Term Insurance Plans

Term insurance is worth buying if anyone depends on your income, or if you carry a loan someone else would have to repay. It pays your nominee a fixed sum assured if you die during the policy term. A standard plan has no maturity benefit, which is why the cover is high and the premium low. If nobody depends on you and you have no debt, the case is weaker.

Buy term insurance at the age when someone first depends on your income, or when you take on a large liability such as a home loan. Age is a major factor in what you pay. The premium set at issuance is generally fixed for the premium payment term, subject to the policy terms. Waiting does not make it cheaper. It raises the chance a new diagnosis affects underwriting.

Yes, you can buy term insurance after 50, as long as you are within the maximum entry age set by the product, usually 60 to 65 years and up to 70 on some plans. Two things change at that age. The premium is much higher, because mortality risk rises. Medical tests are more likely, and conditions such as diabetes or hypertension form part of the underwriting assessment.

You can buy term insurance after retirement if you are within the product's maximum entry age, but the better question is whether cover is still needed. Cover is generally considered where dependants remain, loans or business debts are outstanding, or you want to leave the death benefit to heirs. Premiums are far higher than in your forties. Where dependency and liabilities have ended, cover may serve little purpose.

Buying term insurance for a parent turns on three things: the insurer's underwriting guidelines, the consent of the parent as life assured, and the product's entry age limits. Tax treatment is settled. The deduction under Section 123 (previously Section 80C) of the Income-tax Act, 2025 covers policies on your own life, your spouse and your children. Premiums paid on a parent's policy do not qualify.

Yes. You can take term insurance on your spouse's life, and the insurer underwrites it on your spouse's income, health and the family's finances. Where your spouse earns, the assessment runs on that income and health record. Where your spouse is a homemaker, the sum assured is usually capped against the earning spouse's own cover. Bajaj Life Superwoman Term combines life cover with women-specific critical illness protection.

Under a term insurance plan you pay a fixed premium for a chosen policy term, and the insurer pays a fixed sum assured to your nominee if the life assured dies during that term. The insurer confirms your premium at issuance, from your proposal form and underwriting. Cover runs for the full term while you pay. A standard plan pays nothing if the life assured survives it.

Group term life insurance is life cover an employer arranges for its employees, and the employer owns the policy rather than the employee it covers. The sum assured is often a multiple of salary rather than your loans and dependants. Cover usually ends when you leave the employer; an individual policy continues after a job change. Group premiums attract 18% GST; individual term premiums, 0% from 22 September 2025.

Term insurance is important because it replaces the income a family loses when an earning member dies, at a premium far smaller than the sum assured it pays out. India's protection gap stays wide. The IRDAI's 2024-25 annual report puts insurance penetration at 3.7%, with life insurance at 2.7% of GDP^tt. Households carry long-term loans, medical costs rise faster than inflation, and one earner often supports everyone.

No. A standard term insurance plan pays your nominee the sum assured if you die during the policy term, and pays nothing if you survive it. That is what buys a higher sum assured for the same premium. A Return of Premium (ROP) plan is the exception. It returns eligible premiums on survival till maturity, subject to the policy terms, and costs more for the same cover.

If you outlive the policy term, your cover ends and nothing is payable under a standard term insurance plan, including the premiums you have paid. A Return of Premium (ROP) plan works differently and returns eligible premiums on survival, subject to the policy terms. A policy term cannot be extended after purchase. If you still need cover, you apply afresh at your age and health then.

You need term insurance in your 50s or 60s if dependants still rely on your income, a home or business loan is outstanding, or you want to leave the death benefit to heirs. Age alone does not settle it. Premiums are far higher than in your forties, because mortality risk rises. Where cover already exists, check the sum assured and remaining term still match what you owe.

Enough life cover is the amount that lets your family meet household expenses, repay every outstanding loan and fund their financial goals without lowering their standard of living. Many people start at 10 to 15 times annual income, but no single multiple suits everyone. A closer estimate adds future expenses, loans and goals, then subtracts savings and existing cover. Human Life Value and DIME are established methods.

