10 Things to look for in YOUR INSURANCE POLICY

VERIFY: your personal details and data provided to the insurance company, for it forms a very important part of the settlement claims. Mention all details correctly and honestly. In cases where it is not declared or is erroneous on policy documents, the insurer in all fairness may refuse to honor the claim.

ANALYSE: your benefits, must correspond with your long term plans. Go through the features of the product and check if they match with promises made during the purchase. Check for evolved features such as dynamic fund allocation or increasing premium to beat inflation which needs to be understood in detail.

CHECK: for add-on covers known as riders for other types of contingencies. Ensure that rider you bought are included in it, to avoid disappointments at critical moments.

CONSIDER: knowing the exact payment tenure. Check for how long you need to pay premiums and also what mode of payment you may have chosen, for example half yearly, quarterly etc. Life insurance is a long term savings and protection tool and its benefits can be seen only if one buys it for the long-term, which is the primary reason you bought the policy.

AUTHENTICATE: Study carefully what is guaranteed and what is not. Once you get the policy documents, check out the benefit illustrations of returns.

GLANCE: through terms and conditions of the service contract. In case you find any difficulty in understanding any aspect, you may want to check with the insurer the impact of those terms.

CONFIRM: the exact surrender charges mentioned in the documents for the times you face a cash crunch and need to surrender your policy or make partial withdrawals.

EXAMINE: exclusions in the policy, which define aspects or situations that will not be included in the coverage. It is common for many life insurance policies to refuse to cover certain types of deaths within a specific period of the policy being issued.

CLAIM: nominee's details are captured properly. Your life insurance policies should include everything that is supposed to be in your coverage, and it will spell out exactly what your responsibilities are, what the life insurance company is responsible for, what you are covered for and how much, and every other aspect of your life insurance coverage.

Mis-Sold: The life insurers give a free look period of 15 days to the consumer during which a consumer can review the policy from his needs perspective. If product features aren’t in sync with consumer needs, then he is free to return the policy and claim a refund of the money paid.