Chapter - 1
What is insurance?
Insurance is a contract between the insurance company (insurer) and the policyholder (insured), in return for
a consideration (the Premium), the insurance company promises to pay a specified amount to the insured on
the happening of a specific event.
History of Insurance
1. Phase I – Pre-Liberalization (1818-1993)
2. Phase II – Liberalization (1993-1999)
3. Phase III – Post- Liberalization (1999 onwards)
Pre-Liberalization:
Key Point:
First Insurance company-1818, The Oriental Life Insurance Company at Kolkata
First Regulation – The Indian Life Assurance Companies Act 1912
Insurance Act 1938
1956 – Government nationalized 254 private, foreign companies and provident society and passed LIC Act
1956 and give LIC the only power to do Life Insurance business in India.
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Insurance Certification Examination Notes
Actuaries: They calculate the standard price of the product (designed the products) and also do the annual valuation
of the company to know the solvency of the company and declare bonuses.
Training Institutes: Insurance Institute of India, National Insurance Academy (NIA), and Insurance Institute of Risk
Management (IIRM)
NGOs: Promoting the customers rights. Linking buyer and seller, spreading awareness about insurance products.
Insurance Distribution:
Direct Marketing Channels
E-Sales (Online Sales)
Indirect Marketing Channels
Bancassurance
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Chapter - 2
Risk and Insurance:
Concept of Risk:
Definition: The Risk can be defined in three different ways:
1. Risk is the chance of damage or loss.
2. Risk is doubt concerning the outcome of a situation
3. Risk is something or someone considered to be a potential hazard.
In Life Insurance ‘risk’ is used to describe the possibility of an unfavourable event occurring, e.g. untimely death,
or an unforeseen disability.
Components of Risk:
Uncertainty
Level ( Probability or Frequency, Extent or severity)
Peril and hazard
Life Insurance companies determine the level of risk based on past data (claim experience). The past data indicates
that individuals within a certain age group (say 60-70) are more prone to heart attacks then the level of risk will be
considered to be higher for that age group.
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Type of Hazards:
Physical Hazards
Moral Hazards
Physical hazard:- Physical hazard refer to the physical characteristics of the risk associated with the life insured. E.g.
Age, Occupation, Gender, Residence, Habits, Height and weight
Hobbies, Physical characteristics, Medical condition
Physical handicap, Medical history of the family, Personal history
Moral hazard:- More difficult to define because it relates to the conduct and/or intention of the proposer. Such as:
Reckless or careless attitude to health and personal safety
Previous history of dishonesty
Previous claim history if it reveals a history of fraudulent/frequent claim, bankruptcy or financial difficulties.
Some of the hazards that would cause an individual to be categorised as high risk are:
Risky job profile
Existing medical conditions
Lifestyle of an Individual
Age group of the individual
High risk proposals can be accepted on other than standard terms such as charging a higher premium imposing
restrictions on the sum insured, term or a lien etc.
Insurable Risks:
Financial Risks : Loss of Life, Disease or disability, Retirement, Savings accumulation
Pure Risks: Those risk where there is no possibility of making a profit. There can be a loss and the best
possible outcome is one of breaking even.
Particular Risks: Those risk that are personal or local in their effect.
Pooling of Risk: Insurance company pools the premium collected from several individuals to insure them against
similar risks. The insurance company maintains different sets of pools for different risks e.g. Life Insurance, Care
Insurance, Home Insurance, Travel Insurance etc.
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Chapter – 3
Part 1. Insurance Principles:
Essentials of Valid Contract of Insurance:
An Insurance contract is an agreement enforceable by law, between the Insurance company and the Insured person.
Features of a valid contract:
Offer and acceptance
Consideration
Capacity to contract: (a. Age of majority, B. Sound Mind, C. Not disqualified by law, from entering into
contacts.)
Consensus ad idem (This means both the parties must understand and agree upon the same thing, in the
same sense. )
Legality of object or purpose
Capacity of Performance: The contract must be capable of being performed by both the parties. e.g. A
person requesting life insurance for a very high amount should be capable of paying the premium required.
The Policy Document:
The policy document is not the contract of insurance in itself; rather, it is evidence of the contract.
