LIC Online Term Plan – eTerm Review

Term Insurance Plans are insurance plans where the sum assured is paid on the demise of the person insured. There are no benefits when the policy matures & this is the best part of term plans. So it is purely a protection plan. Online term plans can be purchased online directly from the company. There are no intermediaries and therefore no commissions involved and so they are cheaper than offline term plans.

The largest insurer in the country had stayed away from online term plans for so long. But now LIC has launched an online term plan –LIC eTerm Plan.

LIC eTerm Plan Review

Let us look at the main features of the LIC online Term plan.

Features of LIC eTerm Plan

Entry Age Minimum – 18 Years

Maximum – 60 Years

Maximum Age at beyond which cover will cease 75 Years
Minimum Sum Assured Rs. 25,00,000 for Aggregate Category (includes smokers and non-smokers)

Rs. 50,00,000 for Non-Smoker Category and wants to have

Sum Assured >= Rs. 50,00,000

Policy Term Minimum – 10 Years

Maximum – 35 Years

Premium Payment Frequency Annual (Once a Year)

LIC Online Term Plan – Important Points

–      It can be bought online

–      Premium Rates are different for smokers and non-smokers

–      In case of demise of the policy holder, Sum assured will be paid.

–      The insured can return the policy within 30 days of buying the policy with reasons if he/she is not satisfied with the terms and conditions of the policy.

–      It is cheaper than the offline Term Plan of LIC

–      NRIs can also buy the LIC Online eterm plan and will be covered even if they are abroad provided they are present in India for medical tests.

ReadLIC Jeevan Akshay – Pension Plan

What LIC eTerm Plan does not Cover?

It is only a risk cover. So there will be no benefits paid on maturity of the policy. The policy can be bought only for self – there is no insurance for employee option here.

LIC Online Term Plan Premium

Premium to be paid for a Sum Assured of Rs. 50,00,000 for a 10 year term

Age (Years) Yearly Premium for a Non-Smoker (Rs.) Yearly Premium for Aggregate Category (Rs.)
30 4326 6180
35 5618 7865
40 8315 11348

            *Premium includes taxes

LIC eTerm Plan Vs other online term plans

Let us compare premium for LIC eTerm Plan with similar plans available in the market.

The table below shows the premium that has to be paid by a non-smoker for a Sum Assured of Rs. 50 lakhs for a 20 year term

 

Age (Years)

Premium to be paid

LIC e-Term Plan HDFC Life Click2Protect Aviva – iLife
30 Rs.5618 Rs. 5730 Rs. 4519
35 Rs. 8258 Rs. 7191 Rs. 5845
40 Rs. 12641 Rs. 10281 Rs. 8254

* Please contact the Organization for exact premium and terms and conditions applicable

Should I buy LIC eTerm Plan?

Most term plans are similar. You should compare the premium, ease of settlement and claim ratio. LIC is a government organization and people trust it more for this reason. But premium charged by LIC for this term plan is higher compared to other term plans – in case if you are above 35. If you are a person, who trusts LIC more than private players and do not have a term plan, you can consider buying it else you can look at other term plans as well.

We would like to know which term plan you have purchased and the reasons for you to select the one you have. In case if you have recently bought LIC Online term plan – please share your experience.

LIC Online eTerm plan review is done by our Para Planner Ravi Variyani.

71 COMMENTS

  1. Hi Hemant,

    Request you to clarify my doubt. May I know why premiums are high in 20 years plan when compared to 10 year plan.

    Thanks
    Ramakrishna

    • “Longer the Period, Higher the Risk” for company.. I believe that’s the reason.

      I am 28 years old, I took Aviva -i life 3 years ago @ Rs 6200 for 75 lakhs, Main reason was that:
      1) It was the only plan offering 35 years of term plan during that time
      2) Also the policy cost was very competitive and process was pretty smooth
      3) Their claim settlement ratio has been improving consistently and is currently at 94% approxmately.

      I am looking forward to take one more policy from some other company to diversify the risk.

