Insurance Truths

Some time back, a reader informed us why pure life insurance goes against his religious beliefs.

According to him, it works like a betting game. Let's say you insure yourself for Rs 10 lakh at an annual premium of just Rs 2,000. What it means, according to our reader, is that you are willing to bet that you would die this year and so willingly cough up Rs 2,000. The insurance company bets that you will not die and is willing to pay your family Rs 10 lakh if you do. If you survive - which, we're sure, you would really love to - you lose the bet and the insurance company walks away with Rs 2,000. If you win the bet, you know what happens.

This bet goes on over a period of 10, 15 or 20 years, whatever the term of the policy. And so, he concluded, that it goes against his faith to lay a wager on his life. That forced him to arrive at the conclusion that a policy which gave him a return would be a good option because he could view it more as an investment.

Well put, undoubtedly. But not a wise conclusion.

Insurance is not an investment
When you put your money somewhere, you expect something back. Not so with pure term insurance. If you die, your nominee gets something. If you live, no one gets anything. Now that may sound like a raw deal. But, hey, that's what life insurance is all about. Ironic as it may appear, life insurance is not about life but about death.

In their bid to get something out of the money given to the insurance company, investors opt for insurance policies that give you "something back" even if you do live. And, in the bargain, give pure term insurance policies the cold shoulder. While everyone is entitled to their own personal views, we are of the opinion that term insurance is the purest, cheapest and best form life insurance.

The math behind it

Let's assume a profile.
Age: 30-year old male
Life cover: Rs 10 lakh
Tenure: 10 years.

If he opts for Assure Lifeline Plan, a basic term insurance policy from Tata AIG Life Insurance, the annual premium would be Rs 3,510.

Now let's look at the Assure Security & Growth Plan from the same company. Here, in the event of death, the beneficiary will get the sum assured of Rs 10 lakh. But, if the insured person outlives the policy, he will get the sum assured at the end of the policy term. To get this, the premium is now Rs 1,51,250. In addition to the sum assured of Rs 10 lakh if he outlives his policy, he will also get a guaranteed addition of 10 per cent of the sum assured. Depending on the company performance, a reversionary and terminal bonus is also paid (both are not guaranteed).

If he had taken a basic term policy with an annual premium of Rs 3,510, he could have invested the balance amount of Rs 1,47,740 (1,51,250 - 3,510) in any investment of his choice.

Let's say he put it in a mutual fund SIP of Rs 12,000 every month. If he had invested Rs 12,000 every month for 10 years in HDFC Equity, he would have got Rs 1,20,35,724 on maturity.

But with this policy, he would have got Rs 16 lakh (Sum assured of Rs 10 lakh + Rs 1 lakh which is 10 per cent of the sum assured + an assumed bonus of Rs 5 lakh). A far cry from what he would have got had he separated his insurance and investment needs.

Let's look at another type of term insurance policy which is not an investment option but one that only returns premiums.

A basic term insurance policy from SBI Life Insurance - known as Shield - will have an annual premium of Rs 2,043. But Swadhan, a term insurance policy with a guaranteed refund of the premium paid on survival at the end of the policy term, has a premium of Rs 13,816 for the same cover.

So at the end of 10 years, he would get the premium returned to him. This will amount to Rs 1,38,160 (Rs 13,816 x 10 years). Once again, let's take the difference in the two premiums which amounts to Rs 11,773 (13,816 - 2,043). If he had opted for an SIP, the actual figure would be Rs 981 (Rs 11,773/12) but for the sake of simplicity, we will take Rs 1,000. If he had invested Rs 1,000 every month in an SIP in HDFC Equity, he would have got Rs 10,02,977 on maturity. So instead of getting Rs 1,38,160 at the end of 10 years, he could have still had an insurance cover and beaten the return on life insurance policy by investing the balance.

How insurance companies operate
The entire amount you pay to the insurance company is not what is invested. The premium you pay has three components.

(i) Expenses(including commissions earned by the agents as well as expenses and distribution costs).
(ii) Mortality premium
(iii) Investment amount

And, to top it all, the amount permitted to be invested in equity may just be around 8 to 10 per cent of the total investment. So one cannot really expect a great return from their insurance product.

Moreover, the money may sound good now but may not be that great when you finally get it. Let's say you are promised Rs 20 lakh, 25 years down the road. Taking inflation at 5 per cent per annum, that would be worth around Rs 6 lakh in today's prices.

source: Value Research