Overview
Choosing term insurance is about more than finding a high life cover at a low premium. You also need to understand the insurer’s reliability, the plan’s features, and the conditions that apply when your family makes a claim.
ICICI Life offers several term plans with features such as terminal illness benefits, flexible payout options, and optional riders. In this review, we examine its key plans, benefits, limitations, and insurer performance to help you choose confidently.
ICICI Term Insurance: Plans List and Key Features
1) ICICI Life iProtect Smart Plus
ICICI Life iProtect Smart Plus is a non-linked, non-participating term insurance plan with three variants: Life, Life Plus, and Life Rebalancing (not yet available).
Key Features
- Life Stage Protection: Policyholders can increase their life cover at key milestones, subject to eligibility and policy terms. The increase can be up to 50% after marriage, 25% for each of the first two children, and 100% after an eligible home loan is disbursed.
- Smart Exit Benefit: Eligible policyholders can receive a refund of all base premiums paid, excluding taxes and rider premiums. The policy must complete 25 years, the life assured must be at least 60, and the benefit cannot be used during the final five policy years.
- Terminal Illness Benefit: If the life assured is diagnosed with a terminal illness during the policy term, the insurer pays the full death benefit while they are alive. This can help cover medical expenses and other financial obligations, subject to the policy terms.
- Premium Break Option: After five policy years, policyholders can defer premium payments for up to 12 months during financial hardship. Life cover continues during this period, but the deferred premium must be paid along with the next year's premium.
- Insta Payout Benefit: For policies with a sum assured of ₹1 crore or more, nominees can receive an advance payout of up to ₹3 lakh after claim registration and document submission. The benefit applies after a three-year waiting period and is adjusted during final claim settlement.
- Optional Riders: Policyholders can add a Critical Illness Rider for a lump-sum payout upon diagnosis of 20/60 covered illnesses. The Waiver of Premium Rider waives future premiums after a covered critical illness or accident-related total and permanent disability, subject to policy terms.
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2) ICICI Life iProtect Super
ICICI Life iProtect Super offers a straightforward protection option for business owners, freelancers, and self-employed individuals, with flexible eligibility requirements based on their financial profile.
Key Features
- Terminal Illness Benefit: Pays the death benefit early if the life assured is diagnosed with a terminal illness. This is not an additional payout. The amount depends on the policy’s benefit calculation and terms.
- Premium Break Option: Allows eligible policyholders to defer premiums for up to 12 months, subject to conditions. This option is unavailable during the last three years of premium payments.
- Smart Exit Benefit: Allows eligible policyholders aged 60 or older to exit after completing 25 policy years and receive a refund of premiums paid, subject to policy conditions.
- Optional Riders: Policyholders can choose Accidental Death Benefit (ADB) and Accidental Total and Permanent Disability (ATPD) riders separately or together. These riders offer a lump-sum payout for eligible events, with accidental death claims subject to a 180-day condition and rider cover capped at ₹1 crore.
3) ICICI Life iProtect Care
ICICI Life iProtect Care offers a fixed death benefit to protect your family financially if the policyholder passes away or gets diagnosed with a listed terminal illness, subject to policy terms. The plan offers two variants: Life and Enhanced Protection.
Key Features
- Enhanced Protection: Eligible policyholders can increase their original sum assured by 20% every five years, up to 200% of the initial cover, subject to policy terms.
- ₹3 Lakh Claim Intimation Payout: Eligible policies with a life cover of at least ₹1 crore offer an advance payout of up to ₹3 lakh after claim intimation. This amount forms part of the final death benefit, not an additional payout.
- Premium Break: Policyholders can defer premium payments for up to 12 months during financial difficulties, subject to eligibility conditions. Policyholders must pay the deferred premiums later, as specified in the policy terms.
- Terminal Illness Benefit: If the life assured receives a terminal illness diagnosis during the policy term, the plan pays 100% of the eligible death benefit early, subject to the policy’s definition and conditions.
- Health Management and Well-Being Services: The plan includes health management and well-being services with a stated value of up to ₹77,000. The actual services available and their terms may vary, so check the policy documents for details.
- Optional Riders: The Accidental Death Benefit Rider offers an additional payout for accidental death. The Accidental Total and Permanent Disability Rider provides benefits for eligible accidental disability. The Critical Illness Rider offers financial support for covered illnesses, subject to the chosen rider’s terms and conditions.
