HDFC SL hopes to break-even in FY-12

Insurer HDFC Standard Life Insurance Company Ltd expects to break-even in the 2011/12 financial year, helped by an increase in premium income and reduction in operating costs, its chief executive said.

The joint venture between India's top mortgage lender, HDFC, and Britain's Standard Life, had posted a loss of 2.75 billion rupees ($62 million) in the year ended March 2010, lower than 5.03 billion a year ago and is expected to stay in the red this year.

"If the premium continues to see the growth we are seeing and if we are able to manage the costs well, we should be able to break-even next year," Amitabh Chaudhry said in an interview late on Wednesday.

HDFC Standard Life could launch an initial public offering in the second half of 2011 if an insurance bill, which proposes raising the foreign holding in insurance firms to 49 per cent from 26 per cent, is approved by the Indian parliament.

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Listing daytime still away for insurers

Insurance companies will have to wait for some more time before listing, despite SEBI clearing disclosure rules, as the final guidelines from IRDA have not come and the Insurance Bill has not been passed.

Before insurance companies come out with IPOs, there are a couple of issues that need to be resolved: When will the 26 per cent FDI limit be increased to 49 per cent and two, will FII investments be included in the limit.

“There should be a clear idea on when the Insurance Bill is going to be passed,” said Mr Amitabh Chaudhry, Managing Director and CEO of HDFC Standard Life. “We would like to wait for the Bill before listing. But the final decision will depend on how much time it takes. It will take at least 9 more months for the companies to come out with an IPO.”

There is no clarification on the 25(%) per cent public shareholding clause, he added.

Companies that have evinced interest in listing include Reliance Life, HDFC Standard Life, ICICI Prudential and SBI Life.

Insurers said the SEBI disclosure requirements are on the lines of the recommendation of the SEBI-IRDA committee. The capital markets regulator had said that the SEBI (ICDR) Regulations, 2009, will also apply to insurance companies.

According to the recommendations of the committee, SEBI has asked insurers for additional disclosures, like risk factors specific to insurance companies and broad headings under which an overview of the insurance industry will be disclosed. However, companies were exempted exemption from appointing a monitoring agency.

Another stumbling block is that the IRDA may not relax the listing requirement that insurers have to be 10 years old for IPOs. The rule disqualifies Reliance Life Insurance.

Mr Malay Ghosh, Executive Director and President, Reliance Life Insurance, said: “As and when the guidelines come, and if they (the regulators) allow us, we will come out with an IPO.”

Insurance company officials say that most companies have seen some major changes in operating models in the last month after the new IRDA guidelines. “Investors will expect that some kind of an operating model be in place and will need to look at the emerging trends. But there is no trend currently due to the changes in the guidelines as there have been major changes in the operating model. It will take at least six months for a trend to emerge,” said Mr Chaudhry.

SBI Saral Maha Anand | Ulip launched

SBI Life Insurance has launched a low-premium Ulip - Saral Maha Anand.

About the Product:

· The minimum annual premium is Rs 15,000 and the maximum yearly premium is capped at Rs 29,000.

· The sum assured component ranges from 10-20 times of the annual premium and is restricted to a maximum of Rs 7.5 lakh.

· SBI Life Maha Anand is meant for investors in the age group of 18-55 years. The maturity age is up to 65 years.

· Like most other Ulips , policyholders can opt for a yearly, half-yearly, quarterly or monthly payments.

· The product offers customers four investment options depending on their risk profiles: Index, Equity, Balanced and Bond fund.

· It also offers partial withdrawal of up to 15% of the fund value after completion of five years. Investors can use this window to meet emergency liquidity needs.

Charges:

· Premium allocation charge is 6.25% of the premium amount for the first year and it goes down to 3.75% between the second and fifth year, and from thereon, further to 3% until the 10^th year of the policy.

· The policy administration charges are Rs 33.33 per month.

· The fund management charges are 1.25% for the index fund and balanced fund, 1.35% for the equity fund and 1% for the bond fund.

Financial advisors say that the cost structure of this regular Ulip is still high despite the flexibility of low premium. Hence, if an investor wants to make the most out of this product, s/he has to invest for the maximum possible term and invest a higher amount to earn decent returns.

Pros:

The low premiums could interest those who are unable to afford the huge premiums payouts in most other Ulips.

Cons:

Though it’s a low-premium product, the charges are not significantly lower than those of the company’s other Ulips.

SBI Saral Maha Anand | Ulip launched

SBI Life Insurance has launched a low-premium Ulip - Saral Maha Anand.

About the Product:

· The minimum annual premium is Rs 15,000 and the maximum yearly premium is capped at Rs 29,000.

· The sum assured component ranges from 10-20 times of the annual premium and is restricted to a maximum of Rs 7.5 lakh.

· SBI Life Maha Anand is meant for investors in the age group of 18-55 years. The maturity age is up to 65 years.

· Like most other Ulips , policyholders can opt for a yearly, half-yearly, quarterly or monthly payments.

· The product offers customers four investment options depending on their risk profiles: Index, Equity, Balanced and Bond fund.

· It also offers partial withdrawal of up to 15% of the fund value after completion of five years. Investors can use this window to meet emergency liquidity needs.

Charges:

· Premium allocation charge is 6.25% of the premium amount for the first year and it goes down to 3.75% between the second and fifth year, and from thereon, further to 3% until the 10^th year of the policy.

