study of metlife india insurance company pvt. limited
TRANSCRIPT
STUDY OF METLIFE INDIA INSURANCE COMPANY
PVT. LIMITED.
THESIS SYNOPSIS
On
STUDY OF METLIFE INSURANCE COMPANY PVT.
LIMITED.
Desired Area to do Research
Analysis of MetLife Insurance Policies and their demand in the Market and future growth
in the coming years and also the marketing strategies which are used by the MetLife
Insurance Company Pvt. Ltd.
Title of the Thesis
Study of MetLife Insurance Company Limited.
Problem definition:
In this project “STUDY OF METLIFE INSURANCE COMPANY LIMITED” we are
going to study following points:
Insurance policy trends of MetLife in India.
Strengths and Weakness of MetLife insurance in comparison to the other existing
insurance companies which are having better market and demand.
Problems faced by MetLife Insurance Company.
Opportunities for future growth
The consumer perception is affected by the various factors relating to the outlook of
the brand. Therefore, the marketer has to keep the customer profile updated with his
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likeness. As a matter of fact the customer is looking for the solution to his problem
which can only be matched if and only if the marketer provides the relevant product.
Research Methodology
The research to be followed is a step by step process. This makes the entire
research process systematic as well as easy to handle in the right direction .The
following steps will be a part of most formal research, both basic and applied
Formation of the topic
History of company
Conceptual definitions
Data’s in terms of customers (Existing and non-existing), agencies, etc.
Growth structure of previous years and also the assumption of increase of growth
in coming years.
Operational definitions
Gathering of data
Analysis of data
Conclusion and revising.
Research is an academic activity. It is careful investigation through search for
new facts of any branch of knowledge. In this project “STUDY OF METLIFE
INSURANCE COMPANY PVT. LIMITED”, both primary and secondary data is used
for the purpose of our study.
METHODS OF COLLECTION OF DATA
Primary data collection through
Current employees of MetLife insurance company.
Existing customers of MetLife Company.
Market survey.
Secondary data collection through
Newspapers & websites
Brochures, leaflets & product manuals of the company.
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Journal, Articles & Publications.
Justification for choosing Research Proposal
In this project we are going to analyse the MetLife insurance company Limited.
Insurance policies are increasing as well as demands are also increasing and this made
the tough competition between MetLife Insurance and the other existing Insurance
companies Like ICICI prudential, BAJAJ Allianj and so on. The competition is increasing
with the coming of more and more players in the field. Every company in this sector
comes up with new schemes to attract more and more customers. And one more thing
this sector is growing and booming like anything in these days. And I have a special
interest in it and also want to provide some better exposure to myself and want to learn
the selling techniques, market research, know about the customers requirements and all
those things which are necessary to know about the insurance companies.
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INTRODUCTION TO LIFE INSURANCE
India’s rapid rate of economic growth over the past decade has been one of the more
significant developments in the global economy. This growth has its roots in the
introduction of economic liberalisation in the early 1990s, which has allowed India to
exploit its economic potential and raise the population’s standard of living. Insurance
has a very important role in this process. Health insurance and pension systems are
fundamental to protecting individuals against the hazards of life and India, as the
second most populous nation in the world, offers huge potential for that type of cover.
Furthermore, fire and liability insurance are essential for corporations to keep
investment risks and infrastructure projects under control. Private insurance systems
complement social security systems and add value by matching risk with price.
Accurate risk pricing is one of the most powerful tools for setting the right incentives for
the allocation of resources, a feature which is key to a fast developing country like India.
By nature of its business, insurance is closely related to saving and investing. Life
insurance, funded pension systems and (to a lesser extent) non-life insurance, will
accumulate huge amounts of capital over time which can be invested productively in the
economy. In developed countries (re)insurers often own more than 25% of the capital
markets. The mutual dependence of insurance and capital
markets can play a powerful role in channeling funds and investment expertise to
support the development of the Indian economy. This booklet aims to promote a better
understanding of insurance in India today. Covering a broad range of topics, the booklet
shows the diversity of Indian insurance, its development and its prospects. It also
provides a lot of international comparisons which put developments in India into
perspective. In so doing the booklet takes advantage of the fact that Professor Tapen
Sinha, although Indian by nationality, has pursued a lot of his professional career
overseas. This booklet should help companies operating in India, or intending to enter
the Indian market, to position themselves in this market. In addition it should provide
background information on the right institutional and legal frameworks to further develop
the industry in the best interests of India and its people.
In 2003, the Indian insurance market ranked 19th globally and was the fifth largest in
Asia. Although it accounts for only 2.5% of premiums in Asia, it has the potential to
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become one of the biggest insurance markets in the region. A combination of factors
underpins further strong growth in the market, including sound economic fundamentals,
rising household wealth and a further improvement in the regulatory framework. The
insurance industry in India has come a long way since the time when businesses were
tightly regulated and concentrated in the hands of a few public sector insurers.
Following the passage of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority Act in
1999, India abandoned public sector exclusivity in the insurance industry in favour of
market-driven competition. This shift has brought about major changes to the industry.
The inauguration of a new era of insurance development has seen the entry of
international insurers, the proliferation of innovative products and distribution channels,
and the raising of supervisory standards.