Insurable Interest:
When an individual stands to gain or benefits from the continued existence or well-being of another
individual(s) or property.
At the same time the individual would suffer a financial loss or inconvenience if there is damage to the
other individual(s) or property.
Insurable interest is not defined by any law; it can be decide on the basis of:
A, Interest B. Relationship C. Legal Decision (Court Judgements)
Indemnity:
It is a financial compensation sufficient to place the insured in the same financial position after a loss as they
enjoyed immediately before the loss occurred.
Insurance company only compensate the insured for the loss they incurred.
This principle ensures that insurance cannot be used to make profit.
Life Insurance contract is a VALUE contact, hence Principle of indemnity don’t apply on L.I.
contract.
Proposal Form
Proposal form is the basis of the contract
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Proposer will fill the proposal form and submit it to the insurance company, It contains information’s like:
Name, Age, Address, Weight, Height, Medical history, Type of Insurance plan, Nomination, Riders, details of
earlier insurance plans etc.
Key Documents
1. Proposal form 5. Endorsements
2. Age proof 6. Notices
3. Premium receipts 7. Prospectus (Brouchers)
4. Policy document 8. Documents required during claim
Age Proof
Standard Age Proof Documents Non Standard Age Proof Documents
1. Certificate from school or college record 1. Horoscope prepared at the time of
2. Municipal Date of Birth Record birth
3. Passport 2. A ration card
4. PAN Card 3. An affidavit by way of self declaration,
5. The service register of the employer elders’ declaration
6. A certificate of baptism 4. A certificate from a village panchayat
7. A certificate extract from a family bible, is contains DOB.
8. ID card of defence personnel
9. Marriage certificates issued by the Roman Catholic Church
Premium Receipt:
First Premium Receipts (FPR)
When the insurer accepts the proposal and starts the risk cover he adjust the premium that is paid by the proposer is
adjusted in the office and issue FPR.
The FPR is the evidence that the insurance contract has begun
Insurance Contract commences from the date on which insurance company issue FPR
The policy document may be issued some time later.
The FPR contains following information’s:
Name and address of the life insured
Policy number
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IRDA regulation requires that the decision on proposal has to be passed to the proposer within 15 days.
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In case of change the nominee, the endorsement can be done on the back of the policy
Notice: During the term of the policy insurance company issues notices to the policyholders. These are:
(Reminder for due date of premium, Bonus notice, Premium default notice, Notice to revive the policy,
Notice about a benefit falling due – survival benefit/maturity benefit and An annual statement ULIP etc.)
Prospectus: The prospectus is used by insurance companies to give information about the product. It contains the
following information’s:
The scope and benefit offered, The conditions, Any warranties, The term and conditions of the policy
The entitlements, The exceptions, Any right to participate in bonuses
Paid up value: In practice Insurance Act does not allow the insurance company to keep the entire premium paid
when a policy lapses. The reasons for policy acquires a reserve are following:
Level Premium (Premium of the early years of the policy are more than are justified), and
The Saving element in the premium
A policy can be made paid up if sufficient premiums have been paid and there is a savings element to the policy.
In paid up policy the sum assured is reduced to the amount based on the premium already paid.
When calculating the paid up value of a with profit policy, there is no change in the bonus vested. The
accrued bonus will be added to the reduced sum insured to arrive the paid up value.
A paid up policy is not entitled to receive further bonuses.
The paid up value will be paid on the maturity of the policy.
Formula:
Sum Assured
{------------------------------------------------ * Total Premium Paid }+Bonus
Total No. Of premium payable
Revival: When lapsed policy brought back into full force, this process is called REVIVAL. To revive the policy
following things are necessary:
A fee for reinstatement or revival
Payment of outstanding premium with interest
Proof of continues good health.
Nomination:
The life insured can nominate one or more than one person as nominees.
Nominees are entitled for valid discharge and have to hold the money as a trustee on behalf of those entitled
to it.
Nomination can be done either at the time the policy is bought or later.
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When the policy assigned to another party nomination cease to exist. But when the policy is assign in
favour of insurance company in consideration of loan nomination remains valid.