      Golden rule: The policy amount should be 12-15 times your present income + your current liabilities (loans)

  2. Dear sir,

    I already taken Term policy from Religare for 50Lakhs from last year.now my age is 32yrs. can i buy this LIC also?? or sufficent with Religare??

    Plz suggest me sir

    • Religare has a very bad claim settlement ratio of only 66.82% (2012-2013 data) whereas it was 97.73% for LIC during the same period. You can also think of HDFC, ICICI, Kotak etc but discontinue Religare immediately.

  3. I have an ICICI offline term policy of 30Lakh(purchased when I was young @ Rs 266 per lakh), ICICI online term policy(for 1Crore @ Rs 170 per lakh) and plan to add HDFC click2protect for any additional cover needs.

    The reason is that both are fairly well capitalized (better current ratio than LIC) and decent(and increasing) claim settlement ratio (above 96%).

  4. Dear Mr.Hemant,

    It was really good information which changed my thought about term plans, now am thinking of buying one. My question is why LIC is so costly? Considering the given premiums if the age is above 30 LIC charges higher than others, Which insurance company I should go with?

  5. Dear Hemant,

    I already have a term plan of LIC for 20 years Rs.25,00,000/- cover, I am 39 now. Should I discontinue the existing policy and go for the e-term of LIC.

    Please guide.

  6. Dear Hemanth,
    At the end of the term if the assured person is still alive, whether he/she will get back their assured sum.

    Thankyou
    Shashi

  7. With online term plans coming in market, as per past experience that customers are not comfortable with online term plans, than the old way of buying insurance through an agent. However it would cost more than online term insurance, which many are comfortable with.
    what everyone needs is very high claim settlement ratio and excellent customer service. This is where online term plans have disappointed customers.

  8. Hi Hemant,
    I am non-smoker, 35 now and will be 36 by oct. Would like to take a 25 year policy for 50 lac.
    Is the LIC premium for my age is competitive compared to others ?

  9. Hi Hemant,
    3 years back , have taken HDFCclick2protect through online for 50L and now am planning for additional 50L from another company to diversify the risk.
    LIC e term looks good choice for me, though the premium is little high. ( not major diff compared to ICICI )Considering CSR of LIC..

    Look forward to hear feedback from Mr Hemant and other friends to freeze my plan

  10. I am 55, non-smoker and known diabetic. I would like to take a term plan for 10 years. What mode is safe, Whether on-line or Off-line policy. And which is prefered LIC/HDFC/Aviva/ICICI/Religare?

    • I would recommend to all , whose age >45 years , to Go For Edeilweiss Tokyo -online term plan as this is the Only Company that offers term Insurance plan upto age of 80 years , see, as longevity is bound to rise in India , so every day is going to be counted for you and your online term plan after one attains age of 70 years .( from any company for that matter)

  11. I have purchased i-Term from Aviva two years ago for Rs-50 Lakh at the age of 37 with a yearly premium of Rs-6472/-, At that time I was searching for a lower premium online term plan with a little base in Indian soil and I choose first Bharti Axa whose premium was even lower than Aviva and at that time they were advertised too much in media propagating international standard of services. But Bharti Axa played fraud and much hullabaloo was there for my case, After about three months they have done my medical tests and shown me as a smoker without doing any nicotine test at all and also proved me as having severe cardiac problems (!) by producing a false tread mill report from a unknown diagnostic centre at Asansol, West Bengal and subsequently raised the premium from approx Rs-6000/- to nearly Rs-12000/- and forced me to accept that. It might have been also that I have gone through Policybazar.com and Bharti Axa might have to pay a commission of 3.5% to Policybazar wala. I strongly protested against it and gone to one of the best International Institute of Cardiac Research and Hospital at Kolkata (Rabindranath Tagore International Institute of Cardiac Sciences see rtiics.org ) and by paying a sum of Rs-3500/- from my pocket done full body check up and the tests done by Bharati Axa, there every thing proved to be perfect and normal and when I have showed the Bharati-Axa reports the RTIICS doctors, they threw them in the bin. I was determined to go for a law suit against the Bharati-Axa in consumer forum and for giving me mental trauma and agony, but later on relented myself somehow and went for Aviva as I thought Dabur’s reputation in Indian soil was there for so many days but some how my mind is pricked by the thought that any private company (even Aviva also) can easily play fraud to the family of the customers at any day after one’s demise. And recently the news flashed that Aviva is going to quit from the insurance business in India and GOD knows what the fate holds for all Aviva policy holders like me! In this respect, since my taking the term policy I was thinking when LICI would launch their online term and several times I have asked the managers about it but ultimately when the good news came to me from LICI, it proved not so sweet as it was imagined to be. The premium is too high for our age category (35-40). At least LICI should ponder over it and reconsider to reduce the premium for it would increase the number of customers in the long run. But still I believe in my mind and heart that in the next year I would better switch to LIC’s online term plan even if they don’t reduce the premium as there is much peace of mind of being something fully Government and its long running tradition and establishment. Please tell me the future of AVIVA in INDIA. Should I continue or quit? Thank you all.

