May 23, 2012 03:28 PM
4879 Views
(Updated Aug 17, 2012 07:42 PM)
HDFC Standard Life company offers a product called "Savings Assure Plan", with a minimum payment term of 10 years. For a premium payment of Rs 50, 000 per annum, the sum assured payable on maturity is Rs 4, 20, 000 plus accrued bonuses. Being a traditional plan, this is great for agents and advisors and is extremely unfriendly for customers. The insurance cover offered is hardly anything to write home about. The amount payable at maturity is less than what one would get from other fixed income products. And any surrender before three years leads to forfeiture of the entire premium paid. After three years, customers can get 50% of the premium paid from the second year(be prepared to write off the entire first year premium). Or choose to convert the HDFC Savings Assure Plan into a fully paid up plan after paying premium for three years.
Customer Service from HDFC Standard Life
If you happen to write to their customer service(email), be prepared for a response time of at least 14 days. And these customer service officers who respond cannot give you an exact surrender value if you wish to surrender HDFC Savings Assure Plan before maturity. The responses are evasive and general in nature, but lengthy without conveying anything.
Misselling by HDFC Standard Life
IRDA had cracked down on customer unfriendly ULIPs earlier and made them less customer unfriendly. I believe the next on the radar are these traditional products. I seriously never understood how HDFC Savings Assure passed muster with IRDA when filed for approval. Savings Assure is a misnomer and is meant to rob you of your hard earned money. If you are thinking of building a corpus for your child's education, you are better off using simpler products like bank recurring deposits/fixed deposits/PPF if you are risk averse. But stay away from this product. It is likely that HDFC Savings Assure will no longer be sold as "tax savings scheme" given the changes in tax laws announced in this budget. It is also likely that HDFC Savings Assure will be withdrawn from the market once IRDA announces tighter norms for traditional products. But, be warned and do not fall for your helpful Relationship Manager of the friendly insurance advisor.
This plan neither offers adequate life insurance cover nor any returns. Stay away from this product called HDFC Savings Assure Plan.