Assignment:
Assignment refers to the transfer of title, right and interest in an insurance policy to another
One the policy has been assigned, the assignee has ownership of the policy and doesn’t need the consent of
the assignor in any matters relating to the policy.
The assignee becomes the owner of the policy after the assignment, but they cannot make a nomination in
the policy as the assignee is not the life insured.
Type of assignments:
1. Conditional (Interest in the policy automatically reverts to the assignor on the occurrence of the specified
condition or on the death of assignee.)
2. Absolute (The assignee becomes the policyholder in the policy and cal deal with the policy in any manner
they choose. The assignor can become the policyholder only when the assignee reassign the policy in the
favour of the assignor)
**What if the insured dies while the cheque/demand draft/money order is in transit?
Ans. The insurance company will seek proof of sending this instrument. The proof can be provided for instruments
such as demand drafts and money orders. The insurance company in these cases deems that the premium has been
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paid on submission of the proof. However, if the cheque was sent in the post, the insurance company will require
evidence of posting.
Chapter – 4
Underwriting:
A. The process of insurance underwriting: An underwriter is responsible for the classification, analysis and selection
of the risk. Different companies have different guidelines as to how risks are classified and price. The process of
insurance underwriting is as follows:
Collect information about the applicant
Analyse the risk associated
Estimate the potential exposure
Determine the probability of loss
Accept (or reject) the proposal
Classify and rate into a risk group to calculate the premium
Issue the insurance policy
Maximum possible loss (MPL): MPL refers to the maximum amount of loss that can occur, it a certain event occurs.
Adverse selection: This is a term used to describe the situation where an insurance company accepts too many
proposer who bring a higher than average risk to the pool.
On the basis of the risk of the proposer – The underwriter can chose to:
Accept the proposal at ordinary rates;
Accept the proposal with extra premium;
Accept the proposal with a lien;
Accept the proposal with a modified terms;
Accept the proposal with a specific/modified clause
Postpone the decision for a certain period; or
Reject the proposal.
Obtaining the required information: The underwriter can obtain the information about the proposer from the
several sources, such as:
Proposal form:
Personal information
Medical information
Agents’ remarks
Medical examination report:- A complete medical check-up on the proposer can be carried out by the
insurance company or by a certified doctor.
Insurance Agent (ACR-Agent Confidential Report)
Tax consultants / IT authorities
Additional information questionnaire
Special Report – when S.A. is too high and chance of moral hazard is there, underwriter can asked for these
report from the senior employees of the insurance company such as unit manager or sales manager.
Financial Underwriting:
Financial underwriting works to cap the mount of life insurance and individual can get.
Amount of life insurance can be arrived at through the Human Life Value (HLV) concept
Factors analyzed under the financial underwriting include the individual income, age and net worth etc.
The higher the sum insured, the more justification will required by the underwriter.
Lien:
There are certain cases where the underwriter will feel that the risk associated with a person might decrease over
time. In such cases, the underwriter can accept the proposal with a lien.
Lien operates for a certain period on diminishing basis (equal amount).
Lien can be used as a substitute to charging a high premium for a high risk.
During the period of lien, if the insured even happen the insurance company will pay a restricted amount of
sum assured.
Clause:
Clause operates for a full period of the policy
It excludes the benefit from the policy for full term.
Pricing and calculating the premium: Pricing refers to the calculation of the premium that will be charged on the
insurance policy.
Pricing Elements:
Mortality rate / Death Rate: is the probability that a certain individual will die before the next birthday. It is
prepared by the mathematicians, known as actuaries. Loading: For Office Expenses and Profit/Bonus.
Income from investment of premium
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Benefits promises: The pricing will depend upon the benefit promised by the company. The larger the
benefit offered, the larger the premium.
Type of Premium Plan:
1. Single premium plan
2. Level Premium Plan
3. Flexible Premium Plan
Calculating Bonus.
Only with profit policies (participating policies) are entitled to get the bonus. There are four type of Bonus:
Simple revisionary bonus;
Compound revisionary bonus;
Terminal bonus / Persistency bonus / Final Additional Bonus (FAB)
Interim bonus
Note:
Bonus declared at the end of the financial year when the actuaries completed the valuation of the company.
