Key Benefits of MetLife Mera Term Plan

The primary purpose of a term plan is to financially secure your family in your absence. Along with financial security, a term plan offers a variety of other benefits ranging from affordability to flexibility.

• Stress-free life: The well-being of family members is of utmost importance for everyone. While one is hale and hearty, the question of not being there doesn’t come to mind. But the absence of a bread-winner can lead to severe financial setbacks for the family. With a term plan, you can live a stress-free life knowing that your family will be taken care of even in your absence.
• Affordability: The needs of every family are different. Some may need a relatively small amount of coverage, while others may require a substantial cover.  But everyone cannot afford hefty premiums to secure their family's financial future. A term plan provides adequate coverage at affordable rates. You can get a term plan guaranteeing considerable death benefits at a fraction of the cost.
• Flexible tenure: Since a term plan does not have a savings component, there is no compulsion to stay invested for the long-term. You can map out the tenure of a term plan according to your life needs. If you are in your fifties and expect your child to take most of the responsibilities in 10 years, you can take a term plan just for 10 years. Unlike investment-focused life insurance policies, you can reap the benefits of a term plan even with short tenures.
• Riders: A basic term plan covers the life of the insured and provides a death benefit in the event of the policyholder’s demise. But a term plan is a flexible product and can be customised as per the policyholder’s need. You can add features such as disability cover, accidental death cover and terminal illness cover. The terminal illness rider of term plans generally covers a wide variety of critical illnesses like cancer, heart issues, along with kidney and liver failures.
• Spouse cover: The importance of your spouse cannot be quantified. Both spouses play an equally important role in the other’s life. With the Mera Term Plan, you do not have to take a separate policy just to insure your spouse’s life. Such term plans provide coverage for the spouse under a single policy at an additional premium.
• Takes care of liabilities: We live in a credit-fueled world. Most of the essential items of modern life like electronics and vehicles are bought on credit. Even a house is bought through home loans. The thought of not being able to pay off the liabilities during your lifetime doesn’t cross most people’s minds. But an unfortunate accident can leave your family saddled with liabilities difficult to pay off. A term insurance plan can help your family pay off the liabilities in your absence without changing their lifestyle. 

Every family has a different lifestyle. Naturally, the cover of the term plan will depend on your current income, liabilities and the type of lifestyle you want to ensure for your family. As a thumb rule, you should have a life cover of at least 16 to 20 times your annual income. However, you can use the ‘protection calculator’ in the ‘tools’ section of www.pnbmetlife.com to get a clear picture.

A term plan is bought with the intention of financially securing your family in your absence. But many people do not take into consideration the simplicity of the claims settlement process before buying a policy. Most claims are settled within 7 days of the submission of the documents. However, in some very rare cases, the insurer may choose to investigate the claim. The claims settlement process is divided into three phases.

• Notification: To initiate the claims process, the nominee has to intimate the insurance company through a written medium. The claims form can be downloaded from the website of the insurance company. The intimation form contains basic details like policy number, date of death, cause of death and the place of death.
• Submission of documents: After notifying the insurance company, the claimant has to provide the insurer with all the documents related to the claim. In case of death claims, you have to provide.
  • Copy of Death Certificate (issued by the local authority)
  • Original Policy Document or Indemnity Bond in case the Original Policy Bond is lost
  • Claimant’s Statement
  • Doctor’s certificate (in the specified format)
  • Photo ID Proof and Address Proof of the nominee as per AML Requirements (Refer Annexure for the list of accepted documents)
  • Cancelled cheque leaf or bank passbook of the beneficiary under the policies
    The required documents vary in case of rider claims.
• Settlement: If the insurer accepts all the documents then the claim amount is paid through a cheque within 7 days after the submission of the documents. According to the regulatory rules, claims have to be settled within 30 days from the intimation. In case the insurance company investigates the claim, the examination has to be completed within 90 days and the claim settled within 30 days after that.

Buying an online term plan is extremely easy, convenient and hassle-free. Insurance companies generally ask for three sets of documents for online term plans—income proof, address proof and id proof. One has to submit salary slips of the last 3 months, Income Tax Returns, 6 months of bank statements and form 16 for income verification. Documents like Aadhar Card, passport, voter id and driving license can be used as address proof and id proof.

A term plan is a simple, pure-protection insurance product that guarantees the financial security of your family in your absence. Having a term insurance plan has become a necessity. A variety of factors make a term plan important.

