Published in Mint on 17th January, 2018 In 2015 the rules for settling death claims for the life insurance industry changed significantly. As per the Insurance Laws (Amendment) Act, 2015, life insurance companies have to compulsorily pay all claims made 3 years after the commencement of a policy. Earlier, insurers had a 2-year window to investigate […]
Articles Tagged: Life Insurance
Should insurance give or take away your money?
Published in Mint on 9th January, 2018. Last month two important news items broke in the life insurance space. One was about misselling in the and the other was about consumer losing money due to high exit penalties. The case of misselling was reported on thewire.in. It said Rajasthan Police is investigating a case where bank […]
Stopping premiums can reduce life cover
Published in Mint on Dec 02 2015 The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) reiterated recently that when a policy is surrendered or discontinued, the insurer will have to follow the rules stipulated by linked and non-linked product regulations that came out in 2013. The regulator said so in a notification that came […]
Buying a pension plan? Pick annuity first
Published in Mint on Aug 17 2015 The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) has now made it mandatory for customers who buy pension plans from life insurance companies to select an annuity option at the time of purchase itself. An annuity is a pension product that provides periodic income. You buy a […]
Securing the future of a special needs child
Published in Mint on Jul 09 2015 Shrishti Saran, 10, suffered a brain fever in June 2011 at the age of six. Meningitis, which leads to inflammation in the brain and spinal cord, can be lethal. She was spared but left paralyzed. Bed ridden since 2011, the Saran family and Shrishti, who likes to watch […]
Insurance hits and misses: IPOs and Commissions
Published in Mint on 26th December 2017. The three big events of 2017 that will define the year for the insurance sector are: listing of insurance companies, new commission rules for sellers and consumer protection regulations. Here are the details on what happened in this space and what it means for you. Benefits of listing […]
Why are life insurance policies abandoned midway?
Published in Mint on May 11 2015 What would you call a product that is sold for 15 years but discontinued after just five? What would you call an industry that is unable to keep customers holding on to a product that was sold for the long term but is stopped midway? In India, we’d […]
New rules benefit insurance nominees
Published in Mint on Apr 26 2015 As a financial product, a life insurance policy is the most meaningful for your dependants as it promises to protect them financially in the event of your death. Therefore, when you buy a life insurance policy, it is important to mention a nominee who will be entitled to […]
Banks may sell for more than one insurer
Published in Mint on April 02 2015 Paving the way for an open architecture in insurance distribution, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai), has issued draft guidelines on corporate agents. Corporate agents are entities such as banks that solicit insurance policies for insurers. Agents are individuals doing the same job. According to […]
Financial instruments likely to cost more
Published in Mint on Mar 02 2015 Apart from mobile phone and restaurant bills, cost of financial products, too, will go up marginally due to the increase in effective service tax rate from 12.36% to 14%. The Finance Bill states: “In the new service tax rate the education cess and secondary and higher education cess […]