This is paid out at the time of claim or the maturity of the policy.
Simple Revisionary Bonus is declared on the basis of sum insured.
Terminal Bonus: Once in a life time, at the time of maturity.
Interim Bonus: Is being paid if the policy matures between the two valuation dates. Insurance companies pay
the interim bonus at the rates as at the last valuation. It is mandatory u/s 112 of the Insurance Act 1938.
Compound revisionary bonus: Bonus computed on a compound interest basis. (on the enhanced amount)
Chapter – 5
Basic Life Insurance Products.
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Protection needs.
General Protection needs of an individual:
Income Protection
Medical needs
Dependants
Assets and Liabilities
Personal factors affecting protection needs:
Age
Income
Dependents
Individual protection needs
Assets and Liabilities
Life Insurance Products:
Basic elements of a life insurance plan:
Death cover
Maturity benefit
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Group Insurance Plan: A Group Insurance policy provides insurance protection to a group of people who are brought
together for a common objective. (e.g. Bank for its customers, Employer, Trade union, professional body)
Features of Group Insurance:
Only Master Policy will be issued
Agreement between Master Policyholder (e.g. Employer) and Insurer
Employees are not the direct party to the policy
Premium and other terms and conditions changes every year
Cover will be based on the salary, designation.
Micro-Insurance Plans:
Provides cover to low income groups.
Minimum Sum Assured is Rs. 5000 and Maximum is Rs. 50000.
Cross selling is allowed of micro insurance product by life insurer and non life insurer
Child Plan:
In child plans, child are the beneficiary who is entitled to receive the benefit on the maturity of the policy.
Characteristics of a Child Plan:
Policy Holder – Parents
Life Insured – Child
Deferment period is the gap between the policy start date and the date of commencement of risk.
Deferment date: The date on which the risk will commence at the end of hte deferment period. The
deferment date will be the policy anniversary date.
Vesting : When the child reaches the age of majority the title of the policy will be automatically passed on to
the insured child. This process is called Vesting, and the date on which this happen is known as vesting date.
After vesting the policy become a contract between child and the insurance company. Now the child can
make the nomination.
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SSS is not a specific insurance plan. It is just a convenient arrangement to collect the premium.
Chapter – 6
Saving Products (Marks – 5)
Need for savings/Investment advice:
Ignorance about financial planning process
Ignorance about full range of financial products
Factors that determine the savings needs of a client:
Individual with no capital need to consider comprehensive financial planning:
Their common savings needs include:
Building an emergency fund;
Health Insurance;
Income protection need;
Planning for child education;
Planning for child marriages;
Buying a house;
Planning and investing for other goals like buying a car;
Planning and investing for retirement.
Individual with Capital have different needs like increasing their existing capital, leaving behind inheritance
for children, being able to live comfortable retirement etc.
Mutual Funds:
Managed by Assets Management Company (AMC);
Objective is predetermined;
Pool of various individual’s money;
Profit and Loss is being shared by the Unit holder;
Investment denominated in Units and Investors known as Unit holders.
Shares
Shares provides OWNERSHIP in the company
Can issue on PAR, Discount and Premium
Provides three type of income i.e. Dividend (Tax free), Bonus and Capital Growth
Bond
Issued by Govt., PSU and Corporate
Provides fixed rate of return every year for the entire term
Issued on PAR, Discount, or Premium but maturity is on Face Value
Provides regular income and capital growth
Gold ETF
Denomination is in UNITS
Can be purchase from any broker associated with any exchange, like- NSE, BSE etc. In de mat a/c
Provides complete security against stolen
1 Unit Gold ETF is equal to either 1 gram or .5gram
Price of UNITS is depends on the market price of physical gold.
Inflation Impact on Saving Products:
If Inflation increases:
Interest rate will increase (Saving and Lending both) – it will reduce the demand for credit and
increase saving among individuals.
Share price will come down
Value of Bond or Bond price will come down
If Inflation decreases:
Interest rate will decrease (Saving and Lending both) – it will increase the credit demand, and
encourage consumers to spend more and increase demand for goods and services.
