• Introduction
• What are the Product  Features offered in Term Insurance?
• Which Term Insurance Plans provide you with the best Product Features?

Before buying any product we always check out its features and see whether it fits our needs or not. Especially when we’re buying something personal - like clothes, shoes, gadgets, appliances for home, etc, we are keen to find the perfect fit - something that includes all the customizations and choices that are right for us. 

For example - Let’s say you want to purchase a new microwave oven.  Based on what you want to do with the appliance - whether you want to simply heat your food, or grill your chicken, or bake a cake, you’ll have to look for a product that is a simple microwave, or has a grilling feature, or has a combination of many features that’ll allow you to make anything you want. In fact, you’ll not just think about today, but will also consider what uses the machine might have in future. Plus, you’ve to find something that fits your budget too. Taking all this information into consideration, you’ll start with your research to find the perfect fit. 

Similarly, term insurance too, is a very personal purchase. It has to be customized and tailored to fit your family’s needs. You’ll need to opt for a plan that benefits your family and supports their financial needs - all this while fitting within your budget. And so, it is extremely important that you pick all the right features systematically. 

In this article, let us discuss and learn about some of the features and benefits that you can find within term insurance plans, and how you should go picking (or skipping them).

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Today, you can find most term insurance plans that provide you with multiple product features and benefits. 

Some of the common product features that you can find are- 

1- Long duration covers

The duration or term of a policy is the total number of years when the policy will be active. For example - you purchase a term insurance policy at the age of 30 years and choose to keep the cover, up to the age of 65 years. This means your policy duration will be for 35 years. Usually - you will buy term insurance until the age when you expect to become financially free. 

However, some term plans also offer you the facility to buy a long-term cover, say, upto 85 years or even 99/100 years (called whole life plans), which you could use to leave a financial legacy for your family. Since it is less likely that you might survive such a long life, this (to some extent) guarantees that your family gets the claim amount.

2- Increasing Cover

It is a feature using which you can increase your sum assured, systematically over time - without having to invest in multiple term plans to increase the cover amount as your responsibilities in life grow. 

Based on the policy you’re purchasing there might be a limit in how much (say 2X / 2.5X base cover) or until when (increase for 10 years/ 15 years) the cover can increase. Plus, usually such increases are linked to life milestones like getting married or birth of children. 

There are many advantages to investing in an increasing cover option - for example, you don’t have to repeatedly go through medical tests or submit new documentation, every time you need to upgrade your cover.  Further, it could also be comparatively cheaper to buy an increasing cover, than buying a new term insurance plan at an older age (when the need comes) and there is no risk of such an upgrade getting rejected.  

3- Limited Pay Option 

In term insurance, usually you are required to pay your premiums regularly until your policy ends. But, with this feature, you can pay off your premiums quicker,  in larger installments, while enjoying the cover for the full term. Limited Pay could be very beneficial if- you have an unpredictable income or are planning on retaining the cover beyond your retirement age. 

For example- you’re planning to retire by the age of 60 years but your term cover is till the age of 70 years, with the help of the limited pay option you can pay your premiums early. 

4- Payment Modes

All life insurance & term insurance plans offer the option of making premium payments in annual, half-yearly, quarterly and monthly modes. It is advisable to opt for the annual pay option as the chances of default (missing the premium due date) are less. 

For those who want to break their total premium outgo into multiple instalments, we advise that they opt for the annual pay mode, pay by credit card and convert their card due into EMIs. This is better than opting for monthly, quarterly and half yearly premium payment options. 

5- Claim Payout option

This feature offers you the option to choose how your family or nominee receives the claim amount. The claim payout options that you can find are - 

• Lump-Sum Option - Here, the family or nominee will receive the claim settlement amount altogether at one time. Choosing this option could be beneficial if your family knows how to manage a large sum of money or if you have large loans that need to be quickly paid off.  However, if your family does not have the financial ability to manage large amounts of money, choosing this option could be very risky. 
• Monthly Income- Under the monthly income payout option, your family or nominee will receive the claim amount on a monthly basis. It is like a replacement for your monthly salary. You can consider choosing this option if you do not have any loans to be paid off, and think it is better for your family to receive smaller amounts for an extended period of time, for their own good.
• Lump-Sum with Monthly Income- This is a combination of the above two options. With this option, your existing loans can be cleared off and the remaining amount is provided to your family as a monthly income for their day-to-day needs. 

6-  Riders

This is yet another important facility in term insurance, that allows you to include a special add-on benefit that will kick in during the time of a certain situation. For example,-  a critical illness rider helps by paying your family a sum of money in case you’re diagnosed with a serious disease that is listed in the policy. You can use this amount to meet the additional medical expenses you incur in the long-term, or as an income replacement to support your family’s needs.

Some other popular Riders include - Accidental Death Benefit Rider, Accidental Disability Rider, and Waiver of Premium Rider.  

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Based on the research conducted by our in-house researchers, we have prepared a list of some of the top term insurance plans that offer you the best product features. 

Here are the top 3 term insurance plans- 

1- Aditya Birla Sun Life DigiShield Plan- 

This term plan is offered by Aditya Birla Sun Life Insurance Co. Ltd. Compared to other term insurance plans, this plan is cheaper and offers you some of the top benefits. You can find several limited pay options and various other customizations. However, this plan does not provide you with the additional benefit of a Critical Illness Rider. Based on the Beshak⭐Ratings, this product has received a rating of 5/5 on its product features. This indicates that the Aditya Birla Sun Life DigiShield Plan offers you the best combination of product features compared to the other plans in the market.  

2- Max Life Smart Secure Plus

This term insurance plan is offered by the Max Life Insurance Company. As per the Beshak⭐Ratings, the term plan has received a rating of 4.4 /5 on its product features. It has also received an overall rating of 4.4/ 5 making it one of the top term insurance plans in the market. Compared to most of the Term Insurance plans, this product has received a lesser number of claim complaints. The Max Life Smart Secure Plus also offers you several customizations and benefits.

3- Canara HSBC OBC iSelect Star

This term insurance plan is offered by the Canara HSBC OBC company. This is an affordable term plan that offers you some of the various product benefits. As per our research, it suggests that this product has received a lesser number of complaints during purchase and holds a good customer service response compared to other insurers. Furthermore, based on the Beshak⭐Ratings, the product features of the Canara HSBC OBC iSelect Star term plan receive a rating of 4.2 /5. 

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Our choice of top 3 term plans may surprise many, especially given that our list doesn’t include the top-selling term plans from leading players like ICICI Pru, HDFC Life, etc. This is due to the fact that, apart from the product features, there are many other categories to look into when you plan to purchase a term insurance plan like - customer service and claims experience. Our team at Beshak.org has analyzed and rated products based on various metrics. You can visit the Beshak⭐Ratings and go through the top term insurance plans and compare them. 

If you have any further queries about Term Insurance, you can write to us on the Beshak Insurance Forum.

Customising a term insurance plan getting too complex, and way out of hand? There’s a simple solution for that right now. 

Check out Beshak TruMatch -  the first-ever term insurance recommendation engine that recommends the right customizations you must pick so that your term plan is perfectly tailored to your family’s needs.