    • Hi
      it is better you to decide or else my suggestion would be go through policy in detail.
      Options are there like LIC , SBI but higher charges also chances for lower Sum

      Regards
      Karan Sinha

  12. Hi Hemant,

    I have purchased LIC term plan (Offline) for Rs. 10 Lakhs and Aviva I term Online plan for Rs. 50 Lakhs.
    Was expecting that LIC would launch online term plan as per competitors but the premium is too high compared to private players.

    I agree with Dipankar that we donno when these private players going to stop their insurance business, however, there is IRDA which is regulating these companies and i guess it will take care of insured by all the ways.

  13. sir, one point please guide all.

    i think insurance amount sum assured be 10 times annual expenses not annual income.
    if we take annual income we are over insuring. insurance should cover expenses correct?

    • Dear Shobha,

      Ideally you should buy a term plan 10 times your annual income. Insurance is for financial risk cover only which helps our family in case of any mishappening with Life insured. , In case of mishappening it directly affect income of the family, hence it should be more than 10 times of your annual income.

  14. For purchasing online e-term plan or i term plans , found that Bharati AXA are cheaters in terms of giving you the policy , in may case -M-42- ;
    when I opted for a policy/s 50 L each of total sum 1 Cr ( two sons being nominated as beneficiary in case of …..), and paid online premium , which was readily accepted , medical tests were done ;
    one fine day , BA informed that , thy are restricted for i / e term policy of 10 L each , the pro-rata premium paid either can be invested on my behlf to Plan A , B , C of bharati AXA ;and i should give them consent by mail ,

    which i refused , took the matter to IRDA , then there were calls coming from spurious people claiming it to from regional office of Bharati AXA / IRDA to be convenient with the latest offer; which i declined and posed to publish the news in daily papers like BS / ET , Outlook money , mint etc,

    made it a point to get REFUND credited to my account ;
    Just f x x k Bharati Axa .

  15. Hi based on your last years guidance i have already purchased a term plan for
    Rs 75 lakhs for which a premium of Rs 18000 aprox is being paid.
    I certainly trust this is okay

  16. Premium of LICI may be little high,but claim settlement is best in all of insurance comp,so don’t care for little high premium,At last brand also matter, and u have to pay for it.

    • I would like to buy MAX LIFE ONLINE TERM PLAN BASIC LIFE COVER. Any feedback/review on this?

      • Premium of LIC is very high and all insurnace companies must have to follow rules of IRDA. If we read all documents carefully and follow all the required standards as per insurance company. Then, as per my understanding we should not pay such a huge premium to LIC. We can try other companies as well. I personaly prefer Max Life Insurance. Please share your views.

        • Raakex,

          You can choose any other company which provides you a good rate for term insurance and has a good settlement ratio. More important is that you provide all the information while availing the policy to ensure your family faces less hazzles during the claim.

      • Recently i have taken a Online term plan form Max life for 50 lakh by paying a premium of Rs 4830/- at the age of 29, none smoking , non alcoholic etc.

        i choose it from policy bazar after a long conversation with their agent.
        bu now i think we should get it directly form the company.
        go to the company site and buy it, very simple process.

        i paid premium amount and submitted the documents and second day they arranged the medical tests. within 7 days i received the policy and it was as per my information. there was no mistake. so i think max is good.