· The policy administration charges are Rs 33.33 per month.

· The fund management charges are 1.25% for the index fund and balanced fund, 1.35% for the equity fund and 1% for the bond fund.

Financial advisors say that the cost structure of this regular Ulip is still high despite the flexibility of low premium. Hence, if an investor wants to make the most out of this product, s/he has to invest for the maximum possible term and invest a higher amount to earn decent returns.

Pros:

The low premiums could interest those who are unable to afford the huge premiums payouts in most other Ulips.

Cons:

Though it’s a low-premium product, the charges are not significantly lower than those of the company’s other Ulips.

New ULIP by ING Life Insurance

ING Life Insurance has also launched a new Unit Linked Insurance Product christened ING Prospering Life. This ULIP promises to fulfill wealth accumulation and protection needs of its owners.

This new ULIP comes with a host of customer benefits:

· IT includes 5 fund options to choose from

· Automatic Asset allocation

· Unlimited switches with partial withdrawals free of charge.

· The product offers an annualized premium ranging between Rs 48,000 and Rs 96,000

· Competitive priced against other long term investment options

· The sum assured is an amount 10 times the annual premium at inception for those below the age of 45 & 7 times the annual premium at inception for those above the age of 45.

· The minimum top up premium is Rs 5000.

LIC crosses Rs 1,000 crore score under new ULIP Plans

Country's largest insurer, Life Insurance Corporation (LIC), today said it has crossed the Rs 1,000 crore-mark from its two new unit-linked plans, which were launched after the latest guidelines of the sectoral regulator IRDA took effect last month.

"Life Insurance Corporation of India has crossed the Rs 1,000 crore marks under the new ULIP plans, Pension Plus and Endowment Plus. The total premium income under these two plans as at October 18, 2010 was an awesome Rs 1,282 crore approximately," LIC said in a statement.

The new plans were introduced last month. Pension Plus was launched on September 2 and about Rs 150 crore of premiums have been collected under it from more than 30,000 policies.

Endowment Plus plan was launched on September 20 and it was LIC's 16th linked product. Over Rs 1,000 crore has been garnered from Endowment Plus alone from over 2 lakh policies, in merely 29 days.

As per new guidelines, effective September 1, Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA), the commission paid to distributors and expenses charged by insurers will no longer be front-loaded. Instead, they will be distributed over the lock-in period of the schemes, which has been raised to five years from three years earlier.

Currently, ULIP products account for over 50 per cent of the total premium collected by the life insurance companies.

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Bajaj Finserv Q2 net up 57 pc at Rs 69 crore

Bajaj Group's Financial services arm Bajaj Finserv reported a nearly 57 per cent jump in its consolidated net profit at Rs 69 crore, for the quarter ended September 30, over the same period last year.

The company had a net profit of Rs 44 crore in July-September quarter last fiscal, the company said in a statement.

The total income of the company rose to Rs 464 crore in the second quarter of the current fiscal compared to Rs 107 crore in the corresponding period.

Bajaj Finserv is a holding company, which operates through its subsidiairies and joint ventures. Bajaj Allianz General Insurance, Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance and Bajaj Finance Limited are its subsidiaries.

Bajaj Finance, the company's retail arm, has reported a profit after tax of Rs 53 crore in the second quarter of the current fiscal as compared to Rs 22 crore in the corresponding period last year.

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Life Insurance

Auto Insurance Policy | Common Exclusions

The insurance policy jargon is such that most of us find it difficult to understand. In fact it is not surprising, that many people don’t even fully read their insurance policy. The reason is that all standard insurance policy contracts are long, boring, confusing, and actually, misleading. For example, in many cases a coverage is excluded in one section, only to be added back later on in the policy. It can get frustrating, that you need a lawyer or an expert, to help you understand what exactly is covered.

There are few common misconceptions about what is and what isn’t covered in an insurance contract, which can be cleared by understanding the policy exclusions.

1. Delivery for Commercial Purposes: If you pick up a job delivering pizzas a few nights a week, there will be no coverage from your personal auto insurance, if you happen to get in an accident while delivering. Commercial deliveries are excluded from the standard personal auto insurance policy.

Always check with the company you are working for, to see if they have a commercial auto policy, that will cover you, while you make deliveries.

2. Company Vehicles: The insuring agreement of personal auto policy excludes, “coverage for the use of a vehicle furnished or available for your regular use.”

For instance: Your employer supplies you a company vehicle. Suppose your spouse also has a car of their own, which is insured under a personal auto policy, which you are named under. If your spouse were driving your company car, she has no coverage under the commercial auto policy.

3. Vehicles not Considered Autos: Auto insurance doesn’t cover all things with a motor. Typical exclusions include boats, four wheelers, motorcycles, go carts, and golf carts.

Before adding this on to your auto policy, first check with homeowners insurance, to see if it’s covered through your policy. In most cases, you have to add a special endorsement, either to your home or auto insurance, or buy a separate policy.

4. Personal Contents: The gadgets we carry in our cars today are not cheap. The combined cost of even a cheap cell phone costs, your CD collection and iPod, you’re easily approaching Rs20, 000 of personal contents in the car. Unfortunately, if someone were to break into you car and steal these items, none of that is covered under your auto insurance policy.

However, personal contents are covered under your home/renters insurance policy.

