Insurance company in Bangalore / India

Risk is an integral part of all aspects in life, infact life itself runs the risk of death, managing risk is a process by which you ensure that the downside is limited. Hedging your life/health risk is the first step towards efficient financial planning.

Insurance is defined as the equitable transfer of the risk of a loss, from one entity to another, in exchange for payment. An insurer is a company selling the insurance; an insured, or policyholder, is the person or entity buying the insurance policy. The insurance rate is a factor used to determine the amount to be charged for a certain amount of insurance coverage, called the premium. Risk management, the practice of appraising and controlling risk, has evolved as a discrete field of study and practice.

There are typically two streams of insurance – Life & General; Life insurance Life Insurance: is a contract between the policy holder and the insurer, where the insurer promises to pay a designated beneficiary a sum of money (a "premium") upon the death of the insured person. Depending on the contract, other events such as terminal illness or critical illness may also trigger payment. In return, the policy holder agrees to pay a stipulated amount (at regular intervals or in lump sums). In some countries, death expenses such as funerals are included in the premium.

Life-based contracts tend to fall into two major categories:

Pure Vanilla Insurance: This is your regular term cover wherein the life risk is covered; the insured pays a nominal premium to the insurance company, on the happening of eventuality, the insured is paid a lump sum amount which is termed as the Sum Assured. This is the cheapest form of insurance.

Investment linked Insurance: This is where the endowment, money back plans and ULIPs will picture, the main objective here is to facilitate the growth of capital by regular or single premiums – there is a minuscule part of the premiums which caters to the mortality requirement.

Both serve different purposes and depending on what suits the individual, one should choose appropriately.

General insurance or non-life insurance policies: Includes health, automobile and homeowners policies, provide payments depending on the loss from a particular financial event. General insurance typically comprises any insurance that is not determined to be life insurance.

The Industry

With the rapid growth of the Indian Insurance industry, in particularly serving a Middle Class that is growing on both size and wealth every year, it is hardly surprisng that Indian insurance companies are growing, and playing an increasingly important role in the nation’s financial services industry.

To date, India’s Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA), haLICs granted registration to 12 private life insurance companies and nine general insurance companies.

Counting the existing public sector insurance companies, there are currently 13 Indian insurance companies in the life side and 13 Indian insurance companies operating in general insurance.

With so many options around, it is indeed a herculean task for one to choose the right one.

@ Right Horizons: We at RH have tie-ups with multiple insurance agencies, thereby are in a position to provide unbiased advice based on your financial goals. As part of our End-to-End planning, we propose to conduct a holistic planning wherein assessment of human life value is an integral part. Further, health cover is availed from a perspective of managing medical emergencies efficiently. Premiums paid towards insurance plans (life & health) qualify for tax benefit, thereby enabling the individual to optimize on taxes.

Deduction under section 80C – Life insurance

1.Premium paid qualifies u/s 80C which has an overall limit of Rs. 1 Lakh

Deduction under section 80D – Health Insurance

1.Deduction allowable upto Rs.15,000/- if an amount is paid to keep in force an insurance on health of assessee or his family (i.e. Spouse & children)

2.Additional deduction upto Rs.15,000/- if an amount is paid to keep in force an insurance on health of parents (for senior citizens this is Rs, 20,000/-)