        I also have a lic offline term plan for 25 lakh with a premium of rs 8600/- which is too costly so thinking to discounting it and taking new one from other company.

        MAnish

  17. Dear Hemant,

    Inspired by you, i have paid-off following LIC policies.

    1. Jeevan Saral
    2. Health Plus
    3. Jeevan Plus
    4. Bima Kiran

    I have taken click-2-protect of Rs. 1 crore.

    Regards,

    Chinmay

  18. Hi to all

    Online term plan is a good option but few points are very important like
    1- what will be your total liabilities to cover, it should be properly analyze on some data
    2-Term Plan also includes few other benefits like with riders & without riders, is the riders benefits to your need
    3- In the Plan there few different categories like Pure term, Increasing term,decreasing, convertible term, income replacement,loan debt term, so better choose which fit to you
    4- Always take the Plan with longer tenure period, lets take a example X current age is 30 years he took the plan for next 10 years , the current premium annual will be approx 6000 for 7500000. He is a non smoker. Now what happened when you purchase the price at 6000 for remaining 10 years the premium will remain with same price & if something got happened you will be benefited for that sum. But if things are ok then after 10 years your current age will be 40 years. Now when you purchase new plan, it will cost you more for same term plan for 7500000.

    Regards
    Karan Sinha

  19. Sir,
    I am 42 and had not taken any term insurance till now. My annual income is around Rs. 8.5 lacs. Kindly suggest the suitability of these plans for me in terms of minimum sum assured, policy term and annual term. Can you compare the online term plan of LIC with that of SBI Life? Thanking u in anticipation. With kind regards!

    • Ratan,

      On a thumb rule you should be covered for at least 10-15 times of your annual income. But the actual life insurance coverage amount requires a detailed analysis of your finances wherein your family future financial needs are assessed. From these LIC may be a good choice considering its claim settlement record and existence.

  20. Hello Hemant,

    I am 28 year old professional and not having any term plan yet. Having few queries:
    1. Why these companies dont provide Policy Term for 45 years? If I buy a term plan now then it is any ways going to cover till 63 years of my age (I am being Optimistic on my age). Could you suggest if I should go for any term plan with maximum Policy Term?

    2. My father is of Age-54, which Term plan I should buy for him?

    • Ankit,

      Ideally a term insurance coverage is required till you have liabilities, responsibilities or dependents to take care. But its difficult to judge whether ate age 60 or 63 all your responsibilities will be fulfilled. Also, simultaneously you build assets in your life which reduces the need of life insurance coverage. So you need to assess your life insurance coverage at various intervals and act accordingly.

      For your father you won’t be able to avail insurance policy by yourself as its not allowed. Its your father who will have to purchase for himself.

      You can choose companies after doing some analysis on their existence and claim settlement.

  21. dear hemant
    thanks for updates. we had purchased an online term plan icici pru life 4 yrs back . besides 50 lac cover , we had taken an accidental rider of 50 lac and total premium costs Rs. 10k . now my annual package is abt 8lac and so i am planning to take another Rs. 50 lac cover at age 38 yr. is Iic is good option? pl reply.

    • Vinod,

      If you compare with ICICI then premiums are almost equivalent. But there are companies like HDFC, Kotak and others which are giving the same coverage at affordable rates. You can select from them to reduce your total outgo.

  22. Dear Hemant sir namasker
    sir please tell me i want to buy new term plan . We should disclose lapsed policy and surrandered policy details or not

    • Pankaj,

      You need to disclose information on policies which are in force i.e. you are paying the premiums. Lapsed policy if you revive then you will have to disclose its information but no need to provide surrender policy details.