Endorsements to Insurance Contracts: All of the above are excluded from the standard insurance contract. That doesn’t mean that individual carriers, can’t add them back in. Adding coverage to a policy is called an endorsement.

The next time you’re reviewing your insurance agreement, check to see what your policy is endorsed for. There are a lot of special perks, the better insurance companies will give, that often go unnoticed.

To conclude: It is a good practice to read your insurance contract. Set aside just a few minutes of your time, to get through your auto, home, life, and health insurance contracts. It is bound to prove beneficial and you will definitely learn a lot.

Reasons for cancellation of an Insurance Policy

There has to be a very good reason for an Insurance company to cancel a policy. The top five reasons for having your policy cancelled are discussed below:

1. Failing to pay on time.

The first and most obvious reason for cancellation would be failing to pay or paying late. This applies to all types of insurance. Each state has rules governing when an insurance company may drop your policy. Grace periods will also vary depending on which line of insurance you purchase (health, auto, home, life) and which insurance company you choose. Some car insurance companies may seize the opportunity to drop you if you’re only a few days late – especially if you're habitually behind on payments. However, many insurers value your business and won't drop you if you're a few days late.

Advice - Pay your bills on time. This usually means your premium must be received by the due date. Dropping the payment in the mail on the due date may not be good enough. If you’re worried about being late on your payments, check with your insurance company about its grace period. If you've been cancelled by your car insurance company, it may require that you to pay the balance due for the full term before they reinstate your insurance.

2. Falsifying the truth.

If you knowingly tell lies to your insurance company, it has the right to cancel your policy. To an insurance company, it’s bad business to give you a lower rate for lying. For example, lying to your auto insurer about the number of miles you drive annually can be cause for cancellation. Some insurers may simply increase your car insurance rates for this particular lie, but they can also cancel your policy and refuse to pay your claim — assuming you provided inaccurate information intentionally.

Life insurance companies may also cancel your policy if you lie. For example, if you lie about your deep-sea diving hobby and then die during a dive, your life insurance company could deny your beneficiaries’ claim. Any lie caught within the two-year contestability period of a policy can provoke the insurer to scale down the death benefit or even rescind the policy, depending on state law.

Advice - When applying for any type of insurance ‘honesty is the best policy’.

3. Your driver’s license has been suspended or revoked during the policy period

If your auto insurance company finds out that your license has been suspended or revoked, it will cancel your policy. This rule also applies to other members of your household. For example, if you have a child listed on your policy who has had his or her license revoked/suspended, your insurance company may cancel your policy if you fail to disclose this information. Car insurance companies often check your DMV record (and that of other members of your household) at renewal time. They will also find out about a license suspension if the person in question is involved in a car accident.

Advice - If someone in your household experiences problems with their license, notify your insurer. Your policy will not be cancelled (unless you’re the culprit). Your insurer may simply exclude coverage for that person.

4. You ignoring telephone calls from your insurance company

Ignoring your insurance company is never a good idea. If your insurer makes an effort to contact you – especially during a claims-settlement process – you’re obligated to comply. For example, if you get into a car accident, your insurance company will surely want to interview you or may even require you to attend a deposition if a lawsuit is involved. Failing to comply could be grounds for policy cancellation. A standard car insurance policy states that the insurer has “no duty to provide coverage” unless the insured is in full compliance with a number of duties. These include promptly notifying your insurer where, when and how the accident happened. A standard policy states that “a person seeking coverage must cooperate with us in the investigation, settlement or defense of any claim or suit” and “promptly send us copies of any notices or legal papers received in connection with the accident or loss.” This can include exams by physicians and medical records.

5. You commit suicide

Generally, life insurance policies have a contestability clause that says, among other things, the policy will not pay out if you commit suicide within the first two years of the policy. However, if you commit suicide two years and one day after you purchase the policy, your beneficiaries will be paid!

Health Cover- Finer Points

Health Insurance is becoming necessity in today’s age. Medical expenses are on the rise with better facilities among hospitals.

Now the question arises, how much health cover one should go for?

1. To decide on the amount one should first see how many people are in the family and how much you can afford.

2. Second thing that one should check what is max percentage on the total sum assured is towards room rent.

Most policies give 1 % so if your policy is for Rs 2 lakh, you can get room rent only for Rs 2000 where as good hospital rates are about 5000-8000, so in that case one should go for policy of 4 lakhs, if you want to get 100% paid back for room rent.

3. One should also ensure that the hospital that is nearest to you is empanelled for cashless facility under the company which you are going for health cover.

4, if your health insurance provider is giving you a health cover and if its total sum assured amount is less, one should opt for another health insurance policy itself.

5.If you have some pre existing disease check with your company, that by what period they will ensure that these diseases are covered.Most health cover after 2-4 years for pre existing diseases.

6. If you are young and just got married, check which Health insurance company covers Maternity charges and from which year and try to opt for that health insurance provider.

New Term Insurance product launched| MetLife

MetLife India Insurance has launched a term insurance product - Met Protect - the first such life cover plan (by the company) which is made available online.

· Met Protect would allow customers within the age group of 21-45 years to avail of life cover protection through the Internet.

· Met Protect would offer customers single and semi-annual premium payment option - the first of its kind amongst all the term products available online.

What is Term Insurance?

Term Insurance is a product that provides protection only for a specified period of time.

About the Company:-

MetLife currently has over 55,000 financial advisers and bancassurance distribution channel offering products to 17 million customers.