4) ICICI Life iProtect Smart Return of Premium (ROP)
ICICI Life iProtect Smart Return of Premium (ROP) provides life cover throughout the policy term. If the life assured survives until maturity, the policy returns 100% of the total base premiums paid, subject to policy terms.
Key Features
- 100% Return of Premium on Maturity: If the life assured survives until the end of the policy term, the plan refunds 100% of the total base premiums paid. The refund excludes taxes, rider premiums, and extra premiums.
- Flexible Policy Term and Premium Payment: The plan offers Limited Pay options of 5, 7, 10, 12, or 15 years, along with Regular Pay. Policy terms range from 20 to 40 years, subject to plan conditions.
- Optional Riders: The Accidental Death Benefit (ADB) rider pays an additional lump sum for eligible accidental deaths within 180 days, with cover capped at ₹3 crore. The Accidental Total and Permanent Disability (ATPD) rider pays a lump sum for qualifying permanent disability, up to the base sum assured and capped at ₹3 crore. Ditto generally does not recommend the ADB rider.
Note: ICICI Life also offers iProtect Smart Her, a term insurance plan designed specifically for women, with features and benefits tailored to eligible female policyholders.
ICICI Life Insurance: Performance Metrics
Note: These figures reflect ICICI Life Insurance’s overall insurer-level performance and are not specific to ICICI term insurance products. Data is sourced from ICICI Life’s public disclosures and IRDAI annual reports. For more insurer performance data, visit Ditto Data Lab.
Did You Know?
Sample Premiums for ICICI Term Insurance Plans
The illustrated annual premiums are based on non-smoker salaried profiles residing in Delhi (pincode: 110010) covered for a sum assured of ₹2 crore until age 65 under iProtect Smart Plus. These figures are indicative and may vary based on age, sum assured, medical history, and the insurer’s underwriting decision.
Note: You can use the ICICI term insurance calculator for rough estimates of premiums. Alternatively, you can also use the Ditto term premium calculator for a personalized quote.
Pros and Cons of ICICI Term Insurance Plans
Pros of ICICI Term Insurance Plans
- Strong Financial Position: For the 3-year average of FY 2024–26, ICICI Life reported a 2.10x solvency ratio, above the 1.50x regulatory minimum. These figures provide useful historical context but do not guarantee future claim approval.
- Broad Protection Features: Eligible plans offer terminal illness benefits, optional critical illness and accidental disability riders, waiver of premium, and flexible death benefit payouts.
- Life Stage Protection: Eligible policyholders can increase their cover after milestones such as marriage, childbirth, or an eligible home loan. This offers flexibility as financial responsibilities grow, subject to policy limits and additional premiums.
- Flexible Premium and Payout Options: Features such as Premium Break and different nominee payout choices can help policyholders manage temporary financial difficulties and tailor how their family receives the death benefit.
Cons of ICICI Term Insurance
Smart Exit Has Strict Conditions
The Smart Exit Benefit offers a conditional refund of base premiums, excluding taxes and rider premiums. It is not a standard maturity payout and may not suit every policyholder.
Insta Payout Is an Advance
The ₹3 lakh Insta Payout is an advance against an eligible death claim, not an additional benefit on top of the final settlement.
Terminal Illness Benefit Is Accelerated Death Cover
The terminal illness payout advances the death benefit while the life assured is alive. It does not provide a separate payout in addition to the full death benefit.
Return of Premium Has an Opportunity Cost
ROP options cost (60% to 100%) more than comparable pure-term cover. At Ditto, we don't recommend ROP options because they are expensive and the money returned doesn't earn interest. Moreover, it has already lost its value due to inflation.
Why Choose Ditto for Term Insurance?
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Ditto’s Take: Is ICICI Term Insurance Good?
ICICI Life’s term plans offer modern features such as terminal illness cover, flexible death benefit payouts, Premium Breaks, and useful optional riders. These features provide flexibility, but buyers should review exclusions, eligibility conditions, and premiums before choosing a plan.
From an insurer’s perspective, ICICI Life is one of India’s largest life insurers and an established player in the term insurance market. We recommend ICICI Life iProtect Smart Plus, which also features among Ditto’s best term insurance plans.
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