It goes without saying that life insurance is considered an important tool of financial planning with long term objectives. When it comes to providing a safety net to the family to protect them from the uncertainties of life, there is no better product than a term life insurance plan.
More so, if you are the only breadwinner of your family and have a large liability portfolio, a term insurance plan is the best bet for you. It makes sense to purchase the best term insurance with large enough coverage that will allow your family to continue with the lifestyle they are used to, liquidate your liabilities in the unfortunate circumstances of your passing away.
Role of women in insurance:
The general gender disparity prevalent in the society in India reflects amply in the insurance cover the women enjoy in the typical Indian household. In fact women are not considered to merit life risk in terms of income addition into a typical Indian household. More often than not, they find themselves as nominees only, deemed fit for receiving death benefit at most. As per reports for the FY 2017-18, life insurance coverage for women comprised only 32% of the total first premium collected across the country.
In terms of numbers it comes to 90 lakhs policies for women as against 1.91 crore policies purchased by men. This reflects a huge gender gap in the life insurance segment However, on the flip side this a vast improvement over the figures through the last decade.
How to choose the best insurance company?
The best way to choose a company is to put your faith in the green list of IRDAI, which is a Report Card of the insurance companies and their performance determined by their claim settlement ratios. Since the list is based on two parameters, the high ratio in both of them is a sure measure of their antecedents.
Women centric best term insurance:
The gender disparity notwithstanding, the trend is buckled in recent times and many women are emerging out of homes and taking to work for a living. It is this trend that the women are getting attracted to cover themselves for life and many companies are playing ball by offering women centric policies that suit the needs of women in the country. Many of them realize that the efficacy of opting for best term insurance as a means to cover them adequately. A majority of them realize that best term insurance is the most cost-effective ways of protecting their families, but when it comes to purchasing, there is utter confusion because of the multiplicity of offers.
How will women choose the best term insurance?
The basic thumb rule to follow, is asses the liability of the family as a whole including that of the spouse. The core issue with the passing away of the wife is how the household will cope with the loss of income and contribution of her loss is to be compensated. So even if the husband has a term plan, it is wise for the wife to also opt for a suitable one. It makes sense to start early as the premium increases with age. Most term insurance start from a minimum sum assured of Rs. 25 lakhs, but it is best to choose a sum assured equivalent to about 15 to 20 times of the annual income.
Is the best term insurance suitable for a woman who is a homemaker?
The role of a homemaker is surprisingly not evaluated in terms of revenue earning of the family, while she is instrumental in looking after the house. Imagine if she were not there, the outgo of the family in terms of the services she had been providing would go up manifold, leading the family into financial crisis. If such a scenario were to arise, it is smart to contemplate a term plan in the name of the homemaker too, to compensate for the services she had been providing.
Special offers for women in best term insurance:
In consideration of the low penetration of women in life insurance and to remove the gender disparity involved in this, some insurance companies offer lures to woo the women.
- Women are offered special premium rates.
- The non-smoker clause benefits the women with a lower
- The riders are eminently suitable for women centric term plans, especially the critical illness rider.
Advantages of term plans for women:
When it comes to women centric life insurance products, most companies have launched a plan for women but not a term plan, but endowment and ULIP. Understanding the complexities of those plans is not a feature in term plans which are easy. They are the simplest form of life insurance. The popularity of term plans lies in the transparent nature of the plans. Only the variants and the riders need to be accounted for.
Best term insurance plans suitable for women:
An indicative list of the best term insurance plans based on their claim settlement ratio for women is enumerated below:
- ICICI Prudential iProtect Smart:
- HDFC Life Life Option
- AEGON Life
- Max Life Insurance Online Term Plan Plus
- PNB Metlife Mera Term Plan.
Bottom Line:
It is a fact of life to understand that the women have been left behind in the provision of life insurance in consonance with the gender inequality prevalent in our society. But the trend is slowly and surely changing with more and more women taking to professional life. With rising awareness among them, the incidence of women going in for best term insurance plans shall steadily increase in the years to come.