Share price will go up
Value of Bond or Bond price will go up
Chapter – 7
OTHER KEY FINANCIAL PRODUCTS
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Note: Premium paid for Health Insurance Plans and Insurance riders qualifies for deduction from taxable
income under relevant sections of I.T. Act. If an individual is a senior citizen (65yrs) then the deduction
will be higher than the other individual.
IRDA regulations for riders:
The premium on all riders relating to health or critical illness, in case of term or group insurance products
shall not exceed 100% of the premium of the base policy.
The premium on all the other riders put together should not exceed 30% of the premium of the base policy.
The benefits under each of the riders shall not exceed the sum insured under the base policy.
Chapter – 8
Identifying client needs
Prospective clients:
Prospective clients may have various needs which they themselves may not be aware of. In such a case it is the duty
of the insurance agent to make the prospective client realize their needs and recommend suitable insurance
protection and/or investment products to meet them.
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Childhood
Young unmarried
Young married
Young married with children
Married with older children
Pre-retirement
Retirement
Childhood: At this stage there are two basic needs for parents/guardians:
To secure their children’s financial position, if they themselves die prematurely
To provide for their education, marriage and other living expenses
Agent’s duty:
Determine regular amount of money needed to be invested towards children’s future
Suggest suitable investment products
Young married
Young married with no dependants:
Protection need is low
Invest in such an instruments which provides higher return
Looking for saving money for their marriage, purchasing a house, providing health insurance for
parents and themselves.
Young married with dependants:
Looking to protect their income
After protecting family’s financial need they can be invested for long-term wealth accumulation.
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Pre-retirement
At this stage children will have completed their higher education, be married and financially independents.
Income of the individual/couple will still be high
Entire focus is shifted towards the retirement fund and health protection
Should review their health cover and see if it is adequate
Retirement
Income is limited to the returns on investments they have already made in their working life
If the returns of investments are not sufficient to meet their financial liabilities little can now be done
They can use their accumulated retirement fund and their employee benefits amount to buy an annuity plan
Should review their health cover and see if it is adequate and look for their ESTATE planning.
Questioning skills: An agent needs to ask different questions in order to understand client’s financial plan.
Phrasing of question
Questions need to be:
Linked to earlier questions asked
Put in simple terms that a client will easily understand
Personalized according to the client
Listening skills
Developing good listening skill is also important for an insurance agent so that they can interpret the client’s
answer correctly
The agent should concentrate on the client’s answers and the other information that is provided.
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Understanding priorities
An insurance agent should help his clients to prioritise their real financial and protection needs based on several
factors:
Lifecycle
Existing insurance policies
Amount of surplus funds available
Chapter – 9
The fact-find and financial Planning
What is fact find?
Fact finding consists of obtaining the answer to a series of questions about your client’s profile, status, finance and
ambitions for the future. Good fact finding is the key to successful financial planning. It enables the insurance
adviser to:
Indentify a client’s financial planning needs
Quantifying the need in monetary term
Prioritise then based on the resources available for investments
Structured interview
Typically, the interview structure moves through the following stages:
Making the client feel comfortable and relaxed
Explanation of the fact-finding process and its purpose
The information gathering session
A discussion of priorities and the client’s personal concerns
An agreement, in principle, of the main problems to be addressed by the adviser’s report.
After the fact finding interview, the agent will carry out a more comprehensive analysis of the information and, if
necessary, seek any specialist guidance required. The agent should prepare the recommendation within a budget
fixed by the client and it should be written.
Using a fact-find:
A fact finding form is divided into separated sections covering the client details. It includes:
Personal details – (Name, Address, Contact details, Marital status DOB, etc.)
Family details – (Spouse, Children, Parents, other dependents)
Employment details
Financial details – (Assets & Liabilities)
Existing insurance and investments
Monthly income and expenditure analysis
Financial planning objectives and considerations
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Agent should record long term and short term plans of clients, either personal and/or family like
child education or marriage, changing home, Estate on death
Future changes
Inheritances, Birth of a child, complete a professional qualification etc.
Assessment:
The key tasks of the agent include:
Identifying the amount to be provided for the needs of each client in each need area;
Identifying the client’s affordable contribution;
Allocating this contribution to produce the best financial planning currently available; and
Evaluating and reviewing the performance of the financial plan on a regular basis with the client.