₹1 crore is enough for some households and clearly short for others, because it is a round number, not a figure worked out from your own expenses, loans and dependants. Count your household expenses, the years your family would depend on your income, your loans and your savings. A sum assured that looks adequate today may fall short in 15 or 20 years as living costs rise.

Yes. You can buy more than one term insurance policy, and no rule limits the number, provided you disclose every existing policy when you apply for a new one. People hold several policies to raise cover as income grows, to match a specific loan, or to spread risk across insurers. Insurers add up your total cover before issuing. Non-disclosure can affect underwriting and a future claim.

The usual way to increase your cover later is to buy an additional term insurance policy, underwritten afresh on your age, health and income, and assessed against the cover you hold. Some products build the increase in instead. An Increasing Cover Term Plan raises the sum assured during the policy term by design. Certain products allow an increase at set life stages, such as marriage or a child's birth.

Term insurance cover is set when you buy the policy, and lowering the sum assured on a policy already in force is not available on every product. Any reduction follows the policy terms and conditions and the insurer's guidelines. Where the premium has become hard to sustain, some products offer a premium holiday instead. A Decreasing Cover Term Plan, where the sum assured falls by design, is chosen at purchase.

Your premium is higher because insurers price every applicant on an individual risk profile, so 2 people buying the same term insurance plan can pay different amounts. Personal factors include age, gender, tobacco or nicotine use, health, medical and family history, occupation and hazardous hobbies. Your policy choices count too, from sum assured and policy term to riders and the payout option. The plan itself is identical.

No. The premium on an individual retail term insurance policy does not rise each year, and the amount fixed at issuance holds for the chosen premium payment term. That is subject to the policy terms and conditions. Insurers review premium rates, but reviews apply to new policies, not to one in force. Watch quotations where a discount covers only year 1, because year 2 costs more.

The premium can change before your policy is issued, when underwriting confirms the final amount, but the figure fixed at issuance then holds for the chosen premium payment term. A quotation rests on the information you give. Before issuance the insurer may review your medical history and other requirements, then add a loading. After issuance the premium generally stays fixed, subject to the policy terms and tax law.

Annual payment is the cheapest frequency, because insurers add a modal loading to monthly, quarterly and half-yearly modes to cover the extra cost of collection and processing. Paying more often costs slightly more across 12 months. Against that, a smaller instalment can be easier to sustain from monthly cash flow. Grace periods differ too: 15 days on the monthly mode and 30 days on the other modes.

Regular pay gives the lower annual premium, because payments spread across the full policy term, while limited pay compresses them into 5, 10 or 15 years and finishes sooner. Life cover runs for the full policy term either way. Choose limited pay where your earning years are likely to end before the policy does. Compare the total premium payable across the policy, not the annual instalment alone.

At age 30 years, a smoker pays ₹18,136^s a year against ₹10,211^q for a non-smoker on a ₹1 crore sum assured, a 30-year policy term and a 30-year premium payment term. That is a gap of ₹7,925 yearly, and it widens with age. At age 45 years, the same comparison is ₹63,253^s against ₹37,113^q. Insurers classify applicants on tobacco or nicotine use at underwriting, and occasional use still counts.

No. A medical test is not compulsory for every term insurance applicant, and whether you need one is decided by the insurer when it underwrites your proposal. The requirement turns on your age, the sum assured you apply for, your health declaration and your medical history. Where a test is required, it helps the insurer price the risk. It is not a negative signal.

A diabetes diagnosis during underwriting does not automatically decline your term insurance application; the insurer assesses the type, your blood sugar control and any complications. HbA1c readings and steady control matter most. Diet-controlled or tablet-controlled diabetes is viewed more favourably than insulin-dependent diabetes. Outcomes range from standard terms to a loading, exclusion, postponement or decline. Bajaj Life Diabetic Term Plan II covers eligible pre-diabetic and Type 2 diabetic applicants.