By mid-2004, the number of insurers in India had been augmented by the entry of new
privatesector players to a total of 28, up from five before liberalisation. A range of new
products had been launched to cater to different segments of the market, while
traditional agents were supplemented by other channels including the Internet and bank
branches. These developments were instrumental in propelling business growth, in real
terms, of 19% in life premiums and 11.1% in non-life premiums between 1999 and
2003. There are good reasons to expect that the growth momentum can be sustained.
In particular, there is huge untapped potential in various segments of the market. While
the nation is heavily exposed to natural catastrophes, insurance to mitigate the negative
financial consequences of these adverse events is underdeveloped. The same is true
for both pension and health insurance, where insurers can play a critical role in bridging
demand and supply gaps. Major changes in both national economic policies and
insurance regulations will highlight the prospects of these segments going forward. The
objectives of this report are to explore the current state of development in India’s
insurance market and enumerate the opportunities and challenges offered by this
exciting market. This report begins with an overview of the Indian insurance market in
Section II, which highlights the phenomenal growth experienced recently, in line with the
country’s improving economic fundamentals. Section III benchmarks the Indian
insurance market against other regional counterparts. By comparing growth,
penetration, density and other insurance variables, it can be shown that, whilst India is
still an underdeveloped insurance market, it has a hugecatch-up potential. 5 Section IV
presents a necessary overview of the historical development of the sector, but the
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relevance to the current marketplace is not lost, as the original 1938 Insurance Act still
forms the backbone of present insurance regulation. A more detailed dissection of
current regulatory issues is offered in Section V. Sections VI and VII discuss issues in
the life and non-life insurance sectors respectively. Developments with far-reaching
implications, like the proliferation of bancassurance as an alternative distribution
channel and the move to allow non-life insurance companies greater
freedom in pricing their products, are looked at in detail.
Finally, Section VIII summarises the potential and pitfalls of rural insurance in India.
Even though there is strong potential for expansion of insurance into rural areas, growth
has so far remained slow. Considering that the bulk of the Indian population still resides
in rural areas, it is imperative that the insurance industry’s development should not miss
this vast sector of the population.
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AN OVERVIEW OF INDIA’S INSURANCE MARKET
Insurance in India used to be tightly regulated and monopolised by state-run insurers.
Following the move towards economic reform in the early 1990s, various plans to revamp the
sector finally resulted in the passage of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority
(IRDA) Act of 1999. Significantly, the insurance business was opened on two fronts. Firstly,
domestic private-sector companies were permitted to enter both life and non-life insurance
business. Secondly, foreign companies were allowed to participate, albeit with a cap on
shareholding at 26%. With the introduction of the 1999 IRDA Act, the insurance sector joined a
set of other economic sectors on the growth march.
During the 2003 financial year1, life insurance premiums increased by an estimated
12.3% in real terms to INR 650 billion (USD 14 billion) while non-life insurance
premiums rose 12.2% to INR 178 billion (USD 3.8 billion). The strong growth in 2003 did
not come in isolation. Growth in insurance premiums has been averaging at 11.3% in
real terms over the last decade.
INSURANCE DEVELOPMENT AND POTENTIAL
Notwithstanding the rapid growth of the sector over the last decade, insurance in India
remains at an early stage of development. At the end of 2003, the Indian insurance
market (in terms of premium volume) was the 19th largest in the world, only slightly
bigger than that of Denmark and comparable to that of Ireland.2 This was despite India
being the second most populous country in the world as
well as the 12th largest economy. Yet, there are strong arguments in favour of
sustained rapid insurance business growth in the coming years, including India’s robust
economic growth prospects and the nation’s high savings rates.3 The dynamic growth
of insurance buying is partly affected by the (changing) income elasticity of insurance
demand. It has been shown that insurance penetration and per capita income have a
strong non-linear relationship.4 Based on this relation and other considerations, it can
be postulated that by 2014 the penetration of life insurance in India will increase to 4.4%
and that of non-life insurance to 0.9%.
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HISTORY OF INSURANCE DEVELOPMENT IN INDIA
Modern insurance came with a British accent
Insurance in its modern form first arrived in India through a British company called the
Oriental Life Insurance Company in 1818, followed by the Bombay Assurance Company
in 1823, and the Madras Equitable Life Insurance Society in 1829. They insured the
lives of Europeans living in India. The first company that sold policies to Indians with
“fair value” was the Bombay Mutual Life Assurance Society starting in 1871.10 The first
general insurance company, Triton Insurance Company Limited, was established in
1850. For the next hundred years, both life and non-life insurance were confined mostly
to the wealthy living in large metropolitan areas.
COMPANY HISTORY
MetLife India proudly carries a 135 year old legacy of helping build financial freedom for
everyone.
Metropolitan Life Insurance Company ("MetLife"), a subsidiary of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:
MET), is a leading provider of insurance and other financial services to individual and
institutional customers. The MetLife Companies serve approximately 12 million
individuals in the U.S. and companies and institutions with 33 million employees and
members, including 88 of the Fortune 100 companies. MetLife also has, through its
subsidiaries and affiliates, international insurance operations in 12 countries. For more
information about MetLife, please visit the company's web site at www.metlife.com.
THE JOINT VENTURE
MetLife India Insurance Company Private Limited ("MetLife India") is the Indian affiliate
of Metropolitan Life Insurance Company ("MetLife"), the number one life insurer in the
U.S, based on approximately US$ 2.4 trillion in life insurance in-force as of December
31, 2002. MetLife India was incorporated in April 2001 as a joint venture between
MetLife International Holdings, Inc., The Jammu and Kashmir Bank, M. Pallonji and Co.
Private Limited and other private investors. MetLife India benefits from its affiliated
company's 135-year old expertise and track record of establishing successful operations
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in emerging markets, in addition to the unique strengths of its Indian promoters. MetLife
India offers a range of innovative products and aims to build financial freedom for
everyone. MetLife India is headquartered in Bangalore and has offices in 9 cities and an
additional 1,000 outreach points through its distribution channel partners. For more
information about MetLife India, please visit the company's web site at
www.metlifeindia.com.
The Rs 110-crore equity-based MetLife India Insurance Company, a life insurance joint
venture between MetLife International Holdings, the Jammu and Kashmir Bank, the M
Pallonji group and some minority shareholders, plans to increase its capital base to Rs
450 crore in four years’ time.
Says MetLife managing director Venkatesh S Mysore: "The life insurance business is
not a 100-meter dash where first-off-the-mark is a sure sign of success. It is a business
that demands patience and endurance and involves earning the trust of customers and
building a long-term equity with them."
