LIC’s Jeevan Ankur is one of the latest profit plans that has specially been designed to meet the educational and other needs of a child. Brief us about its benefits.
Jeevan Ankur is a conventional profit plan, especially designed to meet the educational and other needs of your child. If you are the parent of a child aged up to 17, Jeevan Ankur is the most suitable insurance plan. It ensures that your responsibilities are met with whether you survive or not, without depending on anyone. The risk cover under this plan will be on your life as a parent and the child shall be the nominee. The policy term shall be based on the age at maturity of the child. In India, parents are more concerned about their children and anxious to secure future of their children; we want to inform them that they should opt for this plan as it will be helpful for their child when he or she will need the same for higher studies or for start-in capital for business.
What are its unique features and how different is it from other available plans?
There are a number of benefits a policy holder gets under this plan. On death of the life assured during the policy term, the basic sum assured shall be payable to the nominee and an income benefit equal to 10 per cent of basic sum assured shall be payable on each policy anniversary till the end of the policy term. On maturity again, basic sum assured along with loyalty additions would be payable. This maturity benefit will be payable even on survival of the life assured along with loyalty addition. If we talk about loyalty addition, it depends upon the corporation’s experience. The policy will be eligible for loyalty addition on the stipulated date of maturity irrespective of survival of life assured. Under Jeevan Ankur policy, a policy holder can also opt for additional cover through riders for — accident benefit and critical illness benefit.
What is the market response to the plan in general and specifically in north zone?
The response has been overwhelming. LIC has already sold over 1.5 lakh Jeevan Ankur policies in less than a month. North zone is number one in this regard as we have sold over 27,000 policies and raked in Rs 15 crore of revenue. This goes to show that parents are becoming conscious about making provision for their children’s education and other future needs. Jodhpur division holds the number one position in the country in sale of Jeevan Ankur. We hope to do even better in the coming days.
Do you think LIC has been facing heat of the competition from private sector insurance companies?
There are a number of private companies doing business in the insurance sector but their reach is mostly in the urban belt. We, at LIC, have a large network with branches spread out even in remote areas. Our agents are doing well and with the help of online facilities, we can reach a larger number of people. Also, after the new ULIP guidelines, the ULIP business in the insurance industry declined. LIC always had a good basket of products in conventional business. So we could encash on these products. In fact, LICs market share has gone up to 79.5 per cent in policies and 72.3 per cent in first premium income. Not only that LIC’s claim settlement ratios are the best among all life insurers in India. In fact, this is corroborated by the claim settlement figures released by IRDA. As per the IRDA’s figures, settlement ratios of LIC of India increased to 97.03 percent during the year 2010-11 when compared to 96.54 per cent of private insurance companies. Compared to LIC, private insurers have rejected a large number of claims. Their ratio of repudiation of claims was 8.9 per cent in 2010-11 whereas in LIC, it was hardly 1 per cent in 2010-11. It is no wonder then that people have more faith in LIC.
How does Swavalamban scheme benefit the poor?
The government has been concerned about people who are doing work in the unorganised sector. In this direction, the PFRDA launched the Swavalamban scheme on September 26 last year. This scheme provides pension to the unorganised sector and is applicable to all the citizens who join the new pension scheme (NPS) subject to their meeting the eligibility criteria. Under this scheme, Central Government will contribute Rs 1,000 per year to each NPS account opened in 2011-12 and eligible persons will get this amount for the next three years. To be eligible, a person will have to make a minimum contribution of Rs 1,000 and a maximum of Rs 12,000 per annum. LIC is also identifying and helping such people to enroll for the scheme. Over 12 lakh LIC agents are also eligible to join the scheme out of which over 40,000 agents have already joined the scheme. So, LIC is not only pursuing and achieving its business objectives but also doing its bit in the social sector.
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