really sold for pension needs The Insurance Regulatory and...

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The online term life insurance market is heating up with more players entering the fray. The premium is now similar to personal accident cover offered by non-life insurance companies. Is it sustainable? Are the products priced too aggressively?  Many insurers like LIC, HDFC Life, Bharti AXA...

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Pension ULIP products will enter the market after 4.5% per annum guaranteed return has been scrapped, but some guarantee will ensure high exposure to debt and hence returns will not even beat inflation. Will customers shy away? The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) has...

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IRDA may allow agents to sell products of more than one company similar to opening bancassurance to two insurers. Will it help agents increase remuneration or confuse customers and undermine the intension of the change? Will it increase mis-selling? Insurance Regulatory and Development...

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Health insurer are rejecting claims on flimsy grounds.RajPradhan explores the sick side of mediclaim and guides you on how to protect yourself Tarun Dutt (name changed) learnt it the hard way—the moment of truth in any insurance policy is claim settlement; payment of premium means...

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Beware of products that promise you everything under the sun. Traditional insurance cannot give you high returns. Don’t fall for combination plans. Check out the credentials of the agent you deal with as many operate without IRDA licenses Some traditional products can be confusing even for...

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IRDA’s directive is a good option for the insured, but why was it omitted in the new ULIP guidelines in the first place? Will IRDA bring back ‘cover continuance’ too? The industry gains—ULIP revival benefits a life insurance company due to capped surrender charges coupled with the fund...

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Moneylife Digital Team 20 October 2011
Ticket size is Rs2 lakh and Rs5 lakh ICICI Prudential Life has launched ‘Elite Life’ and ‘Elite Wealth’. It has the option of single pay or limited pay option of premium payment for five years. The ticket size is a hefty Rs2 lakh and Rs5 lakh, respectively. The policy term is 10 to 30 years.

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Moneylife Digital Team 20 October 2011
Decreasing cover for loans;  increasing cover for term life Bajaj Allianz Life has launched its ‘iSecure Loan’ to cover loan liabilities that decrease as the loan amount is periodically repaid. iSecure Loan’s annual premium for premium payment term of 16 years, for a 27-year-old male going...

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The IRDA monthly journal focuses on customer grievances and the ways in which to deal with them. While a number of issues have been acknowledged, the way in which to deal with them may remain on paper, unless insurance companies follow guidelines—and if IRDA acts when insurers don’t The...

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