52 Reason why you should buy Life Insurance from LIC of India

Before Buying Life Insurance from Other Private companies in India, Please read the following:

           Positions :

1.                  1. Largest insurance Company in the world in Customer Base (23 crore customers)

2.                  2. No.1 insurance company in the world in terms of agency (about 1.1 Million agents)

3.     LIC is No.1 insurer in the world in Volume & Sold around 3.75 Cr.Policies in 2007-2008.

4.     2nd Biggest Real Estate Owner next to Indian Railways.

5.     LIC is one of the Highest income tax playing Organization. For Financial Year 2007-08, LIC has paid advance Tax Rs.2627. 14 Cr. & Service Tax Rs.1292. 15 Cr.

6.     Has Highest insurance Professionals ( Club Member agents )

7.     Only 4 countries in the world have more population that LIC`s policy holders.

Award - Recognition

8.     Adjudged "The most trusted service Brand" in India, by "Economic Times and AC NEILSEN ORG MARG" for the year 2007 for the 5th consecutive year.

9. "Golden Peacock" award for Excellence in "corporate Governance"
10. LIC adjudged as "Best life insurance Company of the year" at the "2nd"NDTV Profit Business Leadership Awards-2007.
11. LIC adjudged the "Most Preferred Life insurance Company of the year" at the "CNBC AWAAZ" consumer award 2007 for 3rd time in succession.
12. Awarded Reader Digest's "Trusted Brand"2006,2007&2008 (Voted by Consumers)
13. "Outlook Money NDTV Profit Award 2007"
14. "Web 18-Genius of the web Award" Conferred for the best website in insurance Category
15. "SKOCH Challengers Award 2008" for "Jeevan Madhur".
16. "Loyalty Awards 2008"- insurance Sector.
17. Double crown for LIC in corporate Olympics 2008, Most Sporting Corporate 2) Corporate Championship Award Winner-2008
    
    Honoring of the Commitment - Settlement of Claims
18. No.1 insurance Company in the world in terms of claims paid.
19. LIC Settles 2.21 claims per second, LIC settled 139 lakhs claims during the year 2007-2008.
20. Prompt settlement of claims (97% maturity claim settled on or before due date)
21. One of the Lowest outstanding Claim Ratio in the world ( Maturity+S B Claim-0.07%)
    
    Advanced Technology-For better Customer Service
22. Computerized and networked 2048 branch offices and 159 satellite offices throughout the country.
23. Use of High Tech-WAN,LAN,IVRS & EDMS
24. LIC is second largest PC user in the country.
25. EDMS to make LIC a paperless office- Enabling Policy servicing & payments through all branchs in the country.
26. Premium Payment Facility extended through networked 2048 branches, ECS, ATM's through internet, online portals, collecting bank (Axis Bank), AP online, through SMS, through selected agents, Now LIC Premium can also be paid through.
    
    "Suvidha info Serve KIOSKS" all over India.
27. Policy Holder's Portal allow on line access to policy status and other details.
28. Info centre set up in 12 cities for customers to interact easily. Dial-1251 for details.
29. 45 interactive Voice Response System (IVRS) centers all over the country to provide information on policy servicing. Facility is available 24 7, Facility can be availed on following phone Nos. 1251 OR 020-25514248.
    
