Insurance is always a sensitive topic. Most people don’t like mulling about this because it is associated with accidents or misfortunes. However, with a smart and practical plan, you can protect yourself to a certain extent.

It is always advisable to insure your most valued possessions, like jewellery and vehicles. With jewellery at least you have lockers or banks, whereas with cars a good, solid insurance goes a long way.

Why buy car insurance?

Life throws curveballs from time to time. Instead of dealing with it emotionally, you have to find the courage to face it. And with a car insurance policy you can do just that. The right kind of policy will cover you from a lot of disasters and also secure you financially. Car insurance prices vary depending on the engine capacity, so get an expert to check that before you go for insurance.

Statistics

Car theft is an epidemic that affects almost all metros around the world. There is a full-fledged business which thrives on stolen car parts. Around 22,000 vehicles were reported missing in 2014, but only 2,322 were ultimately recovered. The massive total of stolen vehicles was 26,330 in 2013. Nationwide more than 36,000 cars were stolen in 2013, out of which 3,800 were from Mumbai. This clearly shows how far reaching the problem is.

However, you can make the smart choice and buy or renew car insurance that suits you. Remember that your car insurance policy is the most important document of your vehicle, because it protects you from all kinds of damages and legal problems.

Types of Policies

Some popular policies offered are:

1. Liability Insurance
2. Collision Coverage
3. Personal Injury Protection
4. Uninsured /Underinsured Motorist Protection
5. Comprehensive Coverage

Although all have their benefits, Bajaj Allianz General Insurance’s comprehensive coverage is one of the best car insurances out there.

What does a comprehensive coverage do?

A good comprehensive coverage protects the consumer from natural calamities, man-made misfortunes, personal cover during accidents and legal liability cover. Let’s take a look at each of these:

Natural calamities

Natural calamities are fires, floods, any kind of explosion, tornados, storms, hurricanes, typhoons, torrential rains, frost and hailstorm, cyclones, lightning, landslides and earthquake. Any natural disasters which cause extreme damage to the car are included in this.

Man-made Disasters

These include burglary, breaking and entering, accidents by external means, riots, terrorist activities, devious acts and damage during travel by rail, water, road or air.

Personal cover

Comprehensive policy also covers the driver and passengers if they happen to be in an accident.

Legal cover

Another plus is that it provides legal cover in case of permanent damage or death.

This clearly tells you that the best car insurance to go for is a comprehensive policy. This is of course approved only if the claimant is able to give a convincing and satisfying explanation for the sequence of events that led to the claim.

How to claim?

The actual procedure is pretty much standard across all insurance companies. You need to fill out the claim form with as many details as possible and submit this along with documents. For e.g. in case of a theft, you will need the following:

• Original FIR
• Copy of the policy
• Filled-out claim form
• Copy of the driving license,
• Copy of the vehicle’s registration certificate
• Regional Transport Office’s transfer papers signed along with the necessary forms

This is just an example to tell you how the process works. Once you submit the documents, the company does a detailed survey to corroborate the facts. Once you submit the necessary documents, you need to wait for the surveyor to do the needful. It is advisable to provide all the correct facts and documentation to ensure a smooth claiming process.

Car insurance is an immutable part of general insurance and can prove to be a boon in time of crisis. Get Yours Today!

A term plan is one of the most important and cost-effective insurance products. The plan is designed to provide financial security to the family members in the case of your sudden demise. You pay a certain amount of premium to the insurer for the policy and you receive a life cover on the same. However, to get additional protection, there is an option of choosing different types of riders.

Term insurance riders are add-ons that are attached to the main policy. It enhances the value and the functionality of the policy and can be purchased in addition to the policy. Riders can help you customize a policy as per your needs for an additional premium amount. It only comes into play on an occurrence of a specific event. It is important to choose the right type of rider for the policy in order to enjoy additional benefits.

Types of riders

You may consider the below-mentioned riders for your term insurance.

Accidental death rider

With a simple term plan, you get normal death benefits but an accidental death rider will give you a supplementary sum assured in case the policyholder passes away because of an accident.

