Every individual desires to secure his life interest by investment in tangible property, i.e. life insurance so that in case of need they can use it optimally. The term life insurance means it is a contract between the policy owner and the insurer, where the latter agrees to repay the happenings of an insured individual’s death or to compensate in other events like terminal illness or in critical condition. In other words, it is a protection against the financial loss resulting from the insured person’s death. It is an agreement where the insured agreed to pay the money in terms of insurance premium for the services. The most important component of this policy is that it covered the life risks and savings for future events. Moreover, it is like an investment which one should do to protect his or his family life interest. Therefore, the term life insurance seems like everyone wants to have in his life like a property. It is recognized as the best instrument for family financial issues.
However the policies are being regulated by the “IRDAI,” and they have to follow the norms of cost and investment with a view to maximise an individual’s safety. Till now there are 24 government-owned Life Insurance Corporation of India and others were promoted by various private holders company which is located in India and Foreign.
There are different arrangements for this strategy, including cash back, taking an interest or non-partaking strategy (alludes to taking an interest in the speculation benefit for this classification of policies with the insurer), joint life policy for mates, strategies with development fixed to a specific function or cost, for example, advanced education or marriage, to make funds for it, etc.
Table of Contents
Definition
In the words of Bunion, he defined the term life insurance as “it is a contract where one party agrees to pay a given amount on the occurrence of a particular event which is based on the contingent duration of human life, in compensation of the immediate sum of a smaller amount or certain equal periodically payment by another.
Features of life insurance policy
- Policyholder: It means an individual who pays the premium amount and signs the life insurance contract with the life insurance company.
- Premium: It is an amount which an individual pays as an investment to the company for covering their life interest.
- Maturity: It is the phase where the term of the contract is completed and the life insurance policy ends.
- Insured: It is the person whose life has been secured via life insurance, therefore after his death the company is accountable to compensate the financial amount to the family.
- Sum Assured: It is a specified amount that the insurance company pays to the family after the demise of the insurer if the death occurred as specified in the contract.
- Policy Term: Policy term is the specified period as mentioned in the life insurance contract for which the insurance company provides and covers the happenings or events of an individual during the contract.
- Nominee: It is an individual who is authorised to receive the amount on the behalf of the insurer {as mentioned in life insurance policy}.
- Claim: It is an amount which a nominee can claim after the demise of the insurer in order to receive it as specified in the predetermined contract.
Benefits of life insurance policy
Death benefits
Life insurance enables the individual to secure themselves and their family, in case of contingent events. The death advantage or presumptive worth is the measure of cash the insurance agency assigns to the recipients distinguished in the policy on the demise of the insurer. The protected may be a parent, and the recipients may be their youngsters, for instance. The insured will pick the idle death benefit sum dependent on the recipients’ assessed future necessities. The insurance agency will decide if there is an insurable interest and if the proposed protected qualifies for the inclusion dependent on the organization’s endorsing prerequisites identified with age, wellbeing, and any dangerous exercises where the proposed insured participates.[1]
Investment Components
In certain entire life insurance policies offer two dimensional advantages of both protection and venture. While one portion of your expense is paid toward protection, the other half is put into resources, debts or mixes of both. You defeat the two universes with a defensive covering just as exceptional yields on your ventures. You can benefit as much as possible from this segment by putting resources into reserves that line up with your venture horizon and danger. Certain policies permit you to switch between assets according to your advancing objectives. The Invest 4G plan offered by Canara HSBC Oriental Bank of Commerce gives you the choice of looking over a scope of 7 unit-connected assets and four distinctive portfolio the executives choices according to your inclination.
Maturity benefits
In life insurance policy, “it can serve as an investment funds instrument by offering development benefits”. On the chance if the protected endures the policy term and no cases have been made, the all out charges paid are returned at the hour of development of the strategy. Therefore it also ensures the saving component with a life interest.
https://legalreadings.com/concept-of-adr/
Tax benefit
Under the Income Tax Act, people can decrease their expense liabilities by putting resources into explicit instruments.[2] Term protection is one of them. Therefore, the superior paid for your extra security strategy is qualified to achieve a most extreme tax deduction for up to Rs. 1.5 lakh.[3] Moreover, any payouts you get from your protection strategy are totally tax-exempt (gave your premium doesn’t surpass 10% of your Sum Assured, yearly).[4] In the event that you have decided on a wellbeing related rider, for example, a basic disease or careful consideration rider, you can likewise benefit tax deduction.[5]
Coverage against liabilities
Everyone to satisfy their dreams and to accomplish their objectives, they may have required a specific measure of budgetary help – in the shape of credits, contracts and different sorts of debts. Therefore be it student loans or credit card obligation, managing such liabilities can be a wellspring of extraordinary budgetary strain, without a constant flow of income. While a person may have the assets to take care of a part of his credits now but at the uncertain phase family may face difficulties to cover the liabilities in the event of unfortunate death attributable to the loss of income. Consequently, taking a life insurance policy guarantees that one’s family has the monetary way to consistently meet their credit and home loan reimbursements, even in his absence.
Riders
An individual can choose the riders to improve their life insurance coverage. Various riders, going from Critical Illness to Accidental Total Permanent Disability are accessible and help to secure them and their friends and family against examples wherein he may not become an integral factor in his life.