Though he talks about earning customers’ trust as the biggest challenge faced today,
he refuses to state the number of customers who have reposed faith in his company.
Curiously, yet another Bangalore-based private limited life insurer is also touchy about
this figure. Mysore is also silent about the steps MetLife India is taking to rope in more
clients before the end of this fiscal.
Operating out of five branches — Bangalore, Kolkata, Kochi, Hyderabad and Chennai
— MetLife India will open offices in New Delhi and Mumbai sometime mid-2002.
"Furthermore, we have developed relationships with several corporate agents who
collectively have over 1,000 offices to reach out to our customers," says Mysore.
The company is selling three standard life insurance products — endowment, money-
back and whole-life. All these are non-participating products and the inherent
guaranteed returns are computed over time periods like 15, 20 or 25 years, thereby
offering a greater protection to customers’ life goals, says Mysore. "These policies can
be customised to individual requirements using MET Riders like Accidental Death
Benefit, Waiver of Premium and the Term Rider."
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On the company’s plans to achieve the stipulated 5 per cent rural sales, he says: "We
have a separate rural marketing initiative that expects to meet the obligatory target.
Through strategic alliances with key regional financial services players we will reach out
to rural customers with the same exciting and innovative products. Rural people have
the same aspirations like their urban neighbours, but have a poorer access to the tools
of financial planning for independence."
MetLife India hopes to have a less-than-the-industry average when it comes to policy
surrenders. Says Mysore: "Given the due diligence that we at MetLife India do when
defining need-based protection plans for customers as against merely selling policies,
we expect lapse/surrender rates to be much lower than the industry standards. The
typical Indian experience of lapse/surrender rates is 15 per cent in the first year and
goes down to 10 per cent in the second year, and hovers around 5 per cent thereafter."
The city-based Dhanalakshmi Bank has entered into the field of distributing life
insurance products under a tie-up with MetLife India, an affiliate of the Metropolitan Life
Insurance Company of the US.
At a function to mark the launch of the bank into the distribution of insurance products at
Thrissur, T M Venkataraman, the bank’s chairman, handed over the first application for
the MetLife Policy to MetLife India managing director Venkitesh Mysore.
Initially the bank will be distributing a whole-life policy (Met 100), an endowment
assurance policy (Met Shanti) and a money back assurance policy (Met Sukh), a press
release said.
“While the bank will be marketing these products through the dedicated staff of the
bank, steps are on to develop specific products with the Dhanalakshmi brand name,”
Venkataraman said. “The association with Met Life India will help the bank in its
objective to provide a wide range of financial products to its clients.”
MetLife India Insurance has applied to the Insurance Regulatory and Development
Authority for a licence to sell a set of new life insurance products, including term
insurance products, group insurance and annuity business, in the current year. At
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present selling three base products in India, the private life insurance company plans to
come up with 10 more products by the end of the current year.
Says MetLife managing director Venkatesh S Mysore: “We are also considering
innovative retail products like group insurance schemes and annuity business in future.
We will replicate our international products in India and also encash on our association
with top companies who are our clients worldwide.”MetLife India Insurance — a joint
venture of MetLife International Holdings, Jammu and Kashmir Bank, the M Pallonji
group and four equity investors — plans to increase its capital to Rs 450 crore over the
next five-to-six years from its present Rs 110 crore.
MISSION AND VISION OF THE COMPNY:
Our Vision and Mission
Build financial freedom for all through leadership in providing financial advice and
building long-term relationships through innovative protection, accumulation and
retirement products, robust underwriting processes and creating world-class customer
service experience for our customers.
We want to provide customers in India with world-class solutions for financial security,
and in the process add significant value to our shareholders, associates and society.
Our Core Values
We lead through Innovation to offer world class and competitive products to our
customers
We build Long Term Relationships with our customers by creating a world class
service experience through operational excellence and the innovative use of
technology
We create a Customer Centered and Result Focused Vision that inspires each
one of our Associates and has their buy-in
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We are committed to creating a High Performance Organization by creating an
environment that allows each one of our Associates to perform at their peak. As
a result we will also be recognized as an Employer of Choice
We are committed to Partnering with our internal and external Customers for
mutual success
We work with Integrity, Fairness and Financial Prudence in all our dealings
keeping the interests of our Shareholders, Customers and Associates
paramount
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FACTS AND FIGURES:
In the year 2003, Private life insurer MetLife India Insurance Company has started
automating a part of its underwriting process to save the underwriter's time.
The company has translated all its underwriting rules into a software module, Aura, to
automatically process an insurance proposal and issue the policy, both in medical and
non-medical cases.
Says MetLife IT director Ajith Vellat: "Aura helps us to underwrite both at the new
business as well as at the reinstatement stage. The module ensures quick turnaround
time, in addition to consistency and accuracy of decision. Also checking the history will
be easy as there will be records of the customer in the system."
The company will also consider interfacing Aura with the company's website, where a
person can feed the data online, pay for the policy through the Web and download his
policy.
Aura is one of the several software modules that MetLife uses under its overall IT
platform called common operating platforms (COP). MetLife has customised the overall
software package used by its sister outfit in Brazil to suit Indian conditions.
"This is part of MetLife International's policy of following uniform practice in countries
where it is present. It helps in generating the reports in format it needs for various
regulatory needs," says Vellat.
The US-based parent company considers its international operations as its growth
engine and COP has different software components to support every one of MetLife's
affiliates.
According to him, customising the Brazilian software package for Indian operations was
done on the market/regulatory conditions that prevailed here. For instance, the most
popular policy in India — the money back policy — is not a favoured product elsewhere.
"Abroad all mid-term changes in the policy could be made on the Web by the
policyholder himself. Here there should be a formal letter from the customer and an
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endorsement to the original policy has to be issued by the insurer incorporating the
change. These factors have been taken into account during customisation," says Vellat.