• Family’s financial security: The primary reason for buying a term plan is the financial security of your family. A term plan ensures that all your liabilities are taken care of while your family is able to continue with the planned expenditures like children’s education or marriage.
• Tax advantages: You can receive a host of tax advantages by investing in a term plan. The premiums paid for a term plan (of up to Rs 1.5 lakh per year) are eligible for deduction under Section 80C of the Income Tax Act. The death benefit is also exempt from taxes under Section 10(10D) of the income tax law.
• Simplicity: With a term plan, you have a clear idea of the final benefits of the plan. There is no investment component in term plans and the final benefits are not dependent on market performance. Term plans have a simple structure that makes them perfect for people even with basic financial knowledge.  
• Flexible payout options: Term plans offer the policyholder the choice to modify the payout according to the family’s needs. The payout can be received in equal monthly instalments as regular income or taken as lump-sum. You can also choose to receive a part of the sum assured as lump-sum and the balance in instalments.  

There are no restrictions on investment in term plans by NRIs. Many insurance companies provide term plans designed specifically for NRIs. With online term plans not requiring any medical test, NRIs can easily buy one. Your becoming an NRI after purchasing a plan will not affect the benefits guaranteed by the term plan.

Use of products that contain nicotine, including cigarettes can have an impact on the premium you will have to pay for a term plan. Smokers have to pay a higher premium due to an increased risk factor. Even if you are an occasional smoker, the insurance company will categorise you as such. Only if you have not consumed nicotine in the past twelve months to three years, you can be categorised as a non-smoker.

Generally, the premium does not change for the entire tenure of the policy. If you choose to renew the policy after the expiration of the original term, you may have to pay a higher amount.

Term insurance plans have flexible tenures. You can get a term plan from tenures ranging from 5 years to 40 years. The PNB MetLife Mera Term Plan allows you to stay insured for 99 years. The minimum entry age is 18 years. If you opt for a term plan till 99 years at the minimum entry age, the tenure of the plan will be 81 years. As a thumb rule, you should choose the tenure according to your retirement age. If you plan to retire at 65 and you are 25 currently, you should opt for a plan with a 40-year tenure.

You can opt for the joint-life cover option to cover your wife under a single Mera Term plan. The coverage of your spouse will be limited to 50% of the sum assured chosen by the policyholder. The spouse can get maximum coverage of Rs 50 lakh under the plan.

The Mera Term Plan is a pure protection life insurance term plan offered by PNB MetLife. The plan offers substantial coverage at affordable rates. The Mera Term Plan comes with a variety of riders like the accidental cover, disability cover and critical illness cover. You can also cover your spouse under the same plan. It also offers flexible payout options. Put simply, Mera Term Plan takes care of all your financial needs in one go.

To purchase a term plan, you should have attained a minimum age of 18 years. The maximum entry age for most plans is 65 years, but you can get coverage until 99 years of age. The minimum sum assured is different for different insurers. PNB MetLife Mera Term Plan allows a minimum sum assured of Rs 10 lakhs.

Online term plans have gained popularity due to their convenience and affordability. All major life insurance companies offer online term plans. It is safe to buy a term plan online, but before buying you should check the credibility of the insurer and the claim settlement ratio of the online term plan.

• The Mera Term Plan is a pure protection plan, while traditional insurance plans are investment-cum-protection plans.
• Mera Term plan offers a substantial cover at affordable rates, while traditional plans have higher premiums for a similar level of coverage.
• Surrendering a Mera Term Plan is very simple, but a traditional policy cannot be surrendered without losing the savings benefits.
• The Mera Term Plan comes with a whole host of customizable features including but not limited to, flexible payout options, a variety of riders (accidental death benefit, disability death benefit, critical illness benefit) and even joint life benefit (spousal cover) and life stage protection (additional cover for specific milestones in your life).

If you are a smoker, you will have to declare yourself as a tobacco user. Insurance companies consider concealment of information as a breach of contract, which could lead to rejection of the claim. It is advisable to declare your smoking habits while buying a term plan.

Smoking is injurious to health and can also cause death. For insurance companies, smokers are high-risk individuals and hence, they have to pay higher premiums than regular policyholders. Smokers may have to pay 50%-100% more than non-smokers for similar coverage.

After you intimate the insurance company and submit all the relevant documents, the insurer processes the documents and settles the claim accordingly. The claim is generally received through a cheque within 7 days from the submission of the documents.

A term insurance plan is bought to protect the financial future of the family. If the claim is rejected after the demise of the insured, it would defeat the purpose of the policy. Claims can be rejected by the insurance company for a variety of reasons like:

• Wrong information provided while purchasing the term plan
• Concealment of critical information like smoking and drinking habits and details of existing policies.
• Not updating nominee details.
• Policy lapse due to non-payment of premiums.
• Non-disclosure of medical history