Bandhan Life Insurance vs. HDFC Life Insurance: Which Term Insurer Is Better?

Looking for the best term insurance company? HDFC Life has a strong track record, while Bandhan Life offers a newer alternative. Comparing their insurer strength, product features, riders, and customer experience can help you make a more informed choice.

In this guide, we compare the insurers across key factors like plans and sample premiums to help you decide which insurer may better suit your long-term goals.

Bandhan Life iTerm Elite vs. HDFC Life Click 2 Protect Supreme Plus: Coverage and Features Comparison

Coverage Offered

Bandhan Life iTerm Elite offers a minimum Sum Assured (SA) of ₹25 lakh and a maximum of ₹50 lakh under single pay. For regular pay and limited pay, the minimum cover is ₹50 lakh, with no specified maximum, subject to the insurer’s underwriting.

On the other hand, HDFC Life Click 2 Protect Supreme Plus offers a minimum SA of ₹50 lakh, with no specified upper limit, subject to insurer underwriting and applicable policy terms.

Key Insight: The right cover depends on your income, liabilities, future financial goals, and family’s needs. Use the Ditto cover calculator to estimate the protection you may need based on your financial circumstances.

Features Offered

• Plan Options: Click 2 Protect Supreme Plus offers three variants: Life, Life Plus, and Life Goal, while iTerm Elite has no options to choose from.
• Death Benefit Payout: Both plans let you choose a lump sum, regular income, or a combination of both, giving policyholders flexibility in how nominees receive the death benefit.
• Insta Payout Benefit: Click 2 Protect Supreme Plus offers an immediate payout after a one-year waiting period: ₹2 lakh for a SA of ₹1 crore to less than ₹2 crore, and ₹5 lakh for ₹2 crore or more. Bandhan Life iTerm Elite's insta claim benefit applies after three policy years and pays 1% of the prevailing death benefit, capped at ₹1 lakh. These payouts are advances and remain subject to the subsequent assessment of the death claim. 
• Life Stage Benefit: Click 2 Protect Supreme Plus offers a life stage benefit that allows you to increase your SA by 50% on marriage, up to ₹50 lakh, and by 25% on the birth of your first or second child, up to ₹25 lakh for each event. You can also increase the cover by 50% when you take a home loan, up to a maximum of ₹50 lakh.
• Adapt Assure: iTerm Elite lets you increase or decrease your SA twice during the premium payment term. You can increase the cover by 25% to 100% of the original SA, in 5% increments, with an additional premium payable for any increase.
• Health Management Services: Both plans offer health management and wellness services covering prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and recovery.
• Terminal Illness Benefit: HDFC Life offers an accelerated payout of up to ₹2 crore if terminal illness is diagnosed before age 80, subject to conditions. iTerm Elite does not offer a terminal illness payout.
• Zero-Cost Option: HDFC Life offers Smart Exit after 25 completed policy years, subject to eligibility and a minimum 31-year term. iTerm Elite offers special exit value through either a dual-exit option at ages 55 and 65 or a single-exit option at 65. Under regular pay, you can exercise the benefit once during the specified one-year exit window. Both options are available provided the policy term is 30 years or more. Bandhan Life’s exit options differ by payment mode. Limited pay allows 50% exit at 55 and the balance at 65, or up to 100% at 65. Regular pay offers an exit point 15 years before policy maturity, subject to conditions. 
• Premium Break Benefit: HDFC Life allows policyholders to defer premiums for one year after five policy years while keeping the cover active. iTerm Elite offers a cover continuance benefit that allows you to defer premiums for up to 12 months after completing three policy years. You can use the benefit multiple times, provided the policy is active and all premiums were paid, with a 5-year gap between each use.
• Spouse Cover: Click 2 Protect Supreme Plus offers you an optional additional cover for spouse cover linked to the primary insured's policy, subject to a maximum of 50% of the SA and underwriting rules. Bandhan Life allows eligible iTerm Elite policyholders to purchase a separate policy for their spouse, subject to medical underwriting, for up to 50% of the SA, capped at ₹50 lakh. 

