Kotak Life
e-Term
The stand-out feature of the Kotak E-Term plan is the Life Stage Benefit. You can get up to a 50% increase in your cover amount if you get married or purchase a house. However, the online version of the E-Term Plan does not feature this. The policy itself has no other stand-out features. Kotak, being a legacy name in the Indian Banking and Insurance industry, is also certainly reassuring.
Good Claim Settlement Ratio
Kotak Life settles 98.59% of claims of the total number of claims it receives as compared to the industry average of 97%. A pretty good number overall.
Good Complaints Ratio
Kotak Life receives 6.7 complaints (per 10,000 claims registered) as opposed to the industry median of 17 complaints. Pretty good figure overall.
Good Amount Settlement Ratio
Some insurers pay out the smaller claims while declining to pay out the few higher-value claims in a bid to improve the claim settlement ratio. So you will need to look at the total amount settled as a percentage of the total amount claimed. Kotak Life meanwhile has an amount settlement ratio of 93.1% as opposed to the industry average of 87%. Pretty good figure overall.
The aforementioned ratios have been averaged over three years for every insurer and the industry as a whole.
What's good here?
Accidental Death Benefit Available
Some policies offer you the option of adding extra protection for accidental deaths. And while we recommend customers choose a comprehensive cover without worrying about the specifics of death precisely, e-Term offers accidental death benefit nonetheless.
Zero Cost Option Available
Some insurers will return all your premiums if you forego your policy before maturity, during a period specified by the insurer. Meaning you get all your premiums back, while also being protected under the term plan during this time. And e-Term extends this option.
Payouts in the event of total permanent disability
Some policies offer you a monthly income or a large lumpsum in the event you are disabled totally for life. And e-Term extends this option.
What's okay here?
Decent Critical Illness Benefit
If you’re ever diagnosed with a debilitating illness, you would want your insurance policy to pay a fixed sum so that you can deal with any monetary obligations you may have. e-Term extends critical illness benefit without too many restrictions and pays up to undefined so long as you are diagnosed with 37 illnesses listed in the policy brochure.
Delayed Payouts:
Payouts for critical illnesses may not be made immediately. Instead, insurers expect you to survive for a certain duration before they make the payment. And e-Term will pay out the benefit 30 days after the diagnosis is confirmed.
Payout on top only:
Some policies will pay out the critical illness (CI) benefit from the total term cover available, i.e. Accelerated payout, while also offering you the option to avail it on top of the total term cover available. e-Term however doesn’t offer the accelerated option and pays out the benefit on top.
Short waiting period:
Most policies impose a waiting period before they make the Critical Illness Benefit available. And e-Term imposes a 90 days waiting period before they can process any claim related to critical illnesses. This is shorter than the industry average.
Premiums waived only after permanent disability (due to accident)
Some policies waive all future premium payments if you are ever disabled (due to accident) or diagnosed with a critical illness. And while e-Term doesn’t extend the waiver-of-premium option if you are diagnosed with a critical illness, you have the option to waive off all premiums if you are disabled for life (due to accident).
What's lacking here?
No Terminal Illness Benefit
Certain policies will disburse the entire cover amount the moment you are diagnosed with a terminal illness. So even in the absence of death, you can still get the money and use it any way you wish. Unfortunately e-Term does not extend the terminal illness benefit.
No Top-Up Option
Some policies extend the option of increasing your total term cover even after you buy the policy. And e-Term doesn’t extend this option.
You can’t recover your premiums after policy matures
Some policies return your premium after the policy matures if you don’t make a claim. And even though e-Term doesn’t extend this option, it shouldn’t worry you too much since we don’t recommend this option actively considering it can be expensive.
No option to increase your cover with inflation
Some policies automatically increase your cover by a certain amount (usually inflation) to always provide you with the necessary protection. Unfortunately e-Term doesn’t extend this option.
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