Dec 02, 2007 02:05 PM
6742 Views
I woke up to the strange insecurity posed by the question "what would happen if I were not around to pay my home loan". I started scouting for term insurance policies - pure protection policies that come at a minimal charge for the protection.
Naturally I started comparing quotes from various providers since this was one of the easier policies to go for - no frills attached and no fine print to read, since there was no money coming back unless of course in the unfortunate event of the insured's demise.
After a thorough research of several vendors - Tata AIG, ICICI Pru, Metlife, Reliance, SBI, HDFC, Aviva, Bharti AXA, LIC etc, narrowed down to two observations:
a. all these sites provide a premium calculator on their website but it is important to note some of these quotes include the service tax while some do not. For instance, LIC includes it but does not display it separately, ICICI includes and displays separately while Tata AIG does not include it!
b. Metlife does not charge service tax!
So Metlife it was then for me. I registered for a call back on their website and no one called. Then I called their call center and within 48 hrs, someone did call from their sales department. I met the guy and was provided the letter for medicals etc. Medicals were done and records misplaced. So another round of medicals. Finally policy was issued in more than a month and while I can see the details on the internet, there is still no physical copy available!
So my tips:
a. read magazines - after spending a month on my research, I found that business India had a page that indicated the comparisons and that Metlife was the cheapest!!
b. ensure you understand the applicability of service tax - at 12.36%, it is not an amount to writeoff. Besides, who knows what increments the future budgets will have in this regard
c. when applying, note your application number. You are doomed without it.
d. when you do your medicals, get a written confirmation from the medical place for your records. They will not share the results of the tests but can at least provide you in writing that you did your medicals!
Pros:
efficient call center for support
low cost
simple payment options - they appear to have centers quite widespread and hence easy to drop cheques for payment
website provides good online access to the policy although at this time there is no online payment option available
Cons:
There is supposed to be a financial advisor associated with each customer. I got a policy and it does show me the name of my financial advisor. I have not met or interacted with him though:)
Follow up - there is too much required since no updates are forthcoming. However since the call center is efficient, this is somewhat sweetened