The other modules of COP are eSeg, Report Data Base (RDB) and Offline. "eSeg is a
policy administration system that helps in managing the entire process from the
application stage until dispatch of the policy document. It also supports post issuance
customer service activities. Some of the key activities that eSeg performs are
generation of customer identity, policy numbering, cancellation, reinstatement,
alteration, customer service requests (change of name, address, beneficiary)," says
Vellat.
The RDB is a locally envisaged and developed system used for printing documents —
policies, premium / reminder / lapse notices very quickly. "On the other hand the offline
module helps the company to capture and transfer of new application and remittance
data from our regional / partner's offices to head office for processing."
According to Vellat, MetLife is also planning to have specialised portals dedicated to its
sales team and customers. The Web portals will be hosted in Singapore.
After lying dormant for a year, MetLife India is back with a dynamic revival plan to
grab a significant chunk of the lucrative Indian insurance pie
In the same year, There is a flurry of activity at Brigade Seshamal, the multi-storied
headquarters of MetLife India Insurance Company here. After an uneventful year, the
life insurer is venturing into the lucrative Indian insurance market with a newly drawn-out
battle plan.
MetLife India, to freshen your memory, is a three-way joint venture between
Metropolitan International Holdings USA (an affiliate of life insurance giant Metropolitan
Life Insurance, New York), Jammu and Kashmir Bank, M Pallonji and Co and other
private investors. The company sold its first policy in January 2002.
After the mandatory initial enthusiasm, MetLife went into limbo while other private life
insurers marched ahead. In the last fiscal the company closed with a premium income
of Rs 6.20 crore — of course, not half as glamorous as its competitors'.
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Now, it looks like, there is going to be some action. MetLife has chalked out a
comprehensive strategy that includes launching new products, fine-tuning the existing
ones, entering new markets, expanding the agency force, opening new branches in
select cities and augmenting the ad spend. The company, sometime back, had also
automated its underwriting activities by installing a common operating system.
So, why this sudden animation? "All these days we have been investing in our people
and technology. Now we are on the verge of taking off," says MetLife India managing
director Venkatesh S Mysore. In line with the performance and expectations, the
company's capital base will be expanded by Rs 50 crore to Rs 160 crore. Till July this
fiscal, MetLife India had booked a premium of Rs 4 crore.
The taxiing before the takeoff that Mysore refers to has started with the launch of a
guaranteed money-back policy, Met Bhavishya, designed specifically to provide for a
child's growing life-stages. And, yes, the company is once again visible with its print
campaign.
Further impetus will take place once the company enters the institutional (group life
insurance) and annuity segments, says Suresh Guhagarkar, appointed actuary. "We will
look at unit-linked products next year." Presently, 60 per cent of the company's sales
consists of endowment policies and the balance, money back and others.
"We are now fine-tuning some of our existing products in line with the market demand.
We will customise products for niche markets," says Dr K Sriram, actuary. Sriram thinks
there is a market for short-term endowment products. The revised thrust is towards
making the company one of the top three insurance brands in India by the year 2010.
Will the dream come true?
Targeting group business
One game plan MetLife India has in mind is to target corporates for its group insurance
products. Indian corporates, as a welfare measure, used to cover their employees under
a group personal accident insurance policy against an accidental death or
incapacitation. So far, this used to be the preserve of non-life insurers.
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Now, after the opening up of the insurance industry (life and non-life) the trend has
changed; life insurers have been making a beeline to join the fray with their annually
renewable life insurance policies.
"A life insurance policy with a personal accident rider actually makes a better social
security measure unlike a vanilla personal accident insurance cover," argues Sundip
Mukhopadhyay, director, institutional business. Mukhopadhyay, who was earlier with
Tata AIG Life Insurance, managing its group business, was specifically roped in by
MetLife to chart out its entry into the institutional segment.
The critical aspect of a group business starts with customising the product to suit a
corporate, and ends in prompt settlement of claims. Any botching up in the latter will see
corporates dumping an insurer without giving a second thought.
"We have a strong longstanding relationship with several multinational companies
(MNCs). We will leverage that with the MNCs present in India. We will initially target the
corporates located in four major cities — Mumbai, Chennai, Delhi and Bangalore," says
Mukhopadhyay. In the US, Metlife Inc has the largest group business.
Compared to other business segments, MetLife has lesser competition in the group
business. This is because Birla Sunlife Insurance, OM Kotak Life Insurance, Tata AIG
Life Insurance and SBI Life Insurance are the ones present now in the private sector
apart from the giant Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC). And the other bulk
segment MetLife plans to target is the group pensions sector.
Embedded glamour
It is true that MetLife India's topline numbers (the total premium and the number of
policies sold) may not be impressive. This is because the company has so far been
staying away from the single-premium market when other private life insurers were
raking in money.
The company officials, nevertheless, are content at what is embedded in their policies
sold by their 750-strong agency force. "One should look at the persistency ratio [the
continuation of policies by the policyholder], the premium-per-policy and the claims
experience rather than the topline growth," reasons Mysore.
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"Sales quality is something we take seriously. Our policy persistency ratio is one of the
highest in the industry," says Gaurav Suri, marketing director. This fiscal, the average
premium per policy shot up to Rs 10,000 from the previous year's Rs 5,200. Most of the
policies are annually paid; a good thing for a life insurer."
MetLife is also happy that though the industry suffers 30-per cent agent attrition, the
figure is much lower in its case. And consider this with the fact that it costs a private life
insurer around Rs 15,000 to put an agent into the field.
"The best way to manage is to keep the agency force under manageable numbers,"
says Mysore. "Most new players expand their agency force without looking at the
attrition costs — the expense involved in recruiting a new agent, the cost of servicing a
policy brought in by an agent who has quit the profession/company, and also the cost of
losing a policyholder along with the agent. The name of the game seems to be new
business rather than a combination of new and renewal business."