MetLife India is a joint venture between the US-based MetLife International Holdings, The Jammu and Kashmir Bank, M Pallonji and other private investors.

The new and improved ULIPs are here to stay

IT is after a long time that all the insurance companies have started offering unit-linked insurance plans (Ulips) that meet the new guidelines of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (Irda).

All the players, namely –

· Future Generali

· Kotak Life Insurance

· SBI Life Insurance

· Reliance Life Insurance

· HDFC Standard Life

· LIC and soon

Have launched and continue to launch their products in line with the new norms that came into effect.

Irda has cleared 51 of the 68 unit-linked products that were filed with it. Each insurer has to come out with a minimum of two products.

2 New ULIPs & 2 Traditional products launched | DLF Pramerica Life

Private sector insurer DLF Pramerica Life Insurance launched four new insurance products, which include two traditional plans.

The traditional non-linked products

1. DLF Pramerica Assure Money Plus - provides minimum guaranteed earnings on maturity along with the advantage of high life insurance cover
2. DLF Pramerica Tatkaal Suraksha Gold

Both provide saving as well as protection.

Besides, it also launched two unit linked products namely

1. DLF Pramerica Wealth Plus Premier - is a good product for high net worth individuals seeking potentially high investment returns along with a well secured future for the family in case of any eventuality
2. DLF Pramerica Ezee Wealth Plus with simplified underwriting.
   

About the Company:-

DLF Pramerica Life is a joint venture between real estate company DLF Ltd and the US-based Prudential International Insurance Holdings.

The company became operational in September, 2008 and currently has 30 offices across Delhi NCR, Haryana, Punjab and Gujarat.

New ULIP norms – What it means?

Nearly three-quarters of the 1.6 million private life insurers have had trouble in business. Insurers are taking steps to cut costs in the wake of a dramatic reduction in charges of unit-linked insurance policies (or Ulips) by the insurance regulator, IRDA. The new norms, may push 1.2 million agents out of work, took effect from 1 September.

Ulips are: A hybrid product that combines insurance and equity investment.

They account for at least 80% of new business premiums for life insurers. The size of the agency channel, which sells policies of 23 life insurers, has grown from 900,000 to about three million since 2000. Until recently, agents were aggressively pushing sales of Ulips, earning commissions of up to 40%!

The state-run, Life Insurance Corp. of India (or LIC), alone manages at least 1.3 million agents. There are about 310 million policies in force, including traditional life insurance policies.

The insurance regulator has capped various charges including surrender charges. Till 31^st August, companies were able to levy up to 100% as surrender charges from a customer if a policy was discontinued.

The regulator has also ordered insurers to offer a minimum guaranteed return of 4.5% on the fund value in linked pension plans. Earlier, there was no such norm and the value of the funds invested entirely depended on the yield of the instruments where the premium was allocated.

The new norms will benefit policyholders but will bring down average agent commissions in Ulips from 15-17% to 7-9%. The reduction in the first-year agent commissions will help curb rampant mis-selling, insurance firms will be required to underwrite more losses, infuse more capital and cut costs to sustain Ulip sales.

LIC may not need to resort to cost-cutting measures due to its highly profitable business, but private sector insurers are planning drastic cost-cutting measures to sustain their businesses in the new regime.

What measures companies can take?

· Cutting the agency channel is one of several cost-cutting measures.

· The firms plan to cross-sell products through branches of associate companies instead of opening new branches,

· Cut commission of agents retained

· Redesign new products with variable premium.

· The companies are also focusing on alternative distribution channels such as subancassurance, where the expenses are lower. According to industry estimates, the cost of sales through bank branches or bancassurance can be as low as 20% of the value of the policies sold.

· To save costs, private players are also focusing on training facilities to improve agents’ productivity.

· Some bank-owned life insurers are planning to sell insurance policies through the branches of their mutual fund subsidiaries.

Statistical analysis:

According to a recent study, existing distribution channels are almost entirely focused on Ulips. Nearly 85% of new business premium comes from sales of Ulips but the cost of sales through agency channels is very high—between 50% and 100%.

The study said the cost should be brought down to 25-30%. It also revealed that nearly 60% of the agents work part-time.

India’s life insurance industry has grown some eightfold in the past ten years, collecting a total premium income of Rs2.61 trillion in 2009-10, or which nearly Rs1.1 trillion came from Ulips. At least 310 million life policies are in force now.

The regulator has so far cleared 51 of 68 new Ulips filed by insurers. There were 230 Ulips in the market till August.

Insurance: Non-life business now enters development stage

After playing second fiddle to the life insurance industry for several years, the non-life business has roared back into growth mode. In the first six months of the current fiscal, the industry has recorded 23% growth and there are signs that profitability has improved as well.

“In a stable price environment, the non-life industry should grow by 2-2 .5 times the rate of GDP growth. What we are now seeing is some stability in pricing coupled with opening up of hitherto untapped sectors because of government schemes like the Rashtriya Swastha Bima Yojana,” said ICICI managing director Bhargav Dasgupta .
The growth rate in the first half is almost twice the 13% growth recorded in the whole of 2009-10.

The last time the non-life industry saw such growth was in 2005-06. After that, the insurance regulator freed pricing on all lines of businesses which led to a fall in prices. While the reduction was as high as 80% in the property insurance, the competition also ensured that prices of health and motor insurance — the fastest growing segments were kept under check despite high claims ratio.