  23. Sir,
    I had sold a policy to one Daniel Murmu way back in 28/4/2010. His Coverage was Rs 50000. He could not pay premiums after 28/4/2012. He expired in the year 2014, April 26th. His policy was in lapsed condition but had the auto cover feature ( auto cover for 3 years from date of first unpaid premium). Therefore his nominee got Rs 50000. His LIC policy number is 489783634. Term insurance is very good. But a prospective buyer should also look for these features before buying insurance.

  24. I am a simple LIC agent. I had sold a policy to one Daniel Murmu on 28/04/2010. Sum Insured was just Rs 50000. He could continue paying premiums till 29/10/2011. His first unpaid premium date is 28/4/2012. Policy no. 489783634. He expired in the year 2014, April 26th. His beneficiary received Rs 50000 even though the policy was in lapsed condition that too, it was a non early claim- meaning no claim investigation was carried out since the policy holder expired after 5 years from date of acceptance of risk on his life. This is simply because his policy had the auto coverage feature. This means that even if premiums are not paid for 3 years from date of first unpaid premium, life cover will continue for another 3 years. I think it is really important to have features like Auto coverage and Claims concession facility attached with any policy. Do look for these features. For people with irregular income this policy is suitable. Hope this proves useful. If Term plans are loaded with these features than Term insurance products would look more beautiful. Thanks.

  25. I enquired about home loan protection plans from icici and hdfc during enquiry for the home loans – it is a utter suprize the premiums are much more when i compare with term insurances of the same company (for the same sum assured for the same tenure) even though it is a decreasing term insurance coverage. what i inferred it the opportunity to get a customer for that particular situation, and unfortunately they dont accept home loan coverage plans of other companies except their sister concern company insurance. It is my personal experience,do others feel so ?

    • Babuli,

      Home loan protection plans are priced differently due to their objective of just covering the loan. In an ideal situation you avail a term insurance which covers your loan liability also..

  26. Hi Hemant
    First of all thanks a lot for providing such useful info, I am regular reader of the Financial Literates & it helped me to gain good knowlege of the Finance.
    I am currently having Offline Term Plan from LIC Rs.10526/yr for cover of 30 Lac
    I am planning to by online term plan from LIC same thing when I discussed with my Insurance Adviser then he said “you won’t get any service because there’s no intermediary in an online plan”.
    Is this true???

    • Ashish,

      Yes in online term plans the intermediary like agents are not involved and thats the primary reason for lower cost. However, even in online space some companies are offering term plans through agents but with a slightly higher premium say 3-4%
      If you are going with online term plans you need to take this aspect in consideration.

  27. I AM ALSO HAVING A OFFLINE TERM PLAN OF LIC FOR 35 YEAR AND PAYING RS. 8600 ANNUAL PREMIUM FOR 25 LAKH SUM ASSURED. NOW I FOUND THAT ONLINE TERM PLAN OF LIC FOR 35 YEAR IS HAVING A PREMIUM COST OF RS 6500 PA. SO WHY SHOULD I PAY RS 8600 FOR SAME THING FORM SAME COMPANY? NOW I AM TAKING E TERM PLAN. I ALSO HAVE E TERM PLAN FROM MAX LIFE. SO HEMANT PLZ SUGGEST ME THAT I AM DOING RIGHT OR NOT?

    • Manish,

      The difference is 2100 which is good enough. However you need to take into consideration that you will be buying a new policy altogether which means your medicals will be done again. Any issues there will be considered in the new policy. Also you won’t have any agent to service you which means your family should have awareness on the claim or they should be notified.

      Take a decision considering the points above.

  28. Hi Hemant,

    Below information in the article is wrong; as per LIC’s website NRIs are not eligible for this plan.

    “NRIs can also buy the LIC Online eterm plan and will be covered even if they are abroad provided they are present in India for medical tests. “

  29. Hello. I am 30 years old earning average Rs 70,000 per month in hand and my assets and liabilities are as follows:

    1. Liability of Rs 20,00,000 in a home loan
    2. Liability of Rs 4,00,000 personal loan.
    3. Asset of PF around Rs 6,00,000
    4.Asset of PPF around Rs 80,000
    5. Savings/RD/FD total around Rs 1,00,000.