Applying products features and benefits to a client situation – Objective of fact finding is to identify a product that
suits the client’s needs.
Chapter – 10
Good Client Practice
The duty and responsibilities of an insurance agent:
Sec. 42 of the Insurance Act 1938 defines and insurance agent as: “a person who is licensed under section 42 of the
Insurance Act, in consideration of his soliciting or producing insurance business, including business related to
continuance, renewal or revival of insurance policies”.
An insurance agent’s duties and responsibilities include establishing the client’s need and identifying the
most suitable products to meet those needs. They act an intermediary between insurance company and the
client.
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Note: During the first 10 years of the insurer’s business and insurance company can pay a maximum of 40%
of the first year premium. This doesn’t apply to immediate or deferred annuities.
The insurance Act, (sec. 44) states the following condition on agents (whose agency has been terminated for
receiving commission on the renewal premium:
The agent should have been working with the insurer for more than five years and policies of not less than
Rs. 50,000/- sum insured are in force at least one year before the termination of the agency.
The agent should have been working with the insurer for at least 10 years and, after ceasing to act an agent,
are not directly or indirectly soliciting or procuring insurance businesses for any person.
In case of an agent’s death, the commission is payable to his legal heirs.
Disclosures:
The agent must disclose the amount of remuneration, on demand.
Disclosure of commission is mandatory in the benefit illustration document in case of ULIPs
The benefit illustration documents show the details of charges and growth of the fund as per the Life
Insurance Council’s assumed growth rate of 6% and 10%.
Disclosure helps in increasing the transparency in selling of life insurance products.
Churning / Switching:
Repeatedly encouraging the clients to switch policies or investments from one to another is known as
churning.
It is an unprofessional and unethical practice that results in clients suffering losses in the form of surrender
charges and reduced long-term benefits of their policies are not kept held until maturity.
Churning / Switching is allowed when it is in the interest of the client.
Persistency: Persistency refers to the amount of business that insurance companies are successful in retaining with
lapse or surrender of the policy. It can be calculated as follows:
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Benefits of persistency:
Help the client in achieving goals
Increased revenues of the company and the agent
Reduction of costs
Increased client satisfaction
Chapter – 11
Claim:
What is Claim?
A claim is a demand that the insurer redeem the promise made in the contract.
Type of claim:
Maturity claims
Death claims
Rider benefits
Maturity Claims:
Some life insurance plans, such as endowment plans and whole life plans, promises to pay the insured a specific
amount at the end of the plan, if they survive for the plan’s entire term. This amount is known as Maturity Benefits.
The amount payable at maturity is:
Sum Insured / Accumulated Amount
Accumulated Bonuses
Final Additional Bonus
Minus (-) any outstanding premiums and interest thereon
ULIPs – Fund Value or in some cases Fund value and sum insured
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Death Claim
Death claim is where the life insurance company pays the sum insured to the nominee/beneficiary on the death of
the insured during the term of the plan.
Participating policies –Sum insured and Accumulated bonus will be paid
Whole life plans – No fixed term, the benefit will be paid on death
ULIP – Sum insured or FV whichever is higher or in sum cases FV and sum insured both are payable
Loan – Any outstanding loans and interest will be deducted before the final amount is paid
There are certain policies where the benefits is not paid on death but on the specified date as chosen by the
life insured when taking out the policy.
Early death claims:
If the claim occurs within three years from the date of risk, or from its revival. In such cases insurance companies
will carry out a detailed investigation.
Additional documents may be called for in order to make certain that material facts where not suppressed at the
time of proposal/revival. These documents include:
1. A statement from the last medical attendant to attend the deceased before death, giving details of their last
illness and the treatment gives;
2. A statement from the hospital, if the deceased has been admitted to a hospital;
3. A statement from the person who attended the last rites and had seen the dead body; and/or
4. A statement from the employer (if the deceased was employed) showing details of leave taken.
In case if unnatural death, such as an accident, by suicide etc. the following will also be looked into:
1. Police First information report (FIR)
2. Panchanama (inquest);
3. Forensic report;
4. Post mortem report; and
5. Coroner’s report.
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4. Has the policyholder performed their part with regards to age admission and the disclosure of material facts
relevant to the policy?