Unlike others, MetLife wants all its agents to be full-timers but working on a commission
basis. This is something unique in India. "It is a tough model to follow here. Anybody
might expect some sort of a fixed remuneration when asked to be a full-timer. I want to
see how MetLife India plans to tackle this challenge," says an industry observer.
One way to face this is to blindly follow LIC footsteps; the corporation pays a stipend to
all its career agents for the first three years — something certain private players do on
the sly. For prospective agents, Mysore and Sanyog Jain, regional training director, Asia
Pacific, are living examples of growth opportunities available with the company; both
these officials started their career as agents of Metlife in the US.
Believing that a part-time agency structure will not work in the long run, Mysore rules
out hiring agents on a massive scale. "Our span of control is small compared to others.
For every 15 agents, we will have an agency manager. So we want to keep the total
cost low."
As per plans he wants to increase the number of agents to 1,800 to meet the company's
business goals. "Our agency selection process is quite stringent and only those who fit
into the required profile bracket are chosen by us," says Jain.
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The corporate way
Metlife is also seriously involved in expanding its corporate agency network. The
company has bancassurance agreements with Karnataka Bank, Dhanalakshmi Bank
and Jammu and Kashmir Bank. While the banks will take care of the rural sectors,
MetLife's focus is on exploiting the life insurance potential available in cities.
"It is only in cities that the potential for life insurance exists. Further, people migrate from
villages to cities," reasons Suri. Citing the census that puts the number of towns in India
at 4,000 he says the top 64 towns house the target clientele.
Suri says the focus on semi-urban and rural areas will have a strong negative long-term
impact. "Ten years later I cannot come to the city when others would have established
deep roots." The company has also plans to enter the Ahmedabad and Pune markets.
On the issue of sliding interest rates and its impact on the investment income and
business plans, Guhagarkar says: "Our average investment yield last fiscal was around
8.5 per cent. The downward reduction in interest rates has not affected us as our
product pricing is made on the basis of the interest rate, realistic expense and the
mortality rate."
Referring to the company's pricing strategy, Sriram says the participating products will
be priced with a conservative mortality rate. "We don't find pleasure in a price war. We
have settled all the five claims reported last year.
The life insurance industry clocked 49 per cent growth in new businesses, while general
insurance players saw 16 per cent increase in April, the first month of the current
financial year.
Strong performance by Life Insurance Corporation, ICICI Prudential and SBI Life helped
the 16 player-strong life insurance industry to mop up Rs 2,982 crore in April this year
compared with Rs 1,996 crore collected in the same month last year, according to data
compiled by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority.
However, some life insurers such as Bajaj Allianz, ING Vysya Life and Reliance Life
saw a decline in premium collections during the period under review.
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The country’s largest life insurer, LIC, saw new premiums grow 57 per cent to Rs 2,134
crore in April by selling 15,89,684 policies against Rs 1,355 crore a year ago. It had a
market share of 71.56 per cent in April.
The 15 private players together saw their business grow 32 per cent to Rs 848 crore with a
market share of 28.44 per cent.
ON THE RISE
InsurersPremium (Rs
cr)
ICICI Prudential 271.00
Bajaj Allianz 124.00
SBI Life 90.00
HDFC Standard 70.00
Max New York Life 69.00
Tata AIG 48.00
Aviva 39.00
Reliance Life 33.00
Birla Sunlife 28.00
Kotak Mahindra Old
Mutual26.00
ING Vysya 22.00
Met Life 19.00
Shriram Life 4.50
Sahara Life 1.70
Bharti Axa Life 0.72
ICICI Prudential topped the private players’ chart with its premium income rising 84.5
per cent to Rs 271 crore and had 9.08 per cent share of the market. Bajaj Allianz, which
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saw 15 per cent decline in business, collected Rs 124 crore with a market share of 4.16
per cent.
The general insurance industry grew 16 per cent in April, which also saw ICICI Lombard
emerging as the second-largest non-life insurance player.
If the robust growth is any indication, private players such as ICICI Lombard, Bajaj
Allianz and Reliance General are going to give a tough fight to four established public
sector players — New India Assurance, Oriental Insurance, United India and National
Insurance — in 2007-08.
The eight private players together have increased their market share to 40.5 per cent in
April from 34 per cent in the same month a year ago.
With a modest 8 per cent growth in premium collection at Rs 651 crore, New India
retained its number one slot by cornering 20.72 per cent of the market.
ICICI Lombard, a formidable challenger to New India now, grew its new premium 36 per
cent to Rs 448 crore and had a market share of 14.28 per cent.
Oriental Insurance was at the third place with a flat growth in premium collection at Rs
413 crore and a market pie of 13.16 per cent.
United India saw a 3 per cent growth in business at Rs 407 crore and had 12.97 per
cent of the market.
National Insurance grew premium income 8 per cent to Rs 396 crore and had a market
share of 12.6 per cent.
Bajaj Allianz General Insurance collected 215 crore in April, followed by Reliance
General (Rs 221 crore), Tata AIG (112 crore), Iffco Tokio (Rs 107 crore),
Cholamandalam (Rs 73 crore), Royal Sundaram (Rs 73 crore), HDFC Chubb (Rs 22
crore).
21
Specialised institutions ECGC and Star Health & Allied Insurance collected Rs 38 crore
and Rs 34 crore, respectively, in April.
COMPARATIBILITY BETWEEN METLIFE INDIA AND DIFFERENT
MARKET PLAYERS
12 Private players in the market today:
6 Bank owned insurers- HDFC Standard Life, ICICI Prudential, ING
Vysya, Metlife, OM Kotak ,SBI Life
6 Independent Insurers- Aviva, AMP Sanmar, Birla Sun Life, Bajaj Allianz,
Max New York Life, Tata AIG
82% market share still held by LIC
Total Market size in 2003-04 of Rs 187 Bn
Life Market Shares
INDIAN OPPORTUNITY
22
23-Apr-07
MetLife launches Sumangali and Vidyakiran for Karnataka Bank
Customers
MetLife India Insurance Company Private Limited (MetLife) announced the launch of
two propositions, Sumangali and Vidyakiran, exclusively for customers of Karnataka
Bank. The propositions are based on Met Smart Plus, a unit linked insurance plan.