Waiver of premium rider

This is a highly cost-effective term insurance rider where your insurance plan remains active even if you are not able to pay the premium for some reason. It will come into existence when you lose monthly income due to an unexpected event. It can also be availed of during a critical illness when you fail to pay the premium amount. It will take off any financial burden and the premium will be waived until the tenure of the term plan.

Critical illness rider

This rider covers all the critical illnesses like heart attack, cancer, coronary artery bypass, kidney failure, and paralysis. Such diseases can put a strain on your finances and a rider can help you here. Availing of this rider will cover the cost of illness in the form of hospitalization and non-hospitalization expenses. At the time of diagnosis, this rider will give you a lump sum benefit and in case of death, the plan benefit is given to the nominees. When you buy term insurance, give special consideration to this rider.

Income benefit rider

When there is a sudden death of the breadwinner of the family, it becomes difficult for the dependents to replace the income. With this rider, the family will receive a regular income for a specific number of years. It will provide an amount equal to the monthly income of the policyholder and the dependents get the income for about five to ten years with the total sum assured. It is ideal for salaried individuals.

Consider the above-mentioned riders and make the most of your insurance policy. A rider will give you an additional benefit at a small additional cost. Whenever you buy term insurance, understand the riders and customize your policy according to your needs.

With technology growing at a massive scale, there is nothing you cannot do virtually. From watching movies, giving exams, shopping and working, the virtual world is all consuming. So why something as simple as health insurance should be left behind?

Almost all insurance companies now offer the easy click version to buy health insurance online. With a few standard checks, you can buy an insurance cover that fits your needs. However, it is important to look for some vital signs before you sign on the proverbial dotted lines.

Online insurance

Direct dealing

Online insurance means you cut out the middleman or agent and directly buy from the company. Since the transaction is all online, paperwork is negligible as well. This also leads to lesser health insurance premiums.

Compare health insurance

Given the number of policy comparing sites available, you can now easily weigh the pros and cons of various policies before landing on one. You should compare health insurance policies based on benefits, coverage, premium amount, claim process, documentation and renewal process. The tabular format makes it easy for viewing as well.

Reviews

Opinions fly thick and fast in the virtual world. Although it has its disadvantages, it could prove to be a boon when looking to buy health insurance. Therefore, you are advised to read all the reviews before buying the policy.

Automation

Policy holder can avail a host of benefits if planning to go online. You can download brochures, look up your premium paid statements, research on new policies, access your policy anytime without having to safeguard a piece of paper. You can also pay premium online in a jiffy.

Promptness

Since not everyone will be comfortable transacting online or making payments without a physical acknowledgement, companies give you a virtual friend who can answer queries. You could also chat online with an executive or call for a more personal touch. It’s all about making a smooth transaction.

Medical check-up

You can ask for a free medical check-up which will be done as per your convenience

Bonus & Discounts

The online passbook of sorts shows you how much bonus has been accumulated and what discounts you could avail if you opt for a family health insurance.

To give you a more comprehensive idea, here’s a table listing all the advantages and some things to look out for

Add on benefits are:

• Maternity benefits
• Hospitalization charges
• Bonuses
• Lifetime renewal
• Medical check-up

As you can see the pros definitely outweigh the cons. Of course like all systems, it could do with a few tweaks, but nothing to beat the convenience of an online transaction.

Bajaj Allianz General Insurance is a company that is old and trusted in the market. The no hidden-cost benefits, transparent charges, quick settlements, fast resolutions and variety of policies offered makes us a consumer favourite. The Brand offers both online and offline policies to cater to its wide clientele. If you are a novice, feel free to get in touch with us for a detailed review and we’ll be more than happy to help you. Bajaj Allianz General Insurance is your friend in need.

In case you have been considering taking a loan, it is important that you remind yourself that Loan Against Property is always the smart thing to do for they are better in some ways than the regular types of loan. One of the foremost elements of such loan is that they are a form of secure role wherein the bank is easily willing to lend you a handsome sum of money based on the property that you have mortgaged or used as collateral.

Let’s get at acquainting you with the several associated benefits of applying for a Loan Against Property.

Element of security

As has been mentioned earlier, there is better chance of getting your Loan Against Property approved as it is secured as opposed to unsecured loan. This means that the factor of risk associated with default in payment due to any unforeseen situation is less. Chances of money recovery is less difficult for the bank or the finance providing institution. These loans are also better if you are looking to improve your credit score but you must ensure that the title of your property is clear and you are able to provide proof of ownership of it.