“Pricing has improved in health, but in parts of motor insurance, it continues to remain very competitive,” said Mr. Dasgupta. What has kept the price war alive was the continuous entry of new players in the market who were willing to sacrifice margins to build up an underwriting book.

For the first half of the current fiscal, private insurers have recorded total premium of . 9,204 crore against. 7,312 crore in FY10 — recording a growth of 25.9%. Stateowned insurers have collected total premium of . 14,500 crore in the first half of FY11 against . 11,184 crore in the previous year — resulting in a 21% growth.

While health insurance continues to be a major driver of growth — with a 40% rise in health premium in the first half of FY11, all other segments, barring property insurance have recorded a healthy growth. Health insurance today accounts for more than one-fifth of total premium in the country.

Aviation insurance, which has seen some price hardening, coupled with an increase in fleet size, has grown by 40% in the first half. Marine Cargo, which is a reflection of trade in goods, grew 26.3%.

Among companies, HDFC Ergo continues to be one of the most aggressive growing by 49%. ICICI Lombard General Insurance — leader among private companies — has grown 32%. Tata AIG General has also managed a 33% growth despite its foreign parent’s troubles internationally.

Reliance General Insurance , which is currently in merger talks with Royal Sundaram General Insurance is the only private insurer to have shown a drop in premium income (-24 %).

Reliance Life Insurance launched highest NAV advantage ULIP

Reliance Life Insurance Company (RLIC), part of Reliance Capital promoted by Anil Ambani , Tuesday announced the launch of a new unit linked insurance plan (ULIP).

The Reliance Life Insurance Highest NAV Advantage Plan offers guarantee on maturity with the highest Net Asset Value (NAV) per unit achieved throughout the entire 15-year policy term.

"Our new unit-linked plan fulfils the diverse needs of customers across different segments while addressing their need for long-term wealth-creation and increased life protection," said Malay Ghosh, executive director and president, RLIC.

This is the first ULIP launched by Reliance Life after the insurance regulator, Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority, came out with revised guidelines a few months ago.

The plan pays the beneficiary twice the sum assured plus total fund value in the event of accidental death for the base cover portion. The unique plan also offers the benefit of up to 100(%) per cent equity exposure throughout the policy period.

The plan, which is available for customers in the age group of 7-65 years, also provides liquidity through partial withdrawals after 5th policy anniversary and loan after the completion of second policy year and top-up option to the policyholder.

It is available under two minimum payment options. The regular option allows customers to pay Rs.20, 000 annually, half yearly, monthly and quarterly. In the single premium option, the customer pays a minimum of Rs.50, 000 only once at the beginning of the policy tenure

SBI Life Insurance launches new ULIP product Saral Maha Anand

SBI Life Insurance has launched a new unit-linked insurance plan (ULIP) called Saral Maha Anand.

This is the third ULIP product launched by the insurer since the introduction of the new ULIP norms by the insurance sector regulator, IRDA, last September.

The two products launched by SBI Life are

1. Smart Performer and

2. Unit plus Super.

Saral Maha Anand, its new ULIP product:

· Is available at an affordable yearly premium starting from Rs 15,000 onwards and

· The product has been designed to cater to investment and protection needs of the middle-and-low-income segments.

· The product is exempted from medical-examination.

To quote SBI Life Insurance's managing director & CEO, MN Rao,

"The product offers simplicity and affordability so that a larger section of society can participate and benefit by systematically investing over a long-term horizon."

How to find cheap auto insurance?

YES, Cheap Auto Insurance is possible. But getting it cheap is synonyms with little extra work to take advantage of savings that aren't always advertised. Here is heads up to what you need to know to find the best deal on auto insurance:

Shopping ability

If you want to cut down your insurance costs, you need to do two things;

1. Understand exactly how much coverage you need. The question is how much you'll pay for coverage in these three categories:

a. Bodily injury liability for a single person,

b. Bodily injury liability for all injured parties and

c. Property damage liability.

2. Compare before you shop. When it comes to getting the best deal on your auto insurance, you have to compare auto insurance quotes. You can use online calculators available on www.bimadeals.com to streamline your search as well as reach out to our customer care representatives for a quote.

Cut costs

There are various ways to save on auto insurance but nothing beats to cutting costs. How?

· You can raise your deductible, but the downside is that you'll pay more out of pocket after an accident.

· Or reduce your coverage. You don't want to go below your state's minimum guidelines, but if you're looking to save, you need to ask if you're overvaluing your assets and the coverage you need.

· You may want to drop some coverage altogether. It may not add up to much, but you may not need coverage that provides rental car and towing coverage.

Look for discounts

Yes, its true the key to cheap motor insurance is to maximize discounts. Insurers have been known to offer discounts based on the type of work you do, your driving record and whether you're married. Insurers also offer discounts for those who pay their yearly premium in full, and there's usually a discount for insuring more than one vehicle on the same policy.

So, follow these basic tips and get the cheapest auto insurance easily.

Term Life Insurance Policy | Parties & Participants

The parties and participants in a term life insurance contract include

· The company providing the coverage - The policy owner and the insured individual of the policy are not necessarily the same person although they usually are.

· The owner of the policy – The policy owner is the one who will pay for the policy. It can be, and usually is, the person who is covered by the contract. But the policy owner can be the spouse of the insured or a relative or even a business partner. Companies try to limit purchase of life insurance policies to those who have an insurable interest in the covered individual so the purchaser will actually suffer type of loss from the death of the individual.

