As the name implies, life insurance is a cover on your life. It ensures financial support to your family (spouse, children, etc.) in case of loss of life. Whereas, general insurance provides coverage for your other assets, such as cars, homes, etc. against loss or damage caused by unfortunate incidents like theft, fire, manmade or natural calamities, accidents, etc.
Health insurance provides coverage against medical emergencies including the cost of hospitalisation. 

A life insurance policy is not a contract of indemnity; it's a fixed benefit policy.
In case of indemnity-based policies, the insurance company replaces (or pays for) the damages, and the pay-out revives the insured to the same financial status before the occurrence of the loss.
Since the value of human life is not quantifiable, the principle of indemnity does not apply in the case of life insurance. 

Life insurance is one of the best gifts you can give to your loved ones. Though no one likes to think about unfortunate events, when we do, we often worry about what may happen to the loved ones who are left behind.
If you are the breadwinner of the family, your life insurance cover would help the family members to continue living the same lifestyle in case of unexpected eventualities.
Additionally, life insurance policies help you build substantial wealth and fulfil your important life goals such as starting a new business, buying a new house or a car, renovating your old house, etc.  

How much life cover you need depends on your life stage, household expenses per month, current income, liabilities, medical expenses, education expenses for your children, number of dependants, etc.
A Human Life Value (HLV) Calculator is one of the better ways to estimate the current value of all income you would earn in the future for your family. 

Every now and then, all of us probably come across the thought "what would happen to our loved ones when I am not there?"
Besides taking care of the household expenses, your children’s education, or financial liabilities of your family in your absence or post retirement source of income, life insurance works as a great investment plan for yourself.
Certain insurance policies can help you with your retirement plans or with your long-term goals, such as purchasing your dream home or starting your start-up, etc. A life insurance policy will also help you save on income tax and effectively increase your savings. 

Buying a life insurance product is one of the most responsible financial decisions of your life. There are various types of life insurance products and each of these products has its unique benefits.
Here are the different types of life insurance products you can choose from:
Term Insurance | ULIPs (Unit Linked Insurance Plans) | Whole Life Insurance | Money Back Insurance Plans | Endowment Insurance Plans | Child Insurance Plans | Retirement Insurance Plans | Group Life Insurance I Savings Insurance Plan I Pension & Annuity Plans
Star Union Dai-ichi Life insurance has a host of Life Insurance products to help you achieve your various financial goals. 

Choosing the right type of life insurance plan can be a puzzling exercise, but it is one of the most important decisions you can make to ensure a comfortable and secured life for yourself and your family.

Here is a guide to help you choose the same:
Think carefully and note down your financial goals

● Assess your total liabilities and household expenses
● Decide an amount that you can pay as comfortably pay as premium
● Your expected maturity amount.
● Undertake suitability analysis and find desired product to opt for.

Money back policy is a type of life insurance plan that pays the benefits in regular intervals or as a lump sum at defined point/s during the term of the policy.
Money back plan is a great plan for youngsters and first-time investors.It can help them save small amounts regularly and meet their short term/ medium term wealth-creation goals.

Bonus is a share of the profit of an insurance company that is paid to the policyholders over and above the sum assured.
Insurance companies invest a percentage of the assets in securities, bonds, and other financial investment vehicles. When the insurance company makes a profit, a percentage of the surplus is shared with the policyholders as a bonus. Bonus, if declared by the Company, generally accrues at the end of every financial year.
The calculation of bonuses depends on various factors such as profits made in the previous year, history of claims, the projected interest rate in the future, returns on assets, etc.  Insurance companies calculate a bonus as a percentage of the sum assured or a specific amount for every thousand rupees of the sum assured amount. 

