Blessed are those who have a great family to take care of. When it comes to family, you prioritize everything for them – from choosing the best product to spending some quality time with family; there are many emotions and memories to cherish with your loved ones. Financially securing your family for the future is what every family-oriented person or earning member of the group does. And that’s why many of you go abroad for better job opportunities and a better standard of living. At some point, we become responsible members to take care of our loved ones’ needs – both financial and emotional. Similar is the role of life insurance in life.
We don’t know what the future will be like. Living in the certainty that your family is secured can bring peace of mind even in your absence. After all, you don’t want to see your children dropping out of the school/college to take the family’s financial burden. That’s where the decision to buy life insurance comes into effect.
We all are quite familiar with the term insurance and what life insurance meaning is. But just for the informative sake, life insurance means a contract between an insurance provider and an individual (say you). An insurance policy works when the policyholder (who plans to buy life insurance) pays a certain amount as the policy premium. At the same time, the insurer (insurance company), in return, pays a death benefit to the family on the unfortunate demise of the insured.
Life Insurance Inclusions
If you have plans to buy a life insurance policy, you need to know your selected insurance policy covers what and whatnot. Life insurance inclusions are the policy provisions that are covered by your life insurance policy. In simple terms, inclusions refer to insured events and, if occurred, will result in some compensation for you.
These inclusions also specify under what circumstances the death benefits will be paid to the nominee. When buying a life insurance policy, the first thing you need to consider is its inclusions, which define what all are included in the policy. Some insurers provide additional riders that are taken as inclusion in the policy. These include:
- Accidental death coverage: If the policyholder met with an accident leading to death, the nominee becomes eligible to get the lumpsum death benefit if the policy includes accidental death coverage.
- Critical illness coverage: The 2018 stats by the ICMR-NICPR (Indian Council of Medical Research, National Institute of Cancer Prevention, and Research) shows a steady rise in the number of cancer cases and other critical illnesses. A critical illness cover will provide financial security to your family against many life-threatening health diseases. These include cardiovascular diseases like stroke, heart attacks, kidney failures, paralysis, multiple sclerosis, etc. that affect the body’s major organs, causing death.
Specific Things To Check Before Buying A Life Insurance Policy
Apart from the general set of factors, the following are some of the particular things you need to cross-check before finalizing a life insurance purchase decision.
- Coverage
- Waiting period
- Grace period
- Maturity benefits
Coverage
Buy a policy that features affordable premium with adequate coverage, without compromising on the benefits. Depending on your health conditions and age, there can be differences in the premium and coverage. Decide how long you need coverage – whether to last for a certain period (term life) or as long as you live (whole life).
If you need insurance only for a specific time, then consider buying term insurance. Instead, if you are looking for lifetime coverage, then consider permanent coverage.
Waiting period
The waiting period clause helps you in better decision making of buying an insurance policy. Every insurance policy comes with a fixed waiting period related to cover certain illnesses. It is only after the waiting period that the policyholder will get coverage for those illnesses. Diseases like diabetes, pre-existing medical conditions, or maternity benefits come with a waiting period ranging from 2-4 years.
Grace period
A grace period is the defined amount of time after the due premium payment date, which a policyholder can make to prevent the policy from lapsing. The insurance grace period can vary depending on the insurance company and policy type.
Maturity benefits
Under a pure term insurance policy, there are no paybacks. But if you are looking for a survival benefit on an insurance policy, then buy a plan that offers maturity benefits. Most insurance policies with maturity benefits come for 5, 10, 15, 20 years. It allows the family to get coverage in misfortune and provides benefits if you survive throughout the policy term.
The best life insurance policy for you is the one that provides adequate coverage, maturity benefits, a reasonable grace period, and affordable premium. Before you blindly fall for buying an insurance policy, consider these factors mentioned above to get the most out of it.