· The insured individual - The insured individual is the one whose death causes the payment of the coverage amount of the policy. The insured individual is a participant but not necessarily a party to the contract. It is the this individual's health history, current health condition, family health history, status as a smoker, age, gender, etc. upon which the eligibility for coverage and premium amount are established.

· The beneficiary of the proceeds of the policy - The beneficiary is the named individual or entity who will receive the proceeds of the term insurance policy upon the death of the insured individual. The owner of the policy names who the beneficiary of the policy would be. The beneficiary is a participant but not a party to the contract. If the policy has an irrevocable beneficiary clause then that beneficiary must agree to any change in whom, the named beneficiary is.

Insurance companies have eliminated policy owners insuring individuals with whom the policy owner had no insurable interest (that is, who would not suffer a loss upon the death of, the insured). This was done to reduce speculative or scheming interest in insuring someone.

Is it possible to increase life insurance policy?

You could have numerous reasons to want to increase your life insurance coverage. Namely,

· If your insurance does not provide for growing inflation

· It could be due to a growing family,

· New job

Above mentioned could thereby require more insurance in order to keep up their quality of life.

For the above mentioned reasons you could be interested to expand your life insurance coverage. In order to do this firstly, it is important to consider how much life insurance you need.

Experts advise that ideally a life insurance policy worth should be roughly eight or 10 times the holder's annual salary. Thus, if you wish to expand your coverage then you could purchase an appropriate policy easily.

But you should bear in mind of how the cost of life insurance increases as you age, as well as various other factors.

Why is purchasing a Private Health Insurance Policy important?

It is agreeable when one is covered with employer’s group health plan which is more affordable than individual healthcare policy, one feels a bit disinterested. But that does not mean the one should not think about investing in one!

In today’s day and age, the economy is very unstable. God forbid if you were to loose your job for some reason or even if you are between jobs for a better position; you will not be covered medically. What if something unfortunate were to happen then? What would be the state of your family? You have worked hard to provide for each and every need of theirs. Don’t you think all your efforts will diminish without proper planning for contingencies? So you have the need to invest in a health insurance plan that would not only cover you but cover your entire family as well.

Following are few basic points to bear in mind when you go for a Health Insurance plan;

· You would need to figure out which Insurer fulfills most of your needs in terms of affordability, peculiarity of coverage etc.

· Do research

Consumers can't find a policy that suites them unless they understand what they need. If you see the doctor frequently, a plan that limits those visits to four times a year would not be wise. But that could be an option someone in his 20s who rarely gets sick.

Likewise, a plan that doesn't cover pregnancy wouldn't be smart for people who want to start families. Some options only cover generic drugs, and that means big medical bills for someone who depends on a brand-name prescription medication.

Before searching for insurance, think about whether you can be added as a dependent to the existing coverage of a spouse or parent.

Premiums - the price of an insurance policy varies depending on variables such as age, health, where you live and how you want your coverage set up. One place to start sorting options is the website www.bimadeals.com.The customer care service helps consumers to understand plan design, helping them find coverage options based on their states and other factors that could affect their rates. They can help customers quickly sort through their options, and they can be especially useful for people who have pre-existing conditions. For people with diabetes or recovering from cancer, finding individual coverage can be difficult or impossible depending on the state in which they live.

Some people also can be turned down because they take high-blood pressure or cholesterol medicine or they recently had hip surgery. But we know which insurers will reject certain conditions, which can save some grief.

Understand: the premium, deductible, co-payment, coinsurance and the maximum amount the policyholder can expect to pay out of pocket each year.

· The deductible is the annual amount a patient pays for care before coverage starts. High-deductible plans come with lower premiums.

· Coinsurance is the percentage a patient pays for medical care generally after a deductible is met. These percentages mean you still could wind up with a big bill for a surgery even if you have good coverage and you've met your deductible.

· The annual maximum is how much you have to spend on coinsurance and other costs before the insurer takes over and covers the majority of your remaining expenses for the year.

· Make sure you understand all the coverage specifications before you pay for a policy. You also should know if your doctors are in the insurer's network because it will cost a lot more for care and visits if they are not.

· It is better to understand hospital coverage and the limits a plan places on it.

Many should be able to find what they need by doing some research, asking the right questions about coverage and using help that's already available. The bottom line is:

· Think about your needs before choosing a plan.

How to find missing life insurance policies?

It happens…

It could even happen with you!

Suppose you cannot find an insurance policy which was paid by your parent over 20 years back.

This is a tough problem, yet one many beneficiaries have faced.

When you don't know the name of the life insurance company, a good first step is to look for evidence of premium payments by going through copies of canceled checks or credit card statements, which would show the name of the insurer. This may be difficult since your parent’s were making the payments.

Life insurance companies make efforts to contact policyholders after they stop sending premiums, but if no one ever steps forward, they can't pay out the death benefit. If the insurance company knows the person died but can't locate the beneficiaries, it turns the death benefit over to the state as unclaimed property. States maintain databases of beneficiaries who are heirs of lost policyholders. Check with your state to see how to look up whether you are listed. In addition, the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators offers a MissingMoney.com Web site that lets you search nationwide for missing money, including life insurance policies that have been deemed unclaimed and transferred to the state.