Cheaper as well as multipurpose option

These loans, by virtue of being secured, have lesser rates of interest, thus expense, and so are most suitable to meet your emergent financial issues. In addition to this, Loan Against Property is fitted to suit all your varied needs that fall within legal domain. There are very less restrictions as to how the money must be used like in case of student loans. But usually the reasons vary within the range of huge education or medical treatment expenses as also when you are looking to set up your own business or venturing into elaborate travel plans.

Flexibility of routine

It must also be understood that there is a certain degree of flexibility that is provided to the borrower in case of Loan Against Property. Some of these flexible systems are as follows:

• Duration to pay off loan is usually longer
• Tenure of paying off the loan may be extended to twenty years when the loan amount is higher.
• Longer LAP tenure ensures that you are able to pay smaller EMIs befitting your income.
• If a slightly larger outstanding amount as a result of longer term of loan is not problematic for you, this is the most suitable option.

Difference in property

You must also be made aware that it is possible for you to apply for a Loan Against Property on any type of property that you may own. As long as you have valid documents to prove your ownership of the property, it could be either residential or commercial property type. You may also apply for a loan with a piece of land that belongs to you or if it is undergoing construction. The factors most at play for lenders are usually the value of the property in the market and whether or not it has complete legal clearances.

Squats are one of the best compound workouts you can perform while working out. Whether you want to gain muscles, lose weight, tone your body or strengthen your lung and heart, performing squats every day will work wonders for you. Most fitness trainers suggest including squats in their client’s workout regime as it can help you get the results much faster. For make your workouts more challenging, try combining dead-lifts with squats. These exercises not only help you build targeted muscles but also help you develop overall muscle.

If you think that squats are only for lower body maintenance, then you are entirely wrong. Squats can benefit your whole body in multitudes of ways. When you bend to pick up something from the floor or bend and tie your shoelaces, you are squatting. Squats are a natural form of exercise, which means you don’t have to do something extraordinary to perfect your style. When you learn the correct squatting posture, you intend to gain various benefits out of it.

You can squat with or without weights. Either way, you are getting the fantastic benefits of this exercise. Let’s take a closer look at the positive effects of performing squats-

1. Help building muscles

Squats help you get amazingly toned legs! They also promote muscle building by developing an anabolic environment in your body. They tone your hamstrings, calves, quadriceps, abdominal muscles, lower back and your buttocks too. There are not many exercises that can recruit so many muscles at the same time.

2. Burn calories faster

Squats help you build muscle and burn calories more efficiently, so you get a slim body more quickly. If you add weights to your squats, you will burn calories even faster.

3. Help improve flexibility

A perfect workout plan always includes squats as it targets the most significant muscle section of your body. It also helps you improve your flexibility. With growing age, we tend to lose the elasticity in our muscles, tendons, and ligaments. To slow the process, you need to exercise regularly as it involves bending and stretching of the muscles.

4. Improve mobility and balance

You need strong legs for staying fit and move quickly when you grow older, and that’s where squats help you. Squats develop leg strength, work out your core, thereby stabilising muscles. Strong muscles aid in maintaining balance, while intensifying the communication between your brain and muscle groups, which helps prevent falls.

5. Strengthen your lungs and heart

Performing squats require a lot of strength, which strengthens your cardiac muscles and amend your lung capacity. You can fasten the process by adding weights to your performance.

6. Help prevent injuries

Most workout injuries happen due to weak connective tissues, ligaments, and stabilizer muscles. Squatting can help you strengthen these tissues and muscles, thereby reducing the chances of injuries. However, you should keep in mind that you need to maintain the correct posture while performing any exercise which includes squats as well to avoid damage.

Incorrect posture means you won’t be able to achieve the benefits of the exercise you are performing. In some cases, it can be right-down damaging to the joints. Hence, it is imperative to have a health insurance policy to avoid the wrath of such untoward events. A health insurance policy financially helps you to come out of such medical emergencies.

What is a Credit Score?