    Social Strength
30. LIC - an institution builder promoting many financial and insurance institutes like NSE, NCDEX, LIC Mutual Fund, Stock Holding Corporation of India, National insurance Academy, insurance institute of India etc.
31. LIC has foreign operations in Mauritius, Fiji and London and has joint venture operating in Sri lanka, Nepal, Bahrain & Saudi Arabia. New offices will be hortly oprned in Australia, USA&Canada.
32. LIC is known as "Pension Provider" of the country.
33. 1st Pension company in India is floated by LIC as "LIC Pension Fund Ltd" on 21st Nov 2007.
34. First to create waves in micro insurance sector by insuring people below the poverty line. In year 2007-2008, 8.54 lac policies sold through "Jeevan Madhur"Plan.
35. Widest range of plans (about 48) for every need of the customer of 0 to 79 years of age.
36. Biggest Portfolio of Group insurance schemes available.
37. "Jeevan Saral" one of the product of LIC got "Best innovation product " award from I.R.D.A.
38. LIC has covered lick Risk of 1.13 crore citizens through "AAM ADMI BIMA YOJANA" & " JANASHREE BIMA YOJANA".
39. Very Unique Salary saving Portfolio.
40. Highest Number of Corporate Clients in Group insurance Scheme.
41. Expending Distribution Channel through Bancassurances, Corporate Agencies, Broker ship & Chief Life insurarance Advisor (CLIA).
42. New East - Central Zonal Office opened at Patna to cater to the needs of states of Bihar, Jharkhand and Orissa. 5 new Divisional offices were also opened in 2007-08. Pune D.O.was splited in 2 divisions, viz Pune Division (i)
    and Pune Division (ii).
43. "Golden Jubilee Foundations" established for undertaking charitable activities like education, health, relief of poverty etc.
    
    People's Money for People's Welfare
44. LIC invested more than 11,630 crores, in infrastructure sector is Rs.56,691
    crores
45. In socially oriented sector like water, drainage & housing etc, LIC has invested Rs.5,635 crores during 2007-08 & total investment in this sector is Rs.32,321 crores.
46. Total investment in Social Sector Rs.89,000 Crs.
47. Different incentive schemes for villages, Schools and Banks under Bima Gram, Bima School and Bima Banks.
48. Total investment in Nation Building Activities is 5,76,000 Crs.
    
    Financial Strengths
49. LIC's investment income in 2007-08 was Rs.40,655 crores. Out of Total income of Rs, 1,76,559.28 Crs.
50. Total Assets of the corporation as on 31.3.07 were Rs. 6,74,514.78 Crs.
51. Largest institutional investor in Share Market. On an average Rs.100 crore invested every day. During theyear 2007 LIC earned the profit Rs.10,000 Crs. from the Sale of Equity.
52. Largest Financial institutional investor both Equity market & Term House.
    
    

Think Before You Invest

    The problem with the 21st century seems to be that of having too many options. Right from buying a mobile phone to buying a car to choosing an investment product, there are a number of options available today. What becomes crucial is how one decides which products to choose from, when to invest and for what time horizon? The fact is that there can never be one good product which suits everyone’s requirement. So it is indeed important to know what factors one needs to consider before making the right investment decision. 

 
What is the purpose of my investment?  

Dheeraj Gudal (name changed) had invested heavily in real estate. However, the investment did not have a purpose or goal attached to it. When his son decided to take up higher education, he had no money available to him in liquid form. Taking a loan was not possible for him. Moreover, the cost of education was around Rs 20 lakh and Gudal had to sell his property worth Rs 65 lakh for the same.
    What we tend to forget while investing is that every asset has its nature around which it behaves. Investing everything only in one asset class, especially one which lacks liquidity and divisibility, could turn out to be a very risky proposition in the long run.
 

Where do I stand today?  

During the process of financial planning, we often come across people telling us that they invested in a particular instrument, but are clueless as to what is happening with it. They are uncertain about their exact cash outflows and net worth as of today. It’s very crucial for one to first understand where one stands financially vis-a-vis his milestones and then start planning his future investments.
    Dhananjay Gupta (name changed) is a heavy credit card user and has an outstanding of Rs 1.25 lakh on his credit card. The irony is that he is looking at investing in a good investment product for the long term not realizing that his outflow is around 36% per annum by way of interest on his card which his investment product might not fetch. So, it is first crucial to settle his outstanding loan, get hold of his cash flows and only then start investing. 

 
Risk-return parity  

     It is very crucial to understand the returns our assets are generating against the risk involved. If there is a huge standard deviation in the portfolio and we are not ready for this kind of volatility, it would hamper our entire financial planning. So a risk-return parity depending upon the goals and financial situation should always be maintained.
    Investing is a good discipline and would certainly help in building one’s financial future. However investing without taking adequate precautions could land us up in further problem.