‘Bonus’ is an extra amount given by the Insurer over and above the Sum Assured. In life insurance,there are a different types of bonuses that the insurance companies pay to the policyholders.
Types of bonuses:
● Simple Reversionary bonus (SRB)
● Compound Reversionary bonus (CRB)
● Terminal Bonus
● Interim Bonus
● Cash Bonus
The above bonuses are paid at different times. For example:
A compounded reversionary bonus, the yearly bonus is added to the sum assured, and considering compound interest rates, the next year's bonus is decided on the new sum assured amount.
A simple reversionary bonus is paid on a yearly basis.
An interim bonus is paid on death of Life Assured or after the policy matures before the end of a financial year. Bonus is accrued in Life Insurance policy every year. In case of an unfortunate event before the next bonus declaration, interim bonus is declared for the policy holder’s family.
A terminal bonus, depending on the performance of a policy over a period of time, a one-time bonus is paid to the policyholders upon maturity or Death.
A cash bonus is paid at the end of the financial year. 

The amount of claim paid to the nominee/beneficiary under the life insurance policy after the life insured passes within the policy term is called the death benefit. It is the lump sum amount that a nominee receives when the life insured dies within the policy period.
Death benefit is a final pay-out to your beneficiaries in case of your unfortunate passing away during the policy's term, while the policy is inforce. A death benefit is the primary and possibly the most vital reason why you should purchase a life insurance policy for your family.
There are various types of death benefits:
● Lump Sum Payout: Here, the death benefit is paid as a lump sum amount in one go to your nominees if you pass away.
● Regular Payout: This death benefit comes in regular monthly instalments for a pre-decided period of time.
● Part Lump Sum and Part Regular Payout: This option is a mix of a lump sum amount and regular payouts for a specified time period.

Life insurance premium depends on the life risks associated with the individual purchasing the policy.
Underwriting is the process of ascertaining the risk the insurer should undertake in insuring a customer.
Professional underwriters review the criteria on your application to see if it's possible to offer you a policy and, if so, how much coverage you're eligible for.
It helps the insurer understand the likelihood of the insured customer's passing away, as that would mean the death benefit would have to be paid to the beneficiaries of the insured.
With the use of the underwriting manual, an underwriter will look into everything starting from your health to hobbies, from occupation to addictions, and would determine if an insurance policy can be offered to you and how much insurance should be granted. 

An underwriter analyses and determines the risks involved in offering insurance policies to individuals and business establishments. They also assess and decide the premium amount of the said insurance policies.
Underwriters use software, data analytics, and other technical means to evaluate the risks and advise the insurance companies of possible insurance claims in the future.

Insurable Interest is one of the fundamental principles of insurance. It is defined as the concern of an individual towards obtaining an insurance policy for an item or an individual against any type of unforeseen events such as losses or death.
The subject matter of the contract must provide some financial gain by existing for the insured (or policyholder) and would lead to a financial loss if damaged, destroyed, stolen, or lost.
To have insurable interest most typically means you are financially dependent or would have financial hardship if the insured person were to pass away.

A rider is an optional add-on benefit that can be opted for at an additional cost with your basic insurance policy. A rider provides additional coverage and they come in various forms such as accidental death benefit cover, critical illness cover, total and permanent disabilities cover, long-term care cover, etc.
Riders can be purchased at the same time you buy an insurance policy and it's much more cost-effective than buying separate policies for different needs.

Your basic insurance policy ensures financial support to your loved ones in your absence. However, it's always a possibility that you may need additional coverage depending on your preferences and life situations. Riders offer you such additional coverage and may be availed of when you buy your primary insurance policy at an extra cost.

Policy term simply means the lifetime of a term insurance policy. Policy term is the period of time a term insurance policy remains active, and in case of unfortunate eventuality during this term, your beneficiaries will receive the death benefit. Policy term is decided at the time of purchasing an insurance policy and is different than a premium paying term which refers to the period you are required to pay the premiums.

There are various term insurance policies to suit your different goals. Basic term plan, term plan with critical illness cover, term plan with return of premium, term plan with accidental death cover, are the key plans
Buying a term insurance plan is important if you have dependents in your family. By choosing the right term insurance plan you can ensure that your loved ones have enough financial coverage in the case of any eventualities.
The important advantages of the right term insurance plans are:
● High insurance cover yet affordable premiums
● Additional financial security
● Tax benefits
You should choose a plan after evaluating your financial goals and financial priorities.