Know more about Life Insurance

Reliance Life forays keen on health insurance

Anil Ambani Group Company Reliance Life Insurance today announced foray into health insurance market with the launch of a product for individuals and family members.

"Reliance Life Insurance Company (RLIC)...forays into the health insurance market with the launch of its first pure reimbursement health insurance plan - ‘Reliance Life Care for You Plan’- for individuals and family members," Reliance Life said in a release.

The policy term under this plan is three years with the premium fixed for the entire period, irrespective of the claims. The plan offers sum insured of up to Rs 10 lakh. The company along with its third party administrators has created a preferred network of over 6,000 hospitals, among the largest hospital network offered by any insurer, across the country to provide cashless hospitalization benefit to the customers.

“Our venture into the health insurance sector is a natural extension of our life insurance business. ‘Reliance Life Care For You’ is our first step in the pure health Insurance space, aimed to help people meet their health care exigencies and expenses at every stage of life effectively,’’ Reliance Life President and Executive Director Malay Ghosh said.

Dept of Posts wants IRDA to control its insurance schemes

In a first significant step towards consolidating similar financial products under one regulator, the department of posts (DoP) is exploring the option of handing over the regulation of its insurance products to the sector regulator, Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA), a move prompted by the ugly spat between the insurance regulator and the stock market watchdog, Securities and Exchange Board Of India (SEBI), over the regulation of unit-linked insurance products (ULIPs).

The DoP has sought the law ministry’s opinion on whether the insurance schemes run by it could be brought under the regulatory ambit of the IRDA. It has also proposed to create a corporate entity to handle the schemes.

The decision to refer the matter to the law ministry was taken after the IRDA expressed its inability to regulate financial activities of the government (the DoP), which controls the insurance business of India Post, a government official told ET.

The finance ministry has favoured setting up of a corporate-like identity to handle India Post’s insurance business that can be regulated under IRDA norms, said the official, requesting anonymity. While the IRDA is not opposed to the idea, it wants greater clarity on the matter as it will require changes to the legal framework that govern the insurance policies of the postal department.

The opinion of the law ministry could pave the way for bringing the insurance business of the postal department under the IRDA’s jurisdiction. The department, which sells policies under the postal life insurance and rural postal life insurance schemes, acts within the framework of the Insurance Act. The IRDA has also pointed out that with the premium calculations of the postal department not on an actuarial basis, the postal life insurance schemes could be notching up serious deficits.

The postal department feels that an IRDA-regulated framework will allow it to make the scheme more flexible. The DoP, which acts as an agent of the finance ministry for its insurance schemes, lacks autonomy required to introduce new schemes or even providing attractive discounts to lure customers.

“The department is required to seek direction from the finance ministry for all policy matters like extension of scope to cover other clients and introduction of new products,” said an official with the ministry of telecommunications and IT.

Even as the debate on regulatory control of postal life insurance goes on, the department has also requested for greater autonomy to its insurance schemes as it looks to expand its financial services business. “Corporatisation of the life insurance business will enable the postal department to compete with private insurance players on a level playing field,” said the postal department official.

Private players have welcomed the move. “The move will help bring consistency in norms and activity pertaining to life insurance business,” said Kapil Mehta, MD & CEO of DLF Pramerica Life Insurance Company of India. He added that the proposal, when implemented, will provide the postal department a level playing field as regards right products and schemes into the rural segment, which has been the primary focus for private players as well.

ULIPs turn costly for investors yet GOOD Investment

Unit-linked insurance plans have become just a bit expensive post 1^st September 2010 retail investors. This is because of structural change brought about by the Insurance Regulatory Development Authority's (IRDA) new norms.

Most of the newly launched products offer only an annual premium mode (unlike the monthly payment option earlier) and moreover, the minimum premium payable for such policies now start at Rs 15,000 — an increase of Rs 5,000 from the past.

The few insurance companies that offer the ‘monthly premium' option have now raised the minimum commitment to Rs 2,000 — turning into a premium of Rs 24,000 a year. The new ULIPs launched by insurers such as ICICI Pru Life, HDFC Standard Life, Max New York Life, LIC and Kotak set their annual premium in the range of Rs 15,000-20,000, and Canara HSBC OBC Insurance and Birla Sun Life, have a starting premium of Rs 25,000/annum.

The monthly mode offered by SBI Life and Birla Sun Life comes at a higher premium of Rs 2,000-2,500 a month, taking the annual premium outgo to Rs 24,000 and Rs 30,000, respectively. One of objectives of the new IRDA regulation was to enhance retail participation and make ULIPs more transparent and cost-effective.

Insurance companies believe that under the revised norms, marketing ULIP will be profitable, only if policyholders continue to pay premium over the policy's 10-year or longer term. Investors are more likely to keep their policies in force if premium are collected on an annual basis, compared with a shorter time-frame.

Insurance company personnel said that the charges an insurer can levy are capped through minimum return criteria laid down by the IRDA, which makes it difficult for the insurance company to absorb customer acquisition costs at a lower premium.

Health Insurance Policy

It is true that majority people do not have health insurance coverage. There are few reasons behind this fact namely

· Some believe that it is expensive

· Some people think that they don’t require it because they are not suffering from any major illness

But one fails to remember that a health care plan is something that you can’t afford not to have. Health insurance prepares one for the future in case of emergency or in any other major illness. With the aid of health insurance you will get all your expenses that you have spent in medicines and treatment.