Sumangali is designed to plan for the daughter’s wedding expenses and Vidyakiran to
plan for the child’s higher education
Commenting on the products Mr Ananthakrishna, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
of Karnataka Bank said, “We are happy that MetLife is introducing two propositions that
are relevant for our customers at different life stages, both enable an individual to get
the best value for the objectives he or she has in mind. Designed specifically to cater to
the latent need amongst parents to secure their children’s future the propositions should
generate an overwhelming response.”
Daughter’s wedding and child’s education expenses are big milestones hence planning
for these are critical. Factoring inflation, 15-20 years from now will require large outlays
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for these milestones. Sumangali and Vidyakiran have been designed to cater to these
needs.
The daughter’s wedding is very special for parents in India, Sumangali will enable
parents to organize a marriage ceremony according to their expectations. Vidyakiran
extends the feeling of financial security for parents as it enables them to save resources
for meeting their child’s higher education expenses.
“Our guiding principle at Metlife is to understand our customers’ needs and provide
suitable solutions. We are confident that both propositions Sumangali and Vidyakiran
which are based on Met Smart Plus, a unit linked insurance plan will aid in providing
financial planning to families of Karnataka Bank customers and make them happy and
prosperous. We are very happy to introduce these on the occasion of the fourth
anniversary of our partnership with Karnataka Bank” said Rajesh Relan, Managing
Director, MetLife.
In addition to providing liquidity to meet critical expenses for children, both Sumangali
and Vidyakiran based on Met Smart Plus provide life insurance to the policy-holder till
99 years of age. The policy- holder also gets tax benefits under the Income Tax Act
1961.
MetLife- The top American Life Insurer now in Chandigarh
As a part of its country-wide expansion drive MetLife India Insurance Co. Pvt. Ltd.
announced the opening of a new branch office in Chandigarh on Thursday. “We are
extremely happy to launch our range of products within easy reach for the people of
Chandigarh. A lot of investments are coming into this part of the country and the city is
developing into a major industrial, knowledge and commercial hub.” commented Rajesh
Relan, managing director, MetLife India Insurance Co. Pvt. Ltd.
MetLife Inc is the largest life insurance company in North America and is keen to
establish a strong position in India with a range of best-in-class products. “The
company’s business philosophy is to provide customized financial solutions as the same
product cannot cater to all needs. We believe in the philosophy that the Insurer should
provide, the intermediary should advice and the customer should decide” Relan added.
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Life insurance is about providing guarantees that investments will grow by a certain
percentage after a given number of years. MetLife which is in the business of providing
guarantees has the largest number of products in its portfolio that offer guarantees.
Besides the very popular unit-linked product -- Met Smart Plus -- the company offers
term, accumulation and pension products in the Indian market.
MetLife India currently has close to 18,000 financial advisors all of whom have gone
through rigorous training to understand customer needs and provide exacting financial
solutions. The company is adding to its strength of advisors and plans to have an
agency force of over 30,000 advisors by the end of the year.
The company strongly believes in a multi-distribution approach for reaching customers
across the length and breadth of the country. Complimenting the agency force of
MetLife is the company’s bancassurance distribution channel where MetLife has tie-ups
with UTI Bank, Jammu & Kashmir Bank, Dhanalaxmi Bank and Karnataka Bank to offer
its range products to the customers of these banks. In addition to these institutions the
company has partners which are corporate agents and brokers. The company also has
Group Products that are offered to companies for managing their gratuity funds and
enhancing other employee benefits. The company currently has close to nine lakh lives
insured
MetLife Strengthens its Unit Linked Portfolio Launches Two Single
Pay ULIPS - Met Smart Plus & Met Smart Premier
MetLife India Insurance Co. Pvt. Ltd. has strengthened its Unit Linked portfolio by
launching two new plans Met Smart Plus and Met Smart Premier single pay.
Met Smart Plus and Met Smart Premier single pay products can be conveniently bought
by customers by a one time payment. The minimum single premium for both policies is
Rs 50,000. The policies can be bought by individuals up to age of 55 years. The
minimum sum assured is 1.25 times the premium while the maximum sum assured is
five times the premium.
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“At MetLife, it is our constant endeavor to develop Life Insurance plans which not only
fulfill, but exceed our customer’s expectations,” said Mr. Rajesh Relan, Managing
Director of Metlife India Insurance Co. Pvt. Ltd.
The plans offer six fund options ranging from Preserver (80-100% in debt instruments)
to Multiplier (100% in equities) for varying risk appetites. The Multiplier ranks amongst
the top five equity funds in the market in terms of returns over the past year.
The investor can switch between any of the six funds after a period of six months. Both
policies offer options of partial withdrawals after three policy years have elapsed.
Policies can be customized through riders – Accident Death Benefit Rider (ADBR) and
Critical Illness Rider (CIR).
Investors can invest incremental funds at their disposal in the policies through top-up
premiums. The base policy sum assured would be increased by 125% of the top-up
premium on each such payment. The top-up amounts can be withdrawn after three
years.
Premiums under both Met Smart Plus and Met Smart Premier are eligible for tax
deduction as per the provisions of the Income Tax Act 1961.
“At MetLife our guiding principle for any product development is that the insurer should
provide, intermediary should advise and the customer should decide. Both these plans
have been developed keeping the guiding principle in mind. These plans offer flexibility
and best in class investment returns for customers,” remarked Mr. Relan during the
launch of the product.
