Bajaj Life eTouch Plan, a popular term insurance product, offers decent coverage with a single rider, namely the Accidental Death Benefit rider. The insurer, known for a solid track record in Claim Settlement Ratio, Amount Settlement Ratio, and complaint volume, raises confidence.
However, when it comes to the policy in discussion, despite its apparent appeal, the basic nature of the plan prompts questions about its overall comprehensiveness and value for premiums. Let's explore further to assess its worth.
Quick Verdict on Bajaj Life eTouch Plan
The Bajaj Life eTouch Plan is a decent pick for your term insurance plan. It is one of the most affordable policies in the market, with a few value-worthy riders. However, a major miss here is the Critical Illness Rider, which is a crucial demand for a majority of term insurance policyholders,
As far as the insurer is concerned, Bajaj Life is a credible provider with metrics to prove its reputation.
Bajaj Life eTouch Plan: Brief Overview
Bajaj Life is a joint venture between Allianz SE (a top-notch financial service worldwide) and Bajaj Finserv, a prominent NBFC in India. The insurer began operations in 2001 and currently offers a vast portfolio of financial products, including term insurance policies, ULIPs, retirement policies, savings plans, etc. The insurer’s average annual (2020 to 2023) business stands at ₹8729 crores, and its numbers across the metrics board reflect its solid credibility -
- Claim Settlement Ratio (CSR) of 98.85% (the industry average is 97.74%, the higher, the better, but not above 100%)
- Amount Settlement Ratio (ASR) of 93.0% (the industry average is 90.9%, an ideal range would be somewhere between 50-70%)
- Complaint Volume of 5.0 (the industry average is 72.8, the lower, the better)
Now, about Bajaj Life eTouch Plan: this is a basic term insurance policy offering coverage of up to ₹50 lakhs or ₹10 crores, based on the income eligibility of the policyholder. The plan comes in 3 variants - Life Shield, Life Shield Plus, and Life Shield Return of Premium, wherein you will find a different permutation combination of the riders and perks offered by the insurer. The plan provides some perks like the Waiver of Premium (in the event of the diagnosis of a terminal ailment or the case of accidental total permanent disability), zero cost term plans, life stage benefits, return of premium, and health management services.
On the other hand, one major drawback of the Bajaj Life eTouch Plan is that this policy offers no Critical Illness Riders. Considering how this perk is a part of any major streamlined term insurance policy and is regarded as one of the most value-worthy add-ons, the absence of this feature makes Bajaj Life eTouch Plan an average pick. The plan also doesn't extend features like - Increasing cover, Voluntary top-up, Income Benefit on Accidental Disability riders, Personal Accident Cover, Cancer Cover, and Hospi Care Benefit.
Overall, the eTouch Plan from the Bajaj Life stable is too basic in its offering, with a significant hurdle of missing a Critical Illness rider and a capping on the sum assured (₹10 crores) that, for some policyholders may not be adequate.
(Subsequently, it is possible that to overcome these significant drawbacks, the stable has launched upgraded versions of the policy, wherein most of the features missing from the eTouch plan have been included in their new policy.)
Features of Bajaj Life eTouch Plan
| FEATURES | DETAILS |
|---|---|
| Variants | Life Shield | Life Shield Plus | Life Shield Return of Premium |
| Coverage | up to ₹10 crores |
| Entry age | 18 years (Life Shield and Life Shield Plus) | 25 years (Life Shield Return of Premium) |
| Documents required for the purchase | Bank details Proof | PAN Card | Permanent and Current Address Proofs | Income Proof | NACH if applicable | MHR where applicable |
| Available Riders | Waiver of premium | Accidental Death Benefit |
Should You Buy Bajaj Life eTouch Plan?
- Bajaj Life as an insurer: Founded in 2001, Bajaj Life is currently one of the most well-known general insurance companies in the country. The insurer has been offering various diverse financial products, including term insurance policies, retirement plans, children's insurance plans, ULIPs, retirement policies, investment plans, and more. Term insurance plans from this stable are usually affordable and come with multiple variants based on the benefits offered.
- In-built features of the plan: Bajaj Life eTouch Plan is one of the most basic policies offered by this insurer. The standalone policy hosts multiple features like -
- Variants: To cater to your financial goals, Bajaj Life offers 3 variants in its eTouch plan - Life Shield, Life Shield Plus, and Life Shield Return of Premium.
Across the 3 variants,
- Death benefits (the entire sum assured is paid to the nominee in the event of the death of the policyholder),
- Terminal illness (a sum is offered to the policyholder in case they are diagnosed and declared to have a terminal ailment) and
- Waiver of Premium (policyholder doesn’t need to pay premiums towards the term insurance plan to keep it active, in case of an accidental total permanent disability and terminal illness)
-are constant perks.