A credit score, put simply, is a statistic or number that indicates how an individual is likely to pay off his or her debt. If an individual has a higher credit score, financial lenders such as banks or credit card companies are more likely to loan money to him or her. These credit card companies and banks utilize the credit score to verify and gauge whether the person can be lent money and trusted with it. Credit score extends to Auto insurance premiums, and regulates the availability of credit for borrowers.

What is the link between Credit Score and Insurance Premium?

Research studies have shown that credit score and chances of getting involved in an accident are linked with each other. Therefore, in order to evaluate the insurance score for a particular vehicle, the insurance companies provide base premium rates. These care insurance scores take into account and gauges the credit history to predict how much is the individual likely to get involved in an accident or claim insurance for the vehicle.

Insurance companies, supported by the Government, ensure that they offer less favorable terms to individuals with no credit or low credit scores.

How is the Credit Score Calculated?

There are a lot of factors taken into consideration during the calculation of an individual’s Credit Score, such as the number of accounts held by the borrowing individual, the existence of negative records in the person’s account – which include, but are not limited to, pending dues and late payment penalty remarks.

The payment history of an individual is the biggest factor that influences the person’s credit score. If the individual’s payments are made on their due time, their credit score will be higher than a person who does not make the payments on time.

How can a Credit Score decrease or increase your Car Insurance Premium? 

It is common knowledge that the credit score of an individual is inversely proportional to the car insurance premium that he or she has to pay. Since financial-lending companies like banks and credit card companies use credit score to gauge the likelihood of a person paying their dues and debts, these companies offer car insurance premiums depending on the credit score.

For instance, if you have a higher credit score and a track record of paying your debts on time, you are more likely to qualify for a lower car insurance premium that covers a wider range of cover. On the other hand, if your credit score is low or poor, you are less likely to qualify for a greater insurance cover and will have to pay a higher auto insurance premium.

Therefore, it is important to pay your dues in time and maintain a high credit score, so that you don’t have to pay for a higher car insurance premium and so that you are eligible for a greater insurance cover by the insurance companies.

A Systematic Investment Plan [SIP] is one of the ways of investing in a mutual fund, and it has become one of the most popular investment tools in the last few years. With an SIP investment, the investor has multiple flexible options. An experienced expert does all the hard work , making sure that your money is safely invested to make sure that your money grows systematically without too much risk. If you decide to invest in an SIP, you should first understand the options you have. You can use four kinds of SIP investment options. Study them well to know which plan matches your needs the best.

Types of SIPs

Here are the details about the four kinds of SIPs.

1. Top-up SIP

This form of SIP investment works exactly how it sounds. You can use the top-up facility with this system by increasing the amount of investment on a regular basis, following the interval allowed by the particular plan. The benefit of this plan is that you can decide on how much to invest in the SIP depending on the performance of the mutual fund. This way, you can make sure that you get the best out of a well-performing fund. The better the returns, the more you can invest in the next cycle to increase your income systematically.

2. Flexible SIP

This type is an upgraded version of the previous one. The flexible SIP investment allows you to not only increase but also decrease the amount of money you are investing in. You can use this plan to invest according to your income. You can also skip paying into the SIP if you do not have enough money flow during a particular investment cycle. You can then again invest more than the previous cycle when you have the capital. This flexibility allows you to invest and gain profits according to your financial state in any particular time period.

3. Perpetual SIP

A perpetual SIP is an investment plan without an investment time limit. Just like any other investment plan, SIP too comes with the option to invest your money for a particular amount of time. It can be anything from a year to a decade or even more. However, with a perpetual SIP, you do not have to set an end date. This way, you will have the complete freedom to withdraw your funds at any given moment.

You can redeem the funds when you meet a particular economic target or when you think that the SIP is not performing as well as you had expected. You must remember that the SIPs with a fixed period of time can help you have more economic discipline, but it is always better to have your options open.

4. Trigger SIP

With this plan, you can set a particular date or financial event, like an improved index level, when the SIP starts. However, this plan requires you to have in-depth knowledge of the financial market to eliminate the risks of losing money.

When planning your financials, it is important to keep tax in your mind. This will not only help you plan your financials well, but also save your hard-earned money wherever you can and also enjoy some benefits. Tax planning strategies will allow you to claim exemptions, deductions and rebates under different IT provisions and Acts. Hence, it is important to learn all that you can or consult an expert to understand better.