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INDIAN OPPORTUNITY
India has a high Savings rate of 21% of GDP- a massive insurable market
Banks are major players in the Indian Financial system:
Command over 40% of household investments
Extensive coverage
SUCCESS FACTORS
Sales structures and resources from Bank and
Insurer
Product fitment and
differentiation
Choice of sales model and process
Leverage of the Bank’s brand
Staff Motivation
Management Focus and Commitment to shared objectives
Successful integration of insurance in
Banking activity
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LIFE INSURANCE COMPANIES IN INDIA
INSURER MARKET SHARE (%)
Aviva Life Insurance Co. India Pvt. Ltd. 1.08
Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance Company Limited 4.73
Birla Sun Life Insurance Co. Ltd 1.72
HDFC Standard Life Insurance Co. Ltd 2.98
ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Co. Ltd 6.91
ING Vysya Life Insurance Company Pvt. Ltd 0.54
Life Insurance Corporation of India 76.07
Kotak Mahindra Old Mutual Life Insurance Limited 0.71
Max New York Life Insurance Co. Ltd 1.28
Met Life India Insurance Company Pvt. Ltd. 0.37
* Reliance Life Insurance Company Limited. 0.46
SBI Life Insurance Co. Ltd 1.46
Sahara India Life Insurance Co, Ltd. 0.03
Shriram Life Insurance Co, Ltd. n.a.
Tata AIG Life Insurance Company Limited 1.66
Metlife to invest more in India
MetLife India is planning to infuse $100m (about Rs 450 crore) to fund its
expansion plans in India. It is currently capitalised at Rs 431 crore. It will also
ramp up its agent force to 50,000 and double up branch network in the next two
years.
The increase in the paid-up capital by $100m or over Rs 450 crore, is meant to
finance its growth plans over the next two years, MetLife Global chairman and
CEO Rob Henrikson said here.
“We are likely to increase the agent force to 50,000 and double branch network
in the next 20 months,” Mr Henrikson said. The life insurance company, at
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present has 8,500 agent force and 43 branches across the country.
METLIFE PRODUCT DETAILS
MET GroupLife
Met Group Life is a highly convenient yearly term insurance product which pays a Face
Amount to the member against risk of death.
Benefits for the Employer
Provides financial security to the employees at a minimal cost
Serves as a strong retention tool and as a loyalty building measure
Hassle free administration and enrollment – Free Cover Limit
Premium payable is an approved business expense under the current Income
Tax laws.#
Allows for uniform business expense to cover fluctuating mortality risk
Benefits for the Employee
Provides financial security to the family and dependents of the employee
Hassle free enrollment
The Face Amount is not taxable in the hands of the beneficiary
Cheaper than individual coverage Option available to convert from Group to
Individual policy while leaving the company
Met Group Life in lieu of EDLI
All employers to whom the Employee's PF and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952
apllies have a statutory obligation to subscribe to Employee's Deposit Linked Insurance
Scheme 1976. Met Group Life in lieu of EDLI allows your employees to enjoy a better
premium to coverage ratio.
The insurance benefit is equal to the average balance to the credit of the deceased
employee in the Provident Fund during the last 12 months.
29
Features of Met Group Life in lieu of EDLI:
Offers a better premium to coverage ratio
Easy & quick execution of the scheme
The cover provided is available without any medical evidence
The product can be customised (ADB Rider)
Met Group Riders
Met Group Riders are add-ons that are available in conjunction with the base group life
insurance product, to maximise benefits from the group life insurance.
There are 4 riders available.
Group Accidental Death Benefit Rider (ADB)
- Pays 100% of the ADB face amount in case of death of the insured due to Accident
Group Accidental Permanent Total Disability Rider (APTD)
- Pays upto 100% of the APTD face amount in case of total and permanent disability of
the insured as a result of the accident
Group Accident Permanent Partial Disability Rider (APPD)
- Pays a percentage of the APPD face amount on irrecoverable loss of use of limb,
sight, hearing or speech.
Group Critical Illness Rider
1. Additional Option: Pays 100% on 11 specified Critical Illness conditions
2. Accelerated Option: Pays a %age of the base policy face amount on diagnosis of any
of the 11 specified Critical Illness conditions
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Met Gratuity
Met Gratuity is a unit-linked non-participating scheme of MetLife, and is designed to
help the organization to scientifically estimate their gratuity liability along together with
providing flexible plan features. The organization (employer/trustee) will be able to
customize their investment option commensurate with the required risk/return profile.
Features of the plan :
Scheme will be administered through the creation of a Trust; An existing Trust
can opt for the scheme by transferring the funds
Investment in two Investment Fund options - Debt and Balanced
Switching between investment fund options allowed
Scientific actuarial estimation of past service gratuity liability
Future service gratuity can be covered through a group term insurance plan
Advantages of Met Gratuity plan :
With multiple investment fund options, the employers get the flexibility in asset
allocation enabling them to realize a better return
Facility of switching between Funds caters to the employers’ choice of
investment profile and risk taking appetite
The life insurance on Future Service Liability enhances the benefit amount
Transparent and low charge structure, detailed to upfront and no hidden charges
Easy administrative procedures in claim settlement
Assistance in formation of Trust
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METLIFE SERVICES
Services
MetLife offers the following services
Defined Service Parameters
Easy Policy administration
Strong & reliable operations and underwriting team
Accumulation
Worldwide, accumulation products help our customers invest wisely and enjoy benefits
during those important phases of life – be it their children’s education, marriage or
buying a house. In addition to providing risk coverage. MetLife's accumulation products
are ideal for those who like to avail of life cover as well as investment benefits.
The following policies are available under the accumulation plans:
Whole Life Policy
Endowment Policy
Money Back Policy
Whole Life Policy
As the most basic forms of Insurance, Whole Life Policy gives you cover of protection
as long as you live. As the inevitable happens, your near and dear ones get to enjoy the
sum assured. In a Whole Life Policy, you pay the same amount in premiums throughout
the term of the contract. Some Whole Life Policies let you pay premiums for a shorter
period such as 15, 20 or 25 years, but give your protection cover for longer than this
period. However, with these policies, you might have to pay a higher premium since the
payments are made during a shorter period.