5. Did the claim demand come from the right person?
6. Have all the other formalities that are required for a claim to be valid been fulfilled?
Settling claims:
IRDA guidelines for claim settlement – IRDA has laid down guidelines for the settlement of claim under (IRDA
protection of Policyholders Interest Regulation 2002)
Maturity claim
Initiative taken by insurance company
Post dated cheque (PDC) are usually sent in advance, provided a signed discharge form has been received
If the policy is reported lost, then the insurer may settle on the basis of indemnity.
Before making the payment, the insurer will satisfy itself that:
The original policy has been handed in
The identity of the policyholder has been proved
The discharge form has been duly completed
The correct age was admitted
All the premiums have been paid and are up to date
There are no assignments
Assigned Policies
In case of absolute assignment, the claim will be pay to the assignee
In case of conditional assignment, on completion of condition the payment will be made to policyholder
Settlement option: Some maturity claims may be payable, not on date of maturity as chosen by the policyholder in
lump sum, but later and in instalments. This is known as the settlement option.
Death Claims:
The process is started by the claimant,
The insurance company will waits for the relevant documents
Once it is satisfied that the claim is a valid one, it will send the sum insured to the nominee or beneficiary
within a reasonable time frame, i.e. it will settle the claim.
Fraudulent claims:
Insurance fraud includes bogus claims and the misrepresentation of facts.
Loss of Policy:
Claim will be settle on the basis of indemnity
The indemnity is in the form of a statement, signed by the claimant, stating that should the original policy
come to light and evidence of ownership by another party is provided, then the claimant will reimburse the
insurance company for a claim payments made to them.
Presumption of death:
Section 107 and 108 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 deal with presumption of death, under this Act if an individual
has not been heard of for seven years they are presumed to be dead.
This has the following effect on the actions of the life insurance company:
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If the nominee or heirs claim that the life insured is missing and must be presumed to be dead, insurers insist
on a decree from a competent court.
The insurer may also act on its own, without a decree of the court, if reasonably strong circumstantial
evidence exists to show that the life insured could not have survived a fatal accident or hazard.
It is necessary that the premiums should be paid until the court decrees presumption of death, although
insurers may, as a concession, waive the premiums during the seven year period.
Miscellaneous
Ombudsmen:
Objective: To resolve complaints related with claim, terms of policy, premium payment, or non-issuance of
policy document.
The Governing body of Insurance Council (GBIC) was established under RPG rules 1998 to set up the
Institution of Insurance Ombudsman in India.
Territorial Jurisdictions – Twelve Ombudsmen across the country
Manner of Lodging Complain:
Complain can lodged by policyholder or by the legal heirs
Complain should be of personal lines
Complain should be written
First complain should be to the insurer
If insurer has either rejected the complaints or failed to respond within a period of one months, or
the customer is dissatisfied with the insurer’s response can lodge the complain
The complain must be made within one year of the insurer’s response or one year from the end of
30 days when insurer failed to respond;
The complain should not be pending before any court, consumer forum or arbitrator;
Functions of the Ombudsman:
Conciliation : within one month of the complain (settlement)
Award : within three months of the complain
Insurance Company :
Insurance company are required to honour the award within 15 days of awards if it is accepted by
the complainant;
They cannot go against the order in any court
Policyholder / Claimants :
If policyholder is not satisfied with the award, they can approach to consumer forum, court, etc.
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If a consumer is not satisfied by the decision of a District Forum, he can appeal to the State Commission.
Against the order of the State Commission a consumer can come to the National Commission.
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Layering; and
Integration
AML guidelines for Insurance companies were issued on 31 st March, 2006 and IRDA made it mandatory for all life
insurance companies to follow the AML guidelines from 1 st August, 2006. Highlights of AML guideline are:
The appointment of a principle compliance officer;
Threshold for payment of premium in cash cannot exceed Rs. 50,000/-.
Internal policy, procedures and control;
Internal audit/control; and
Recruitment and training of insurance agent/employees on AML measures.
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Insurance Certification Examination Notes
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