HOW YOU CAN REDUCE THE PREMIUM ON YOUR CAR INSURANCE

If you have been planning to buy a new car, you are bound to have been pulled in by the bevy of discounts and freebies. One of the most attractive among these is the offer of free insurance. Since buying a car insurance policy is compulsory, the word 'free' pulls in buyers, but there could be hidden clauses. The first catch is that the insurance provided is typically only for a year. From the second year on, it's your responsibility to renew the policy and pay the premium.
Moreover, free insurance would mean a lower discount on the price of the car as dealers invariably recover the premium through the final cost that you pay for the vehicle. Besides, the free policy may not include various types of damages, such as that by floods. So, read the fine print carefully before you take this bait, or you could opt for a higher discount on the car and buy an insurance policy separately. Find out how due diligence and research can help you reduce the insurance premium you may have to pay for the first year as well as subsequently. Voluntary deductible The part of the monetary loss that is borne by you is called a deductible, and it has two components—compulsory and voluntary. A compulsory deductible of Rs 500 would mean that you pay Rs 500 of the claim amount, while the company pays the rest. You can reduce the premium if you opt for an additional voluntary deductible. However, this also means that when a loss occurs, you will have to pay a large portion of the claim amount out of your own pocket. For instance, a voluntary deductible of Rs 2,500 would give you a 20% discount on your premium, but when an accident occurs, you will have to pay Rs 3,000 of the claim amount (voluntary deductible of Rs 2,500 plus the compulsory deductible of Rs 500). "Those who are confident of their driving ability could opt for a voluntary deductible to save on premium," says Vijay Kumar, president, motor insurance, Bajaj Allianz General Insurance. No-claim bonus can result in lower premium Insured declared value The IDV is the market value of your car. The higher the value, the more the premium. You can save a few hundred rupees on your premium by declaring a lower value for your car. If your car is worth Rs 7 lakh, declaring a value of Rs 6.3 lakh could help you save Rs 200-500 on insurance premium. "This is a double-edged sword as the claim amount for accidents will not be affected by declaring a lower IDV. However, if your car is stolen, you will get a lower amount in line with the one declared by you," says Akshay Mehrotra, chief marketing officer, Policybazaar.com. Voluntary additional declarations The insurance company may not tell you this, but the premium charged for a car may differ according to the profile of the owner. Insurers adopt many parameters to evaluate the risk associated with your vehicle, and these include fuel type, age of vehicle, usage of car, as well as driver-specific details, such as the occupation and driver's age. A diesel-run car is assumed to be used more often than a petrol one, so the premium charged for it would be higher by 10-15%. Similarly, it is assumed that a businessman would use his car more frequently and, hence, would be charged a higher premium. Voluntary declarations about the usage of your car, as well as other details like driving records, can help you get a discount of around 10%. Safety devices Installing safety devices can bag you Rs 100-200 discount on your premium. You can also lower the premium by up to Rs 200 if you come under a 'safe driver' category. One way to do this is to become a member of the Automobile Association of India. "This improves your image and record in the eyes of insurance companies, which helps you get a discount," says Sanjay Datta, chief-underwriting & claims, ICICI Lombard GIC. No-claim bonus (NCB) An NCB is the reward you get for not making any claims throughout the year. This can help you bag a discount of 20-50% on your premium from the second year onwards (see graphic). However, since you lose this advantage if you make a claim, avoid making small claims, especially when the amount is lower than your premium. A benefit is that the NCB can be transferred from an old vehicle to a new one as it gets accumulated for the driver, not the vehicle. "By carrying forward your NCB to a new vehicle of the same type, you can slash the first premium," says Kumar. Premium declines over the years The premium falls with each passing year due to two reasons: reduced IDV and accumulated NCB. Besides, the value of your car will decline each year because of depreciation, and a lower market value automatically translates to a lower premium. However, at the time of a partial damage claim, this depreciation factor kicks in, reducing the claim amount that is payable by the company.

Beware - Its your money