Term insurance plans and endowment plans both offer life insurance coverage. But a term plan only provides financial cover to your family in case of your unfortunate passing away.
Term plans have a lower premium and a higher sum assured compared to endowment plans..
An endowment plan has multiple benefits. It builds your wealth besides protecting your loved ones after you. In the case of term insurance, your money does not grow over time, however, an endowment plan helps you save money for a specified period of time and get a lump sum amount in addition to providing life cover.

ULIP (Unit Linked Insurance Plan) is an insurance plan that offers twin benefits. It is an investment avenue to fulfil your wealth creation goals and offers life cover for your family in case of your unfortunate passing away.
A part of the premiums you pay is invested in the funds such as equity, debt, or a combination of both as per your preference and the other part goes toward life coverage. ULIPs are more transparent plans where the charges & investment portions are pre-defined and the returns are directly proportional to the risk of the investment avenue preferred. The charges provides protection to your loved ones and the investment avenue provides wealth creation.

An endowment plan comes with a maturity benefit or death benefit of the sum assured, ULIPs come with a triple advantage of insurance, wealth creation and tax-saving investment.
In ULIPs, the premium paid by the policy holder is partly invested in funds and partly on life cover. The policy holders can choose the funds to invest depending upon their risk appetite and investment horizon.
While endowment plans offer guaranteed benefits (maturity and death), returns on ULIPs are not guaranteed and can be higher since they are market linked and subject to performance of the funds. Also, ULIPs give the flexibility of switching funds and tweaking your investment strategy easily.
An endowment plan involves lower risk than a ULIP because the performance of funds in ULIPs depends on the market conditions. Also, partial withdrawal is allowed in ULIPs, after 5 years, which is not allowed in Endowment plans.
 

ULIPs serve dual benefits and provide insurance coverage and investment means in a single product. ULIPs are linked to the market and depending on market conditions, in certain cases, they may deliver higher returns. ULIPs involve relatively higher risk though.
Term plans, endowment plans, and whole life insurance policies come under traditional plans. These involve low risk and provide fixed returns in case of loss of life or at the maturity of the term

If the premium is not paid within the days of grace then the policy lapses. Typically, the days of grace for policies with monthly mode of payment is 15 days and for all other modes it is one month not less than 30 days.
 

Nomination is the process of designating a person to receive the policy moneys payable under life insurance policy upon happening of the risk event specified in the policy. Life insured at the time of taking a policy or at any time later during the term of the policy, may nominate a person who he thinks will suffer the financial loss upon his/her (LA) sudden demise. Nominee is authorized only to give a valid discharge to the policy proceeds when the claim is payable.
 

Assignment in simple terms is transfer of ownership of the policy. With assignment the interest of the insured (Owner) is transferred to the person usually for a monetary consideration he receives or as a gift. There are two types of Assignment -
conditional and absolute assignment. In the conditional assignment ownership is transferred back upon fulfilling a condition which is mutually agreed upon. In absolute assignment complete ownership is transferred. In this kind of assignment creditors of the policyholder cannot have any claim against the policy moneys and proceedings of the policy forms part of the assignee’s estate.

The policy, under which at least 3 full years’ premiums have been paid, is treated as paid-up policy. After policy acquiring paid-up value, if the further premiums are not paid, then the policy is not treated as void but will continue to cover the risk for the reduced sum which is Paid-up value.

Premium paid under life insurance policy in any financial year is allowed as deduction from gross income for the corresponding assessment year, under section 80C, subject to a maximum of Rs. 100,000. Section 10 (10D) states that proceedings received under a life insurance policy or Key-man insurance policy, are not taxable.
 

Premium paid under a pension policy in a financial year is allowed as deduction from income for the corresponding assessment year, under section 80CCC, subject to a maximum of Rs.100,000. Pension received under pension policy is treated as income and is taxed as such.

Section 80CCE of Income Tax Act 1961, states that the total premium that is allowed as deduction under Section 80C and 80CCC taken together, in any assessment year cannot exceed Rs.100,000.
 

Any sum paid to effect or to in force a health insurance policy on the life of assessee, or his/her spouse or dependant parents/children subject to a maximum of Rs.15, 000 is allowed as deduction from the income chargeable to tax.