ULIP plans that are offered by many life insurance companies are one of the best ways you could save on tax. Besides, they also come with a lot of benefits that can prove to be extremely beneficial to you and your family. Depending on your tax bracket, ULIPs can actually help you save up to INR 45,000 or more, every year.

What is a ULIP?

The full form of ULIP is Unit Linked Insurance Plans. ULIP is a combination type of investment where the policyholder is allowed to pay a premium amount either monthly or annually. With this type of policy, a small part of your premium will go to secure life insurance, while the rest of your money is invested in debt or equity schemes.

With a ULIP investment, you have the option of selecting the type of fund you would want your premium to be invested in. A policyholder would keep on investing throughout the term of the policy – that would be 5, 10 or 15 years. A more conservative investor could go in for a debt option, while the aggressive ones could pick equity plans.

Types of ULIPs

There are different types of ULIP investments that you can make.

Equity funds – With this type of fund, the premium that you pay is invested in equity. This kind of investment is subject to higher risk factors.

Balanced funds – The premium you make with this type of ULIP is that it is balanced between the equity market and the debt in order to minimize the risk.

Debt funds – With this type of ULIP, the premium would be invested in debt funds. This comes with lower risk, but also offers lower returns too.

End Use of Funds

You could use your ULIP investment funds in the following ways:

• Retirement planning – If you’re looking to invest for your retirement days while you are still working, ULIPs are a good way to go to save up for your future.
• Child Education – ULIPs are also a good way to save for long-term goals like children’s education or other unforeseen circumstances.
• Wealth Creation – If your intention is just to make an investment to build a good corpus so that you could use it for your future financial plans then ULIPs are a great way to save for that.

Save Tax Under Sections 80C & 80CC

Just like all your other life insurance investments, the amount that you also invest in a ULIP plan can help you save on your tax. The two provisions of the income tax Act that would be applicable for a ULIP are Section 80C and Section 80CC.

According to these tax provisions, there would be an exemption of up to Rs.1, 50,000 under Section 80C and Section 80CC. This also means that you could invest in a higher amount, but the total deduction would be capped at Rs.1, 50,000 per annum. However, the important thing to keep in mind is that your yearly premium should be less than 10% of the sum that is offered by the ULIP plan.

Another thing with regards to ULIPs is that in order to claim for deductions, your ULIP plan must be active for at least two years. Also, if you happen to stop your ULIP plan during the second year, all benefits that were availed in the first year would be withdrawn. So ensure that you have long-term investments and you continue to make payments towards the premium amount for the entire term.

Other Benefits of ULIP

Some of the other benefits of ULIP investments are:

• Life Cover – ULIPs come with life cover as well as investment. It gives security to a taxpayer’s family in case of emergency like the untimely death of a taxpayer.
• Long Term Goals – In case you have long-term goals like marriage, buying a house or a new car and suchlike, then ULIP is the perfect investment option for you. Since the money in ULIPs are compounded, the net returns that you get would be more.
• Flexibility of Portfolio Switch – ULIPs are designed in such a way that they give you the freedom to switch your portfolio based on your risk and knowledge of the market.

Other Things to Consider as an Investor

Following are some of the important things to consider before you invest in a ULIP plan:

1. Personal financial goals – ULIP investments are one of the best options available in the market today if your financial goal is to save money for your retirement or other life goals. ULIP returns are also good if you make the right investment choice.

2. Compare ULIP offerings – Once you have decided on your financial goals and zeroed in on the ULIP that will help you achieve it, your next step would be to compare all the different ULIP offerings in the market. You could check out things like ULIP performance, background expenses and premium payments. You should also investigate the funds that your ULIP would invest in to check on the ULIP returns to see if they are beneficial or not.

3. Risk factor – The risk factor with a ULIP plan is a bit high as compared to other type of schemes and plans.

4. Investment – This is another important factor to consider when you go in for a ULIP plan. ULIPs come with a 5-year lock-in period, so if a ULIP is given up within the first three years, then your insurance cover would also stop immediately. And, the value would only be paid after three years.

So do a thorough research and sign up only once you have a better understanding of the product.