Occasional smoking still counts as smoking, so declare it — the proposal form asks whether you use tobacco or nicotine, not how much or how often. Insurers verify tobacco use through medical tests at underwriting, and through hospital records when a claim arises. Misrepresenting tobacco habits is a documented reason for claims being rejected. A smoker rating raises your premium; a rejected claim leaves your family with nothing.

Quitting tobacco and nicotine is one of the practical ways to reach a lower, non-smoker premium, and insurers require a defined period of complete abstinence first. The abstinence period and the evidence required follow the insurer's underwriting guidelines, and the declaration may be verified by medical test. On a policy already in force, the smoker rating applied at issue ordinarily continues.

A high body mass index — outside the healthy range of 18.5 to 24.9 — is a risk indicator that insurers price through a premium loading rather than an outright decline. Both extremes count: underweight applicants face extra scrutiny too. Insurers care most about the conditions linked to a high BMI, such as diabetes, hypertension and sleep disorders. A stable or falling weight and no related conditions earn better terms.

Yes. You can change your nominee during the policy term, and you should do so after a marriage, a divorce, the birth of a child or the death of an existing nominee. Changes are made in line with the applicable policy provisions. You can name several nominees and set each share. Where a nominee is a minor, an appointee receives the claim until the nominee turns 18.

Premium payment frequency is set when you buy the policy, and you choose between monthly, quarterly, half-yearly and annual modes, each of which changes the total premium you pay in a year. Insurers add a modal loading to more frequent payments, so annual is considered to be the cheap mode. Whether the frequency can be changed after the policy is issued depends on the product terms and the insurer's servicing rules.

The death benefit payout option — lump sum, monthly income or a combination of the two — is chosen when you buy the policy and decides how the claim money reaches your nominee. The option you pick can also affect the premium, depending on how the product is designed. Whether it can be changed after the policy is issued depends on the product terms and the insurer's servicing rules.

You can update your address, mobile number and email at any point during the policy term, using the Bajaj Life App, WhatsApp or the Life Assist customer portal. Tell the insurer as soon as any of them change. Renewal notices, servicing messages and claim correspondence all go to the details on record. Out-of-date records cause avoidable delays at the claim stage.

Yes. You can download your policy document online through the Bajaj Life App, the Life Assist customer portal or the download section of the Bajaj Life website. Policy documents are also available in DigiLocker. Where the policy is held in dematerialised form, you can access it through an e-Insurance Account. Access is subject to the insurer's registration and verification requirements.

A standard term insurance plan is pure protection and builds no cash value, so there is normally nothing to cash out if you surrender it. Whether a policy acquires a surrender value depends on the product and its terms. Some plans allow an early exit that refunds premiums paid. Exiting ends the cover, and an earlier tax deduction can become taxable if you surrender within the period set by the Income-tax Act.

Your policy continues if you become an NRI, because a term insurance policy issued in India provides worldwide cover and residential status does not by itself alter it. Tell the insurer and update your address and residence status. Premiums can be paid in Indian Rupees from an NRE or NRO account, or by foreign remittance. Claims are settled in Indian Rupees and remitted abroad under FEMA and RBI rules.

IRDAI requires a death claim to be settled within 15 days of receiving all documents, or within 45 days from the date the claim is intimated where an investigation is needed. Interest may be payable if settlement runs past the applicable timeline, in line with IRDAI regulations. In practice, delays come from incomplete papers, pending nominee KYC and hospital or police records that are still awaited.

Term insurance policies commonly exclude death by suicide in the first 12 months from the date the policy commences, and a claim arising in that period is assessed under the exclusion clause. After 12 months, the policy terms govern the claim. The exact wording of the suicide clause, the period it covers and any amount payable vary by policy, so read the terms before you buy.

A missed premium does not lapse the policy immediately, because a grace period applies: 15 days on the monthly mode and 30 days on quarterly, half-yearly and annual modes. Pay within it and the cover continues; miss it and the policy lapses. A lapsed policy can usually be revived within the insurer's revival period by paying arrears with interest. A policy not in force is a recognised ground for rejecting a claim.

