IndiaFirst Life Insurance

IndiaFirst Life Insurance offers multiple ULIP plans that combine life cover with market-linked investment options. In this guide, we’ll break down IndiaFirst Life’s key ULIP offerings, review the insurer’s performance, and look at the main charges, features, and limitations so you can decide whether an IndiaFirst ULIP is worth considering or if buying term insurance and investing separately may be a better fit.

Key Insights: 

• IndiaFirst Life’s Claim Settlement Ratio is close to the industry average, which points to a reasonably dependable claims experience, even if it does not lead the pack.
• Its Amount Settlement Ratio is also near the broader market benchmark, suggesting the insurer’s claim payouts are fairly balanced across lower and higher claim amounts.
• One area of concern is complaint volume, which is much higher than the industry median and may indicate a less consistent customer experience.
• On the financial strength side, the insurer’s solvency ratio is in line with the industry median and remains safely above the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India’s (IRDAI) required minimum of 1.5x.
• IndiaFirst Life’s business volumes are lower than the industry median, which shows it operates on a smaller scale than many larger private life insurers.
• Its death claim payout volume is also slightly below the industry median, which is broadly in line with its relatively modest size and reach.

Note: At Ditto, we prefer using three-year averages instead of one-year snapshots because insurer performance can vary across years. Also, these figures reflect IndiaFirst Life Insurance’s overall business across all product categories, including term plans, ULIPs, and traditional savings products.

You can explore the official plan details on IndiaFirst Life Insurance’s ULIP page.  

The figures are extracted from the IndiaFirst Life Radiance Smart Invest Plan brochure. 

What You May Get at Maturity

• At 8% growth, the illustrated maturity value is ₹3,34,92,608.
• At 4% growth, the illustrated maturity value is ₹1,32,88,611.

Simple Takeaway: The key concern is clear. You pay ₹1 Crore over 40 years, but the life cover is only ₹25 Lakh. This means the protection offered is very low compared to the premium paid.

While the illustration shows a maturity value between ₹1.33 Crore and ₹3.35 Crore, these are not guaranteed. Since this is a ULIP, actual returns depend on market performance, fund choice, and charges.

Death Benefit Under the Family Care Option

If the policyholder dies during the policy term, the death benefit structure is designed differently from a regular ULIP.

Under the Family Care Option:

• The insurer continues paying future premiums,
• The policy remains active, and
• The nominee or family receives the maturity benefit at the end of the policy term.

That said, even here, the low base life cover stands out. For someone contributing ₹2.5 Lakh every year, a ₹25 Lakh sum assured is very poor protection, especially compared to what a term insurance plan could offer for the same budget.

Drawbacks of Buying an IndiaFirst Life Insurance ULIP Plan

1. Market-Linked Risk: Returns depend on the performance of underlying funds and can fluctuate with market conditions.
2. Multiple Charges: These plans come with layered costs such as fund management charges, mortality charges, and policy administration charges, all of which can reduce net returns over time. This becomes more important in long-duration plans like Radiance Smart Invest, where the illustration assumes a 40-year premium-paying term.
3. Mandatory Lock-in Period: Like all ULIPs, IndiaFirst ULIPs come with a 5-year lock-in period. If you stop paying premiums before that, the money moves to a discontinued fund, and the payout is delayed until the lock-in ends.
4. Lower Insurance Coverage: Compared to term insurance, ULIPs provide lower life cover for the same premium.

ULIP vs. Term Insurance: Which Is Better?

From an Insurance Perspective: In the earlier example, a 40-year-old pays ₹2.5 Lakh per year for the IndiaFirst Life Radiance Smart Invest Plan over 40 years but gets a sum assured of only ₹25 Lakh.

In contrast, a pure term plan for a similar profile could offer ₹1 Crore or more coverage for roughly ₹20,000–₹30,000 per year, depending on age, health, and tenure.

This means over ₹2.2 Lakh per year could be invested separately while still securing significantly higher life cover.

From an Investment Perspective: ULIPs include multiple charges such as fund management fees, mortality charges, and policy administration costs, all of which can reduce long-term returns. In this case, even though the illustration shows a potential maturity value of ₹1.33 Crore to ₹3.35 Crore, these returns are market-linked and not guaranteed.

Many investors, therefore, prefer to separate insurance and investments, buying a term plan for protection and investing the remaining amount in low-cost options like mutual funds for better flexibility, transparency, and control over returns.

You can also check out our detailed guide on ULIP plans to understand your best options.

Why Choose Ditto for Life Insurance?

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Ditto’s Take on IndiaFirst Life Insurance ULIPs

Overall, IndiaFirst Life Insurance looks average on financial strength and claims, but weaker on customer experience because complaint volumes are relatively high. Even then, the bigger issue is not just the insurer but the product category itself. In our view, ULIPs from IndiaFirst remain weak investment products for most buyers.  

At Ditto, we generally do not recommend ULIPs because they are usually not the most effective way to handle protection and long-term investing. If you want to assess them properly, look separately at charges, lock-in, fund choices, tax treatment, and whether buying a term plan and investing the rest would leave you better off.

From an insurance perspective, too, the life cover in these ULIPs can feel underwhelming for the premium paid. So while they may suit a small set of long-term investors who are comfortable with market risk, most buyers are usually better off keeping insurance and investing separate.