Kinds of life insurance policy
- Term Life:- In this case the insurer chooses the term as per his convenience when he takes out the policy and it lasts for a certain period and then ends. Therefore a usual life insurance terms are 10, 20 and 30 years. Thus the best life insurance policies balance reasonability with long-term financial stability.
- Yearly Renewable Term:- It means in which the premiums are lower when an individual is a child but it gets increased as one gets older.
- Permanent Term:- It is one of the most expensive kinds of terms as the policy stays in force for the entire life of the insurer whether he is paying the premium or stop to pay the premium which means surrender the policy.
- Burial or final expenses: It is a kind of permanent term which has small death benefits. In spite of the names, the beneficiary can use the death benefits also.
- Guaranteed Issue: This is a kind of permanent life insurance i.e. accessible to individuals with clinical issues that would somehow or another make them uninsurable, ensured issue life insurance won’t pay a demise benefit during the initial two years the policy is in power (except if the death is uncertain happened) because of the high danger of guaranteeing the individual. Notwithstanding, the guarantor will restore the policy payments in addition to the interest of the recipients if the guaranteed dies during that stage.[6]
- Single Premium:- It means when the policyholder pays the entire amount in one instalment rather to pay in monthly, quarterly or yearly.
- Universal Life:- It is a kind of permanent life insurance which earns interest with a component of cash value, and it is comparable to the life interest. On the contrary, the death benefits, whole life policy and the premium can be adjusted with the time.
- Guaranteed Universal: It is a type of Universal life that doesn’t build cash value and has lower premiums than whole life.
- Variable Universal: In this kind of policy the policyholder may invest in the policy with the cash value.
- Indexed Universal: It is another kind of universal life which clearly states that authorise the policyholders to earn a fixed or equity-indexed rate of return on the component of cash value.
Case Laws
Anuradha v. State of Maharashtra [7]
Facts: This argument was an appeal filed against an order to restore the property, i.e., Rs. 50000 furnished that she gives a guarantee with the similar amount. Therefore in the given case the petitioner handed over a cheque worth of Rs. 50000 for the premium of her insurance cover to HDFC Standard Life Insurance Policy. Later on it was discovered that the given cheque was not credited to the appellant account but to some other account of an individual named Ritesh Bahadur Chauhan. So she filed an application for the pay back of the sum and the judge permitted with the condition that she needs to provide a guarantee with the similar amount. Thus this appeal came with the challenge to the provided condition.
Judgment: This appeal was mostly permitted and the condemned order was changed to eradicate the state of accommodation of guarantee. Along with this, the Court guided the applicant to execute an obligation of Rs. 50000 expressing that she would restore the cash to the court when started by the court.
There are various case laws managing subrogation, of which we consider the Economic Transport Organization v. Charan Spinning Mills (P) Ltd[8] choice to be the most conspicuous. This case was decided in 2010 by the most noteworthy court of India, the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court clarified that subrogation is natural, accidental and collateral to an agreement of repayment, which happens consequently when the insurer resolves the claim under the policy, by repaying the misfortune endured by the insured.
Another case law of life insurance is: In Sonell Clocks and Gifts Ltd v. The New India Assurance Co Ltd. [9], the Supreme Court upheld disapproval based on delayed notice and observed that the notice necessity ‘is definitely not a technical issue however sine qua non for a legitimate claim to be followed by the insured, as settlement done between the parties’.
Conclusion
In sum up it is said that in the today scenario if one would like to secure his or his friends and family members life interest and to spend stable life without any financial loss because of uncertain events then he should use the policy i.e. Life insurance. Further everyone wants to secure his life but there are so many people who are not aware of the terms and conditions of the given policy due to which according to the reports in India the overall growth is so slow. The insurance policy is necessary for the parents with the minor child so that in case if they die then their children should have the source of income through which they can live their livelihood , for the benefit purpose of old-aged people, for marriage and for burial purpose.
REFERENCES
[1] Amy Fontinelle, ‘Life Insurance Guide to Policies & Companies’, January 7, 2021, available at: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/l/lifeinsurance.asp ( last visited on December 8,2020).
[2] ‘Features and benefits of Life Insurance in India’, IncomeTax Act, 1961,Section 80C, available at: https://www.canarahsbclife.com/knowledge-centre/blog/features-and-benefits-of-life-insurance-in-india.html ( last visited on December 8,2020)
[3] ‘Features & Benefits of Life Insurance’,Income Tax Act, 1961,Section 80C, available at: https://www.canarahsbclife.com/knowledge-centre/blog/features-and-benefits-of-life-insurance-in-india.html ( last visited on December 8, 2020)
[4] ‘Features & Benefits of Life Insurance’,Income Tax Act,1961,Section 10D, available at: https://www.canarahsbclife.com/knowledge-centre/blog/features-and-benefits-of-life-insurance-in-india ( last visited on December 8,2020)
[5] ‘Features & Benefits of Life Insurance’, Income Tax Act, 1961, Section 80D, available at: https://www.canarahsbclife.com/knowledge-centre/blog/features-and-benefits-of-life-insurance-in-india.html ( last visited on December 8,2020)
[6] Amy Fontinelle, ‘Life Insurance Guide to Policies & Companies’, available at: ”https://www.investopedia.com/terms/l/lifeinsurance.asp ( last visited on December 8,2020)
[7] (2015) BOM 989.
[8] (2010) 4 SCC 114.
[9] (2018) 9 SCC 801.
BY CHAHAT | PANJAB UNIVERSITY, REGIONAL CENTRE, LUDHIANA