    I presently have following insurance:

    1. Rs 20,00,000 SBI home loan protection insurance. (Monthly Rs 500)
    2. Rs 50,00,000 SBI e-shield (for 30 yrs, till I will be 60) (Yearly Rs 8202)
    3. Rs 5,00,000 sum assured LIC Jeevan Anand for 23 years (till i am 53) (Monthly Rs 1785)

    Is my insurance adequate? I am thinking of opening another Rs 50,00,000 in SBI Term insurance with additional rider of Rs 50,00,000 in Permanent Disability. Should i open one more in SBI or stick to LIC as i have two other policies in LIC. However LIC don’t have the permanent disability rider.

  30. Dear Sir,
    The Site Is clearly State NRI can not buy this policy. I had contacted with LIC. They said NRI can not buy this Policy.

    • Renjith,

      Without knowing the requirement difficult to advice any avenue. But insurance has its own disadvantage especially at your age.

  31. Why on line term plan is cheaper than offline ?
    Ans.-Under online – investigation on claim is mandatory by insurers during the whole term.

    And under offline- its mandatory only for first 3 yrs. After 3 yrs only death certificate is required and claim settles on the same day.

    • Harsh,

      Don’t know how you got this definition.

      The premium reduction is mainly due to the reduction in the cost which company has to bear. In a term insurance a major part of the cost is agents commissions which is not there in online term insurance. There cannot be a differentiation in the claim procedure.

  32. Can I surrender existing LIC term policy and take new e-Term policy from LIC. there is no much difference between them. please suggest.

    • Vikas,

      Yes you can do it but remember that you will have to go for the medical test again and it will be a new policy.

  33. Hi Sir,
    My DOB is 15.08.1982 and i am a govt. employee.
    My current annual income is 45000 . and covered under new pension scheme i.e. Contributory pension fund.
    I want to take online term insurance plan . Please suggest me the best online term plan for 50L.
    Also explain whether all online term insurance plans cover all critical illness.

  34. Hi Sandeep

    you can take any online term plan but my suggestion would be consider inflation rate in your sum assured + any loan + liabilities to your financial goal
    Sum assured would 12 to 15 times of your current salary. Always consider longer term

  35. I think compare to other online Term plan LIC e term is best. Though the premium amount is high but people can stay relax as they are going to link with LIC. We have to agree that LIC has a huge trust based customers than any other insurance player. In such a scenario one can buy this policy. Even claim settlement ration is the highest again.

  36. Dear sir,
    Today I see an online term plan from MAX LIFE INSURENCE which offer an amount for insurer if he dies and if nothing happened during the period it offer monthly income every month equivelent to policy term. For example my age is 38yrs, if I will take the policy for a term of 10yrs with Sa of 50 lks, my premium comes around 7000. If something happened to me during the period my nominee will get 50lks. But if nothing happened to me during policy period MAX will pay me around 20,000/month till 10years. The policy sounds very good. I request you to kindly review the policy and suggest wheather one should go for it or not.
    I m eagerly waiting for ur review and reply.
    MAX LIFE INSURANCE TERM PLAN WITH REGULAR INCOME.
    thanking you
    Anshuman panda

  37. I am interested in buying term insurance but when I compare, LIC has a premium of 54000₹ as against max life which charges 25000 ₹ I am 45 yrs and am wondering why so much difference plus is it safe to go with max life ? Please help me with this decision. Can an insurance company shut down anytime and what happens to the insured then.

  38. Is there a link you can share for the latest Claim Settlement ratios for all the insurance companies ?
    Please do share.

  39. If I take e term in India and immigrate USA for 3 years after few days does this term applies in this condition

  40. Hi – Currently i leave in Mumbai. But i have all address proofs and related documents of my permanent address Kolkata. Shall i have to select office Kolkata while purchasing the policy or i can go ahead with my current location Mumbai option? LIC eterm Query

  41. I am 24 yr old and searching for an term policy of 35-40 yr of 1 cr. sum assured.
    Doubtful in choosing LIC offline vs online policy? How good is LIC online policy in claim settlement?

Comments are closed.