Yes. A nominee can intimate a claim online, and most insurers also accept intimation through a branch, customer care, email or a dedicated claim helpline. Once the claim is intimated, the insurer registers it, issues a claim reference number and lists the documents needed. Some documents still have to be sent in physical form, such as the original or a certified copy of the death certificate.

Yes. You can name more than one nominee and set the percentage of the claim payable to each, and on an admissible claim the death benefit is split in those proportions. Each nominee completes the formalities for their own share — identity proof, address proof and bank details. Where a nominee is a minor, the named appointee receives that share until the nominee turns 18, subject to the policy provisions.

Yes. Death in an accident is a standard inclusion in a term insurance plan, and the nominee receives the full sum assured like any other claim. An Accidental Death Benefit Rider, where offered, pays an extra lump sum on top of the base sum assured. Payment depends on the policy being in force and the death not falling within an exclusion, such as death during a criminal act.

Yes. Natural death — death from an illness or a medical condition — is a standard inclusion in a term insurance plan, and the nominee receives the full sum assured. The policy must be in force, and your medical history must have been disclosed accurately. Death traced to non-disclosure of medical history is a recognised exclusion. Death in a natural disaster is generally covered too, subject to the policy terms.

Five exclusions appear in most term insurance policies:

• suicide within 12 months of policy commencement
• death during a criminal or illegal act
• murder of the life assured involving the nominee
• death linked to non-disclosure of medical history
• death during an undisclosed high-risk activity

A claim also fails where the policy was not in force. Exact exclusions depend on the insurer's terms, which you should read before buying.

Terminal illness benefit pays out on diagnosis of a defined terminal illness during the policy term, instead of waiting for the death of the life assured. Where offered, it is built into the base plan, not bought as a rider. Bajaj Life eTouch II and Bajaj Life Superwoman Term both include it. The qualifying conditions and the amount payable are governed by the policy terms and conditions.

Yes. Most term insurance policies issued in India provide worldwide cover, so a death outside India does not by itself cause a claim to fail. A claim can still be declined if the death falls in an excluded category, or if there was material non-disclosure at purchase. Declare your country of residence truthfully; some countries attract a higher premium. Claim money can be remitted abroad under FEMA and RBI rules.

No. A term insurance plan pays a death benefit and does not reimburse hospital bills or treatment costs — that is what health insurance is for. Riders change that. A Critical Illness Rider pays a lump sum on diagnosis of a covered illness. An Accidental Total and Permanent Disability Rider covers loss of earning capacity. A terminal illness benefit, where the plan offers one, pays on diagnosis.

Yes. Your nominee can claim from every insurer you held a policy with, because each term insurance policy is a separate contract and each pays its own death benefit in full. The nominee intimates each insurer separately and submits the documents each one asks for. Settlement timelines run independently. You must have disclosed your existing cover to every insurer when you applied, because non-disclosure can affect a later claim.

Choose the tax regime that leaves your total liability lower, not the one that suits your insurance premium alone. Under the old regime, eligible term insurance premiums qualify for a deduction under Section 123 (previously Section 80C) of the Income-tax Act, 2025. The annual limit is ₹1.5 lakh, subject to the prescribed conditions. Under the new regime it is generally not available unless the Act provides otherwise.

The deduction under Section 123 (previously Section 80C) of the Income-tax Act, 2025 follows whoever pays the premium, on policies covering self, spouse and children. Where your spouse pays for a policy on your life, whether a deduction is available, and to whom, depends on the ownership and payment conditions in the Act. The deduction applies under the old tax regime. Confirm your position with a tax adviser.

No. A death claim paid to your nominee is exempt from income tax under Section 11 (read with Schedule II, Sr.No.2) [previously Section 10(10D)] of the Income-tax Act, 2025. The exemption is subject to the prescribed conditions. It applies under both the old and the new tax regime. The maturity benefit of a Return of Premium plan is assessed separately against the conditions prescribed under the Act.

Term insurance premium qualifies for a deduction under Section 123 (previously Section 80C) of the Income-tax Act, 2025. The death benefit is exempt under Section 11 read with Schedule II, Sr. No. 2 (previously Section 10(10D)). The deduction applies under the old tax regime, within ₹1.5 lakh a year and subject to the prescribed conditions. The numbers changed when the Act took effect on 1 April 2026.

