Best Life Insurance Company in India-PolicyBachat
Life insurance is a contract between the life insurance company and the insured customer where the insurance company agrees to pay a defined sum assured known as a death benefit to the nominee of the policyholder in case of the sudden demise of the insured or survival benefit to the policyholder in case he/she survives the entire policy period in return for a particular amount known as premium. The premium can be paid by the policyholder in installments or one time depending on the financial possibilities of the policyholder.

The life insurance policy premium to be paid by the policyholder is decided by the insurance company at the start of the policy period and the same premium would be paid by the policyholder throughout the policy period in most cases, the premium is subject to change if the terms and conditions of the policy are amended by the policyholder at any point of time during the policy period. Since insurance is a subject matter of solicitation a request is to be sent from the policyholder to the insurance company asking for an insurance policy after which the insurance company will decide whether or not to accept the risk.
Which is the Best Life Insurance Company in India?
The best life insurance company in India which provides an excellent claim settlement ratio, add-ons, premium, etc. Here are some Best Life Insurance Companies in India based on the claim settlement ratio are:
Life Insurance Companies |
Claim Settlement Ratio |
HDFC Life Insurance |
99.07% |
TATA AIA Life Insurance |
99.06% |
Canara HSBC OBC Life Insurance |
98.12% |
AEGON Life Insurance |
98.01% |
ICICI Prudential Life Insurance |
97.84% |
Bharti AXA Life Insurance |
97.35% |
PNB MetLife India Insurance |
97.18% |
Kotak Mahindra Life Insurance |
96.38% |
Future Generali India Life Insurance |
95.28% |
SBI Life Insurance |
94.52% |
How to Choose the Best Life Insurance Company in India?
Are you thinking of purchasing the best life insurance policies in India for yourself or your family member? Then it’s high time for you to consider the below factors before deciding on the best life insurance policy in India from the best life insurance company in India.
Claim Settlement Ratio/Time:
The main purpose of taking a life insurance policy is to claim in adverse conditions and if the claim experience is not smooth then the customer would not be very much happy with the insurance company. The claim settlement ratio is the total number of claims paid by the insurance company out of the total claims received by the insurance company in a particular year. The higher the ratio, the better would be your chances of getting a claim. The claim settlement ratio may decrease or increase sometimes due to many factors such as the delay on part of the customer in providing the required documents to the insurance company, Fraud claims, incidents not covered under the policy, etc.
The claim settlement ratio of the insurance company should be almost constant throughout the years of operation, a decrease in the ratio should be analyzed by the customer before making a purchase from the insurance company. The best claim settlement ratio in life insurance companies should be anywhere between 95% - 99% which is the claim settlement ratio. It is not possible for any insurance company to have a 100% claim settlement ratio as there would be few claims which don’t satisfy the requirement of the life insurance policy.
The other important factor to be considered apart from the claim settlement ratio for an insurance company is the time taken for settling the claims or the Claim settlement Time. Claim settlement time should be less which means that the nominee of the policyholder receives the claim amount within a short period of time. It is important for the customer to know the time taken for settling the claims by the insurance companies. Some companies may have settled the claim within 7 days time while some other companies might have taken 30 days to settle the claim. This time taken by the insurance companies to settle the claim is known as the Claim settlement time which is of utmost importance.
Hidden Clauses/ Conditions:
Every life insurance policy contract has certain terms and conditions which cannot be breached. These terms and conditions are to be mentioned to the customer before taking the best life insurance policy as the customer would decide his/her acceptance of the terms and conditions. There could be certain conditions in the life insurance policy which are hidden or not explained to the customer by the agent of the insurance company and these conditions may prolong the claim settlement process. It might sometimes be difficult for the nominee of the policyholder to submit the documents related to the policyholder after his death.
For example, there might be a condition in the policy copy that the death claim is payable only if the past medical history of the policyholder is submitted to the insurance company, then in this case the nominee of the policyholder may not be able to provide this to the insurance company as the nominee might not be aware of the medical condition of the policyholder at the time of taking the policy. There might be other conditions such as delay in claim intimation may lead to the claim getting rejected by the insurance company even though there is a valid reason.
