How to Compare the Term Insurance Plans

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By now, every one of us has had at least one experience of shopping online. We live in a digital age, where websites like Amazon and Flipkart have helped make buying consumer products and services via the internet as common as having a smartphone. Online aggregation sites have also widespread today; think Trivago for hotels and Skyscanner for flights.

The insurance sector is no alien to this technology. More and more insurance aggregation portals are popping up, allowing price and product comparison on a range of insurers and their offerings.

What are Insurance Portals or Aggregators?

We often find advertisements on popular internet websites offering to assist us in finding the best and cheapest insurance. Such banner ads do not refer to a specific insurance company, but rather to a portal from where quotes could be gathered from most of the insurance companies. Such portals are called insurance comparison sites or insurance aggregators.

How Do Comparison Portals Work with Life Insurance?

Typically, price aggregators work by securing the right to list the life insurance company’s products, prices and services, on their website, and allow insurance seekers to compare them with similar products or services of other companies. 

The basic idea is to provide life insurance companies with some extra exposure while making the purchase decision simpler for consumers, as they no longer need to look for life insurance products and their prices at a number of different places. Using a price comparison portal, consumers can have all the necessary information they need in one place.

For instance, a term insurance policy seeker, while making term plan comparisons, would want to know the range of things; “Which term plan is the cheapest?”, “Which company offers the most term insurance benefits?”, “Who has the most options?”, and so on. Using a comparison portal, he can get answers to all his questions at one place and make an informed buying decision.

Now, let’s take a look at some of the leading insurance comparison portals of India.

1. Policybazaar

Policybazaar is India’s prominent insurance aggregator website that specialises in comparing financial services from major insurance companies. The comparative analysis is based on price, premium amount and claims paid a percentage. Policybazaar is known to better empower customers with accurate information on life insurance products combined with solution driven customer service, which makes the insurance buying process much simpler. 

policybazaar-

For example, when we compare term plans that offer a cover of Rs. 75 lakhs for a policy period of 60 years on Policybazaar, we see multiple options from reputable insurers as depicted below. Along with monthly premiums and sum assured, you can also view features of each term plan in detail and pit them against each other so that you can make an advised decision.

2. BankBazaar

BankBazaar is a kind of online marketplace, enabling users to compare and buy financial products including life insurance policies, credit cards and bank loans. Bank Bazaar not only shows a comparison of plans, pricing and benefits but also provides unbiased advisory services in helping customers buy life insurance policies suiting their requirements. For example, let us check for term plans for a policy period of 5 to 40 years and a maturity age of 80 years on BankBazaar.

BankBazaar

From the results (as depicted below), we can see that ICICIPrudential offers a minimum sum assured of Rs. 80 lakhs for a monthly premium of Rs. 676. Max Life Insurance, on the other hand, offers the same sum assured amount for a monthly premium of Rs. 656 and has a claim paid a percentage of 98.26 (which is the best among the private life insurers in India). 

3. PolicyX.com

PolicyX is a feature and price comparison portal that empowers you to take an informed decision by providing a comprehensive comparison facility, thus, simplifying your research process. You can save substantial money and time by using PolicyX’s comparison engine for life insurance products, including ULIPs, term plans, child plans and traditional endowment plans.

PolicyX

For example, if we look for a term plan for a policy period of 32 years till the age of 60, we can see that the Online Term Plan Plus from Max Life Insurance offers to pay a lump sum of Rs. 1,00,00,000 for a monthly premium of Rs. 685, while HDFC Life and ICICIPrudential offer similar benefits at a monthly premium of Rs. 814 and Rs. 777 respectively. While the lump sum amount and the policy period is the same, we can see that the claim paid percentage of each insurer is different. Also, each plan offers several distinctive benefits such as critical illness cover and premium waiver on disability, which separates them from the competition. 

4. Myinsuranceclub.com

My Insurance Club is one of the leading online life and non-life insurance aggregator in India’s. It compares life insurance products from leading insurance companies; based on their price and quality and offers you the power to choose the best-suited insurance plan. Their strong relationships with private and public insurers have enabled them to provide an exhaustive comparison of life insurance products combined with the facility to purchase insurance online.

myinsuranceclub

For example, if we compare a term plan that offers Rs. 2 crores as sum assured for a policy period of 35 years, we can see several options ranging from Rs. 1,100 to Rs. 1,450 as monthly payments. You can also view additional benefits and rider information alongside plan details, which can help you evaluate term plans on more than one parameter.

5. Concluding

Insurance portals play a vital role in helping policy seekers make crucial insurance decisions and aid them in identifying the best insurance product for their needs whilst saving money.

However, before you start to compare, think about what your requirements are. For instance, if you are looking forward to buying a term life insurance plan then don’t make the decision looking at the price alone. You must also look for additional benefits such as longer policy term, substantial life cover, and riders while comparing term plans. Taking some time to look at all the insurance plans carefully should give you a better idea of what the best deals are.

That said, when it comes to offering a low-cost term plan with high coverage and a host of other features, Max Life Insurance leads the way for private insurers in India. As evident from the various term plan calculators in this list, term plans from Max Life Insurance offer the lowest premium rates, while boasting of the highest claim paid a percentage. Also, these plans offer benefit payment for treatment of up to 40 critical illnesses and disabilities along with a coverage period of up to 85 years of age.