Manoj Aswani is VP at MyInsuranceClub.com
What does an Endowment Policy and Annuity plan actually mean?
—Sumant Desai, Vileparle West
An Endowment Policy is a savings linked insurance policy with a specific maturity date. Should an unfortunate event by way of death or disability occur to you during the period, the Sum Assured will be paid to your beneficiaries. On your surviving the term, the maturity proceeds on the policy become payable.
When an employee retires, he no longer gets his salary while his need for a regular income continues. Retirement benefits like Provident Fund and gratuity are paid in lump sum which are often spent too quickly or not invested prudently with the result that the employee finds himself without regular income in his post - retirement days. Pension is therefore an ideal method of retirement provision because the benefit is in the form of regular income. It is wise to provide for old age, when we have regular income during our earning period to take care of rainy days. Financial independence during old age is a must for everybody.
There are two types of annuities (pension plans) -
1) Immediate Annuity
In case of immediate Annuity, the Annuity payment from the Insurance Company starts immediately. Purchase price (premium) for immediate Annuity is to be paid in Iumpsum in one instalment only.
2) Deferred Annuity
Under deferred Annuity policy, the person pays regular contributions to the Insurance Company, till the vesting age/vesting date. He has the option to pay as single premium also. The fund will accumulate with interest and fund will be available on the vesting date. The insurance company will take care of the investment of funds and the policyholder has the option to encash 1/3rd of this corpus fund on the vesting age / vesting date tax free. The balance amount of 2/3rd of the fund will be utilized for purchase of Annuity (pension) to the Annuitant.
My agent was telling me something about Paid-up Value for Conventional Life Insurance. What is Paid-up Value in Conventional Life Insurance Policy?
—Siraj Bookwalla, Byculla West
After premiums are paid for a certain defined period or beyond and if subsequent premiums are not paid, the sum assured is reduced to a proportionate sum, which bears the same ratio to the full sum assured as the number of premiums actually paid bears to the total number originally stipulated in the policy. For example, if sum assured is 1 lakh and the total number of premiums is payable is 20 (20 years policy, mode of premium is assumed yearly) and default occurs after 10 yearly premiums are paid, the policy acquires the paid up value of 50,000/-. Paid up Value = No. of Premiums
Paid / No. of Premiums Payable X S.A=10/20 X 100000 = 50000/-. This means that the policy is effective as before except that from the date the 11th premium was due, the sum assured is 50,000/- instead of original 1,00,000/-. To this sum assured the bonus already vested (accrued) before the policy lapsed, is also added. Example if the bonus accrued up to the date of lapse is 35,000/-, the total paid up value is 50000 + 35000 = 85000.
What are the requirements to be submitted in case of a Maturity Claim?
—Meenal Shah, Bandra East
Usually the Insurance Company will send intimation attaching the discharge voucher to the policy holder at least 2 to 3 months in advance of the date of maturity of the policy intimating the claim amount payable. The policy bond and the discharge voucher duly signed and witnessed are to be returned to the insurance company immediately so that the insurance company will be able to make payment. If the policy is assigned in favour of any other person the claim amount will be paid only to the assignee who will give the discharge.
(The author is Vice President at MyInsuranceClub.com, insurance comparison website in India. You may write to him at [email protected]).