An endowment insurance plan is a savings oriented life insurance plan which helps in building up a secured financial corpus. The plan promises guaranteed benefits and pays either a death benefit or a maturity benefit.
There are some qualifying features of an endowment policy which are as follows:
Endowment policies provide the following advantages which make them a good choice:
Here are some of the best endowment plans available in the Indian insurance market currently:
Plan name | Sum assured allowed | Salient features |
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Bajaj Allianz Life Super Life Assure | Rs.50, 000 onwards |
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LIC’s New Jeevan Anand | Rs.1 lakh and above |
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ICICI Pru Savings Suraksha | Rs.1.2 lakhs and above |
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HDFC Life Sampoorn Samridhi Plus Plan | Rs.65, 463 and above |
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HDFC Life Sanchay | Rs.100, 703 and above |
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The rate of bonus declarations depends on the insurance company’s profit earnings during a financial year. A bonus is, therefore, not guaranteed.
Surrender is allowed when the plan acquires a paid-up value. The plan acquires a paid-up value when the first two to three years’ premiums have been paid. If the policyholder wants he can surrender the policy and avail a surrender value.
Yes, interest is payable on loans were taken under the policy. The rate of interest depends on the company and might also change with changing times.
Yes, endowment plan allows three premium payment terms. Premiums can be paid in one lump sum, for a limited period and also throughout the plan tenure.
No, a bonus is not guaranteed in all endowment policies. Only if the policy is participating in nature, it would attract bonuses.
A participating endowment insurance policy is a policy which attracts bonus declarations. If the policy is participating, the bonus declared by the company would be added to the policy benefits.
Yes, besides the bonus additions, participating endowment plans have higher premiums than non-participating endowment plans.
Under many endowment plans, guaranteed additions are added to the policy benefits. These are guaranteed returns which are promised by the insurance policy. The rate of the addition is predetermined and the addition is paid at specific policy years. Guaranteed additions might also be paid under those endowment plans which do not earn bonuses.
Loyalty additions are returns which are promised by the endowment insurance policy if the policyholder continues the policy for a long term. These additions are a reward for the policyholder for maintaining his loyalty towards the plan. The addition is paid either once or twice over the plan tenure after the policy runs continuously for 10 to 20 years. The rate of loyalty addition is fixed and is mentioned in the policy’s benefit structure.
Loyalty additions do not depend on whether the plan earns a bonus or not. They are paid for continuing the plan over long tenures. As such, non-participating plans can also earn loyalty additions if such additions are a part of the policy benefit.
The bonus is declared only if the insurance company earns a profit in a policy year. If the company makes a loss in any year, no bonus would be declared. Thus, a bonus is not guaranteed to be paid every policy year.
Yes, riders are available under most of the available endowment plans. Policyholders can choose one or more riders as per their coverage requirements.
Yes, riders attract additional premiums. The premium for the plan would, therefore, increase with every rider selected.
The minimum term varies across different plans but it ranges from 5 years to 10 years.