Points to consider while purchasing a Health Insurance Policy:

· Whether you are going to take group plans or individual plans.

Although some people think that it is cheaper to buy a health insurance plan through an employer or via a group health care plan, there are some plan where buying individual health insurance is quite cheaper. Price of health insurance always depends on various factors. If your company is paying high premium then you must get the health insurance at low price and it is possibly best to select this option. If you are healthy and your company is offering a health insurance policy where you are alone responsible to pay the premium then it is advisable to select individual health insurance plan.

You should not forget that group health insurance plans must cover everyone in it that includes preexisting conditions. It is given in state laws and it meant that healthy people included in health insurance plan will balance out the costs that the insurance company needs to pay for individuals with preexisting health conditions that are covered by the similar policy.

· Find cost effective health insurance plans.

You just need let us help you to find a perfect health insurance plan for you. There are thousands of health insurance plans available in the market. Please visit

www.bimadeals.com for best health insurance plans for you because we believe that insurance is by choice.

IDBI Federal aim at 70% increase in total premium

IDBI Federal Life Insurance yesterday said it is aiming at a 70(%) per cent growth in total premium collections throughout the current fiscal.

Established in March, 2008, IDBI Federal Life had recorded a total business premium of Rs 400 crore in the 2009-10 financial years.

"Our premium income during the April-August period grew by 70(%) per cent to Rs 251 crore. We are hoping to close the fiscal with a related growth in premium income," IDBI Federal MD and CEO G V Nageswara Rao told PTI.

The company also plans to come with one new product in both the ULIP and traditional section by the end of the fiscal.

"We will focus on retirement and child plan products under the category of ULIP and traditional products, for which we would be filing to the regulator, IRDA," Rao said.

IDBI Federal is a joint venture of IDBI Bank, Federal Bank and European Insurance firm Ageas (earlier known as Fortis Insurance International), with a shareholding of 48(%) per cent, 26(%) per cent and 26(%) per cent, respectively.

The insurer has issued over 2.10 lakh policies offering an assured sum of Rs 9,819 crore till July, 2010, and has a presence in 53 cities.

In terms of premium collections from new business, the company's incomes grow by 23(%) per cent to Rs 135 crore at the end of August.

"We aim at a similar growth trend in new business income for the remaining half of the fiscal," Rao said.

The company had last month launched a new ULIP product, Federal Wealthsurance Milestone Plan, which was compliant with the new IRDA guidelines.

As per the new IRDA guidelines effective from September 1, the commission paid to distributors and expenses charged by insurers will no longer be front-loaded and will be distributed over the lock-in period of the schemes, which has been raised to 5 years from 3 years earlier.

Currently, ULIP products account for about 80(%) per cent of the total premium collected by the 23 private life insurance companies.

Norms could cap charges on top of ULPs, Irda

The Insurance Regulatory & Development Authority (Irda) is planning to cap the charges on universal life policies, or ULPs. These have almost replaced unit-linked insurance plans (Ulips) in terms of new business. Ulips, which used to account for around 80(%) per cent of the segment, lost their shine after the regulator brought in tough norms from September 1.

“We are planning to cap the charges on ULPs, which are parallel to Ulips and have a component of traditional plans. We have received complaints from different sections of the industry claiming that some companies are selling them as Ulips and overcharging policyholders. We want to plug all loopholes,” said a senior Irda official.

Guidelines on ULPs will be in place by next week, the Irda official added. J Hari Narayan, chairman of Irda, had conveyed last week that every product would be experienced for fairness and robustness and only then would they be permitted on the market.

According to present guidelines, commissions on a single premium are capped at 2(%) per cent. On pension products, they are capped at 7.5(%) per cent, while on any other insurance product they can go up to 40(%) per cent.

After the September 1 changes to Ulips, commissions to agents declined to 7-9(%) per cent from 12-15(%) per cent. The industry expects volumes to pick up, as the new norms improve policyholders’ confidence.

So far, there have been no separate guidelines for ULPs, which are complex, hybrid products. For example, unlike Ulips, there is no unitisation of funds. But other features are similar to Ulips. For instance, after the deduction of mortality charges, the remaining portion of the premium amount is invested in bonds and equities.

ULPs are unique in the sense that policyholders have the flexibility to change the premium, sum assured and the term of the policy during the tenure.

“Irda has not cleared any ULPs in the last 3-4 months. The product is under Irda’s scanner. Agents are pushing them to earn a high commission,” said Sanjiv Pujari, an actuary appointed by SBI Life.

Another executive expects the regulator to come down hard on this product. “There have been complaints about ULPs being sold under the guise of Ulips,” he said.

But there are some who defend ULPs. “There is no need for separate guidelines for universal life. This is not a very difficult product. We don’t disclose the net asset value like Ulips, but the expenses are explained upfront,” said a chief executive officer of a life insurance company.

He added that insurance companies have been selling the products before Ulips were launched in India and have been following the traditional guidelines.

The mutual fund industry, after shifting to a zero-load structure last year, complained that agents and brokers pushed only Ulips because of the high commissions. Soon after, Irda capped the overall charges on these products. To avoid such a situation, the regulator has decided to address the issue proactively.

Also, a committee headed by D Swarup, former chairman of the Pension Fund Regulatory & Development Authority, had recommended shifting to a no-load structure, where a buyer does not pay a commission on any financial product.