No. Term insurance premium is claimed under Section 123 of the Income-tax Act, 2025, the provision that succeeded Section 80C, not under Section 80D. Section 80D covered health insurance premium under the superseded Income-tax Act, 1961. The Section 123 deduction applies under the old tax regime, within an annual limit of ₹1.5 lakh shared with other eligible payments. The prescribed conditions must be satisfied.

The term insurance premium is not tax free, but two rules reduce what it costs. Eligible premiums qualify for a deduction under Section 123 (previously Section 80C) of the Income-tax Act, 2025. The deduction runs under the old tax regime, within ₹1.5 lakh a year and subject to the prescribed conditions. GST on individual term insurance premiums is 0% from 22 September 2025. Group term premiums attract 18%.

Yes. Term insurance plans give tax benefits at two stages under the Income-tax Act, 2025. Under the old tax regime, premiums qualify for a deduction under Section 123 (previously Section 80C), within ₹1.5 lakh a year. Under the new regime that deduction is generally not available. The death benefit is exempt under Section 11 read with Schedule II (previously Section 10(10D)), whichever regime you choose. The prescribed conditions apply throughout.

The suitable plan turns on your health, your income documents and whether you want premiums back at maturity. Four plans cover the common cases:

• Bajaj Life eTouch II for the widest choice of features
• Bajaj Life iSecure II where income proofs are hard to show because of the nature of job. Example for self-employed
• Bajaj Life Diabetic Term Plan II for eligible pre-diabetic and Type 2 diabetic customers
• Bajaj Life Superwoman Term for women-specific protection

You may consider choosing Bajaj Life eTouch II if you qualify under standard underwriting and want the most features.

You may consider choosing Bajaj Life iSecure II if your income is hard to document conventionally but you remain eligible under its underwriting guidelines. Bajaj Life eTouch II offers multiple variants, flexible payouts, a premium holiday and terminal illness benefit.

Choose pure term if you want the largest sum assured your budget allows. Choose Return of Premium if a maturity benefit matters and the higher premium is affordable across the full term. A pure term plan pays no maturity benefit, so it costs less. A Return of Premium plan returns eligible premiums at maturity, subject to the policy terms. The proceeds are assessed under the Income-tax Act, 2025.

Add riders that cover a risk you are not already insured against:

• Critical Illness Rider, a lump sum on diagnosis of a covered illness
• Accidental Death Benefit Rider, for high accident exposure
• Accidental Total & Permanent Disability Rider, for lost earning capacity
• for additional monthly/Lump sum income to the beneficiary
• Care Plus Rider, for wellness benefits

Every rider raises the premium, so avoid duplicating cover you already hold.

No single plan is best for everyone, because premium and eligibility depend on your age, health and income. Four checks decide the fit:

• a sum assured matched to your income and loans
• a policy term running until your responsibilities end
• a payout structure your family can use
• riders for risks you are not already covered

Then compare claim settlement ratios over several years, solvency against IRDAI's 150% minimum and the exclusions.

Work through eight checks: sum assured, policy term, premium payment term, claim settlement ratio, solvency ratio, riders, payout structure and total premium after GST. Start with the sum assured, because every other decision follows from it. A common starting point is 10 to 15 times annual income, adjusted for loans and future goals. Compare the total premium across the policy, not the annual instalment, and read the exclusions.

Term insurance is one type of life insurance, not an alternative to it. Life insurance is the wider category: term plans, whole life, endowment plans ULIPs etc. A term plan pays only if the life assured dies within the policy term, and a standard one has no maturity benefit. Other life insurance products mix protection with savings, and often allow a policy loan.

No. Life insurance is the category, and term insurance is one product within it. Treating them as the same causes two errors. The first is expecting money back at maturity. A standard term plan pays no maturity benefit and builds no cash value, which buys more cover for the same premium. The second is expecting a policy loan, which many savings-linked policies allow and a term plan does not.