HDFC Standard Life's first bonus

Sanjiv Shankaran

THE Directors of HDFC Standard Life declared the company's very first bonus for participating policyholders last week.

The Directors declared a reversionary bonus at an annual rate of 4.25 per cent of the sum assured for all Endowment Assurance Policies issued in calendar 2000, paying premium as on the end of that year and that were still in force on September 30, 2001.

They also declared interim bonus for policyholders presenting their claims before the next bonus, at an annualised rate of 4.25 per cent for all Endowment/ Money Back policies and at 8 per cent for all Single-Premium whole-life policies. Reversionary bonus is an annual bonus added to policies throughout their term.

Further, in recognition of those participating policyholders who placed their faith in the company in its founding years, the Directors have also approved a non-recurring Founder's Bonus that will be added to policies resulting from proposals the Company receives before the close of business on December 31, 2001.

The rate of this bonus will vary with the term of the policy, to recognise the greater commitment made by those policyholders who have taken longer-term policies, according to the company's on-line press release.

Pay LIC premia online

LIC continues to provide services that make paying premia on its policies easy and convenient. It portrays two links on its website that enable policyholders to make online premium payments and also look up their policy status. Payment of premiums can be done through any one of the participating intermediaries.

Figuring in this list are BillJunction.com, TimesofMoney.com, Bank of Punjab, UTI Bank, Corporation Bank, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank -- the last two allow only account holders this facility -- according to material available on their website. Policyholders that do not have bank accounts can also participate in this service by filling out a mandate available on-line. The facility is currently on offer in eight cities country-wide whose branches are connected to the network.

Unit-linked policy from ICICI

ICICI has in its latest offering, packaged a unit-linked policy that offers the option of enjoying market returns in addition to the security of a life insurance policy. Called the ICICI Pru LifeLink, the policy envisages the investment of funds in the equity, debt and money markets that afford policy-holders the upside of market returns.

Accordingly, the policy is offered through the Growth Plan, Income Plan or Balanced Plan taking into account the policyholder's appetite for risk and the time horizon involved. The policyholder can later switch between plans once a year without incurring any additional charges, depending on his/her financial priorities.

The premium is a one-time payment and is pegged at a minimum of Rs 20,000 with top-ups of Rs 10,000. The death benefit has been fixed at 1.05 times the amount invested. In the event of the policyholder's demise, an amount equal to the higher of the death benefit or value of the units (after deducting Initial, Mortality, Administrative and top-up charges) is paid to the family.

Customers can also choose to withdraw their money through a complete or partial surrender of units, with the death benefit being reduced by 1.05 per cent of such amount withdrawn. The maximum age of entry is fixed at 62 years and the premiums and withdrawals qualify for tax benefits under the IT Act.

Two offerings from Tata-AIG

TATA AIG General Insurance launched two versions of its new product -- the Business Guard 'Jyoti' and 'Sanjeevini' -- targeted at shopkeepers, last week. The Business Guard series offers a package that covers fire, earthquake, burglary, loss of rent, public liability and personal accident.

Jyoti, targeted at small shopkeepers, has an insurance cover capped at Rs 10 lakh with an annual premium at Rs 7,000. Its counterpart, Sanjeevini, is aimed at larger establishments with no ceiling on its cover and a proportionately linked premium.

It also allows the shopkeeper to select the risks covered, specific to his business. The USP of the offerings is that the policy document is pre-printed, pre-signed and numbered and is considered to be executed when the customer details are written into the document.