For instance, the nominee of the policyholder might not be aware of the life insurance policy taken by the policyholder and therefore was not able to claim within 30 days as mentioned in the policy period. If the insurance company cannot this case valid and settle the claim then the reputation of the insurance company will be at stake.
Premium:
Premium is the amount paid by the policyholder in return for the insurance coverage offered by the insurance company. The premium amount is decided by the life insurance company and depends on many factors such as the:
- Age of the policyholder: Life insurance policy premiums depend on the age of the policyholder. The higher the age of the policyholder, the higher would be the premium to be paid. This is because of the mortality ratio which increases with age. The mortality rate increase with the increase in age as the risk of death happening at a young age is less compared to that of old age. So, the premium is decided based on the age of the policyholder. It is advisable to take the life insurance policy once you have started earning so that the premium paid throughout the coverage period would be less than the premium paid if the life insurance policy is taken at old age. For example, if a person thinks that he can save on premium if the life insurance policy is taken at 35 years of age instead of 25 years of age, then he would be mistaken as the premium to be paid by the customer at 35 years of age would be much higher.
- Sum Assured: The sum assured selected by the policyholder decides the premium be paid. Higher the sum assured, higher would be the premium to be paid by the policyholder. It is advisable for the customer to go for Sum assured which is 10 times their annual income. It is not possible for the customers to get the unlimited sum assured under the life insurance policy. Sum assured mentioned in the policy copy is the maximum liability of the insurance company in case of the death of the policyholder.
- Policy Term: The premium of the life insurance policy is decided by the number of years the customer wants to have the life insurance policy coverage. More the number of years more would be the premium under the life insurance policy.
- Others: If a customer is having a pre-existing illness or disease, then the premium may be loaded by the underwriter as the risk of death happening due to the existing illness is high in those cases. While few companies reject these kinds of proposals some insurance companies allow them with conditions such as limited sum insured etc.
The best life insurance company is the one that can provide the best premium rates with maximum coverage.
Coverage:
There are many insurance companies that offer disability coverage, terminal illness coverage, etc. apart from the death cover. This extra coverage is known as the Riders or Add-ons which can be availed on payment of extra premium. While some insurance companies offer the extra coverage without charging an extra premium, few insurance companies charge an extra premium for the extra coverage.
The extra coverage in the form of add-ons or Riders is to be taken by the customer to enhance the coverage and the chances of getting the claim settled. One of the best add-ons available under the life insurance policy is the Wavier of premium cover in case the policyholder is disabled due to an accident or in contracted with terminal or critical illness in which situations he/she may not be able to pay the premium. Under this cover, the future premiums payable by the policyholder are waived off if the policyholder suffers from critical or terminal illness and Disability.
The best insurance company in India is the one that can offer extra coverage without charging the extra premium from the customer. It is advisable for the customer to check the companies which offer extra cover without any additional premium while satisfying the other requirements.
Solvency Ratio:
The solvency ratio indicates the ability of the company to meet its future liabilities and long-term commitments with the available cash flow. The higher the solvency ratio, the stronger is the company. All the life insurance companies in India are expected to meet a Solvency ratio of 1.5 or 150% as stipulated by the IRDA. If any of the insurance companies are not able to meet these requirements then the insurance regulator may ask the company to close its operations preventing it from further doing any insurance business until a fresh capital is infused to maintain the solvency ratio.
A company with a lower solvency ratio may default on its financial obligations while the company with a higher solvency ratio indicated its financial trustworthiness. The solvency ratio is the ratio of the company’s assets to its liabilities. The formula for solvency ratio can be found here:
Solvency ratio = Net income + Depreciation/ Liability
The solvency ratio is the most important thing to look at in an insurance company while buying a life insurance policy. Since the life insurance contracts are extended over a long period of time, the solvency ratio of the insurance companies needs to be stable enough to settle your claim in the future.
If you have taken a life insurance policy from an insurance company with a solvency ratio of less than 1.5 then the chances of your claim getting settled in the future are bleak as the company may not be able to operate with such as less solvency ratio in the future. A death claim case involves your nominees and family members who might be affected if the insurance company is not able to settle the claim due to a solvency issue.
Hence, it is advisable for the customers to check the solvency ratio of the life insurance company before deciding on the life insurance policy purchase. The solvency ratio including the other mentioned factors should be considered by the customer before making the final decision.
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