However, the differentiating benefits are -
- Accidental Death Benefit Rider (an additional amount is paid to the nominee in case the death of the policyholder is caused by accident. This amount is over and above the sum assured)
- Return of Premiums (premiums are paid back in full after rider premiums and GST is deducted, in case you want to quit the plan before the end of the policy term).
| Life Shield | Life Shield Plus | Life Shield Return of Premium | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Death benefits | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Terminal illness | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Waiver of Premium | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Accidental Death Benefit Rider | ✘ | ✔ | ✘ |
| Return of Premiums | ✘ | ✘ | ✔ |
- Premium payment frequency: Depending on your financial stability, you can decide the interval you prefer to pay the premium. The options offered include yearly, half-yearly, quarterly, and monthly. The premium payment options provided by the eTouch Plan include - regular, single, and limited pay options (5 Pay, 6 Pay, 10 Pay, 12 Pay, 15 Pay, 20 Pay or Pay till age 60).
- Return of Premium: If you want to exit the policy before the term ends, the Bajaj Life eTouch Plan offers a perk under which all your premiums are reimbursed. This total amount is paid as a lump sum after deducting the rider charges and the GST. However, this perk is only available with the policy's Life Shield Return of Premium variant.
- Terminal Illness: Say you have opted for the terminal illness rider during the inception of your plan. A few years later, you are diagnosed with a terminal ailment, and as a prognosis, your doctor (and another doctor from the insurance team) confirms that you only have a few months (less than 6 months) to live.
With your Terminal Illness rider offering coverage, you will be offered up to ₹2 crores from your base sum that can be utilised at your discretion. This sum is paid out as a lump sum. However, regarding the terminal illness rider in your Bajaj Life eTouch Plan, there is a condition involved -
- If your sum assured is less than or equal to ₹2 crores: The sum assured is paid out, and the plan gets terminated.
- If your sum assured is more than ₹2 crores: The insurer will pay you ₹2 crores as the terminal illness rider benefit, and the policy continues with the balance sum assured. The residual amount is paid to the policy nominee in the event of the policyholder’s death.
- Life Stage Benefits: While it is true that the Bajaj Life eTouch plan doesn’t offer Increasing Cover features (in-built or rider), the policy provides Life Stage Benefits as an in-built feature. Under this feature, when the policyholder has major life stages like marriage, childbirth, baby adoption, higher education or home loan, the insurer offers to boost the sum assured by a fixed amount.
This perk is available under the Life Shield and Life Shield Plus variants and comes with cappings -
| Life Event | Capping |
|---|---|
| Marriage | 50% up to ₹50 lakh |
| Birth or adoption of 1st child | 25% up to ₹25 lakh |
| Birth or adoption of 2nd child | 25% up to ₹25 lakh |
| Home Loan | 25% up to ₹50 lakh |
| Education Loan for children | 25% up to ₹25 lakh |
Health Management Services: Only a few term insurance policies offer health management services to their policyholders. Bajaj Life eTouch plan is one of the few in the market that extends this perk. Under this feature, the insurer offers coverage to its policyholders for medical second opinions, medical case management, medical consultation, etc. Such privileges ensure you stay updated with your health status and catch up with any required medical treatments.
3. Available Riders: As a standalone policy, the Bajaj Life eTouch plan has an essential list of offerings. We would have preferred a few additional features as in-built perks. However, when you seek customisation in your plan, you need value-worthy riders. Here is a look at the add-ons that are offered with this policy -
- Waiver of premium: If you are diagnosed with a terminal ailment or are left totally and permanently disabled following an accident and opt for this rider, all future premiums towards your policy will be waived. Subsequently, your policy stays active despite paying no premiums towards the plan. This is a value-worthy rider for any term plan, considering it acts as an income replacement for cases when you have issues with your source of income (in case of a terminal ailment or when left permanently disabled).
- Accidental Death Benefit: If the policyholder passes away due to an accident (within 180 days of the accident), the nominee is paid an additional amount under the Accidental Death Benefit Rider. The amount is capped at ₹2 crores. This perk is available only with the Life Shield Plus variant.
Conclusion
Bajaj Life is an incredible insurer with credible metrics across Claim Settlement Ratio, Amount Settlement Ratio and complaint volume. And if you are seeking a policy without Critical Illness perks, the Bajaj Life eTouch policy may offer you an ideal variant. However, since we generally recommend plans that are worth your dime and we also consider Critical Illness to be a crucial rider for any term insurance policy, it would be better if you could check out other available options (Bajaj Life has other term plans, too like Smart Protect Goal or iSecure).