Riders Available

iTerm Elite offers only an accidental death benefit rider, while Click 2 Protect Supreme Plus provides a wider range of useful riders, including critical illness, waiver of premium, and accidental disability benefits. 

• Accidental Death Benefit Rider: Both plans offer accidental death protection through their respective options or riders. HDFC Life provides this through the Life Plus variant or Live Well rider. iTerm Elite provides a lump sum benefit of up to 3 times the SA if the life assured dies due to an accident within 180 days of the incident.
• Critical Illness (CI) Rider: HDFC Life covers up to 60 illnesses and pays a lump sum after a 90-day waiting period and a 15-day survival period. 
• Waiver of Premium Rider: HDFC Life can waive future premiums if the life insured is diagnosed with one of its 60 covered critical illnesses or suffers a qualifying permanent disability. The rider has a 90-day waiting period.
• Income Benefit on Accidental Disability Rider: HDFC Life offers a monthly income equal to 1% of the rider sum assured for 10 years if the life insured suffers total permanent disability due to an accident, subject to rider terms.

You don't need to add every rider to your base term plan. At Ditto, we recommend the waiver of premium and critical illness riders. They cover living risks where a serious health event can disrupt your income while medical and household expenses continue.

Note: This premium illustration assumes a salaried, non-smoking, healthy male in Delhi (pincode: 110010) with ₹2 crore of level term cover until age 65. First-year discounts are not included. Actual premiums may vary based on underwriting, medical history, riders, and other individual factors. For rough estimates of HDFC Life Click 2 Protect Supreme Plus, explore Ditto’s term premium calculator.

Bandhan Life iTerm Elite offers slightly lower premiums than HDFC Life Click 2 Protect Supreme Plus. However, HDFC Life provides more useful riders and the added confidence of an established insurer with a stronger track record. 

Note: The data has been derived from Bandhan Life’s public disclosures, HDFC Life’s public disclosures, and IRDAI annual reports. For a deeper look at insurer metrics, you can explore Ditto Data Lab. These figures represent the overall insurer performance across products. 

Pros & Cons of Bandhan Life Insurance and HDFC Life Insurance

Pros of Bandhan Life Insurance

• Growing Term Portfolio: Its term insurance portfolio includes iTerm Prime and the recently launched iTerm Elite, giving customers more choice across coverage needs.
• Decent Claims Record: Bandhan Life’s CSR remains above the industry mean, indicating a strong proportion of individual death claims settled.

Cons of Bandhan Life Insurance

• High Complaint Volume: Complaints are about 1.68× the industry median, raising concerns about customer service quality.
• Declining Solvency Ratio: Bandhan Life Insurance reported a solvency ratio of 1.55x in FY 2025-26 compared to 2.69x in FY 2024-25. The metric has declined over recent periods, which could indicate a narrowing capital buffer and warrants closer monitoring alongside its business growth and claims experience.
• Low Business Scale: Business volume remains below the industry median and falls short of Ditto’s ₹5,000 crore benchmark for established insurers.
• Limited Rider Value: The plan lacks useful, value-for-money riders, reducing its flexibility compared with stronger alternatives.

Cons of HDFC Life

• Slightly Lower Solvency: HDFC Life's solvency ratio is below Bandhan Life's, although it remains well above the regulatory minimum of 1.5x.
• Relatively Higher Premiums: Premiums can be higher than Bandhan Life's. However, the difference partly reflects HDFC Life's broader features, rider options, and claims track record.

Why Choose Ditto for Term Insurance?

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Conclusion

Overall, HDFC Life leads Bandhan Life in insurer scale, product depth, rider options, and long-term track record. Bandhan Life offers innovative features, but its smaller scale and shorter track record make HDFC Life the more reassuring choice. 

We recommend HDFC Life Click 2 Protect Supreme Plus, which remains one of the best term insurance plans for comprehensive protection.