Met 100- Limited Pay Whole life Non - Participating
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The Met 100 from MetLife is a Whole Life policy where you pay premiums for 15, 20 or
25 years. The sum assured is payable on death of the Insured or after he / she reaches
100 years of age
MET 100 (Non Participating Limited Pay Whole Life)
Suitability
The plan is suitable for those who
Want life time protection
Want to pay affordable premium
Want access to the cash value of the policy
Want tax advantages
Salient Features
MET 100 is a Whole Life plan.
Duration of the plan is for entire life or till 100 years of age.
Premiums cease at death or on expiry of the premium paying term whichever is
earlier.
This plan can be availed for terms 15, 20 or 25 years.
The plan is a Non Participating one and hence all Premium rates, Sum Assured,
Surrender Values and Paid up Values are guaranteed upfront.
If premiums have been paid for at least 3 years then the Policy acquires a
Guaranteed Surrender Value, which can be surrendered for cash for its full
Guaranteed Surrender Value.
Loan can be availed under the policy provided the policy is kept in force for 3
years (90% of the guaranteed surrender value can be taken as loan on
approval).
The policyholder has the option of converting the policy into a paid-up policy
whereby the policy can be kept in force by reducing the face amount in
accordance with the premiums paid.
33
The Premium modes available are: Annual, Semi-Annual, Quarterly, Monthly and
Payroll Savings Program (PSP).
Benefits
On Survival
Guaranteed Sum Assured at age 100.
On Death
During the Term of the plan, Nominee / Beneficiary shall receive the Guaranteed
Sum Assured on death.
Additional Riders
On Payment of additional premiums any one or more of the following riders can
be added to this Policy.
Accidental Death Benefit Rider
Term Rider
Waiver of Premium Rider
Critical Illness Rider
Other Conditions
Minimum Entry age: Age 0 last birthday.
Maximum Entry age: Age 70 last birthday for PPT of 15 years.
Age 65 last birthday for PPT of 20 years.
Age 60 last birthday for PPT of 25 years.
Minimum Face Amount: Rs. 50,000.
Maximum Face Amount: No Limit
Minimum premium Amount:
Annualized premium of Rs. 2,500 (not inclusive of the Rider Premium) for issue ages 15
and above.
34
Annualized premium of Rs. 1,000 (not inclusive of the Rider Premium) for issue ages
under 15.
Exclusions
In the event the Insured commits suicide, whether sane or insane at that time,
within one year from the effective date of insurance cover or the date of the Policy or the
date of the last reinstatement whichever is later, the benefit is restricted to the extent of
refunding the premium(s) received without interest, if any, less any expenses incurred
by us.
Indicative Rates (These are just indicative, please refer to our Premium calculator or
contact our FA to get the exact rates.)
Face Amount: Rs 5,00,000
MET 100
Age/PPT 15 20 25
25 7,670 6,500 5,900
35 9,655 8,205 7,475
45 13,860 11,880 10,915
Illustration
To get you a better picture of the Met 100, you should go through this example.
Ajay is 27 years and works for a software company in Bangalore. He was recently
married to Sangeeta. Ajay gets the Met 100 Limited pay version paying a premium of
Rs.6765 for 20 years. The sum assured to Ajay would be Rs.5,00,000. In addition to
this, Ajay’s policy has a critical illness rider added on for 2,00,000 that protects him
against 10 critical illnesses. For this he would be paying a premium of a mere additional
Rs. 744 a year.
35
Annual Premiums paid by Ajay Rs 6,765
Critical illness rider Rs 744
Total Yearly premium paid by Ajay Rs 7,509
What this means is for a mere Rs.7509 per year, Ajay has a Life Assured sum of Rs.5
lakhs. In case of the sudden unfortunate demise of Ajay, his family will receive a sum
assured of Rs. 5,00,000. In case Ajay develops one of those 10 critical illnesses within
60 years of age, Rs. 2,00,000 will be paid to the family for hospital and other expenses.
And the policy will still be in force even post the pay out of Rs 2,00,000.
MET 100 Gold (Participating Limited Pay Whole Life)
Suitability
The plan is suitable for those who
Want to share the future prosperity of the company by getting reversionary and
terminal bonuses
Want life time protection
Want to pay affordable premium
Want access to the cash value of the policy
Want tax advantages
Salient Features
MET 100 Gold (Par WL) is a Whole Life plan.
Duration of the plan is for entire life or till 100 years of age.
Premiums cease on death or on expiry of the premium paying term whichever is
earlier.
This plan can be availed for terms 15, 20, 25 years or Life (Age 85 minus Age at
entry).
The plan is a Participating one
No Bonus is payable for first two policy years. Thereafter a bonus as
declared by the company will be credited as reversionary bonus on the
policy anniversary. Company may also declare terminal bonus.
36
Reversionary Bonus: The bonus would be a % of basic face amount plus
accrued reversionary bonus, if any.
Terminal Bonus: if any, would be a % of accrued reversionary bonus,
which becomes payable on maturity or on death if it occurs after 10th
policy anniversary.
The participation in profit under this policy continues even after premium
paying term, provided premiums have been paid for full term.
Both Reversionary and Terminal Bonus are not guaranteed.
If premiums have been paid for at least 3 years then the Policy acquires a Cash
Surrender Value, which shall be determined by the company from time to time.
This cash surrender value will not be below the Guaranteed Cash Surrender
value which is calculated as 30% of the total premiums paid up to the date of
surrender excluding the first year premium and any extra premium.
Loan can be availed under the policy provided the policy is kept in force for 3
years (90% of the cash surrender value can be taken as loan on approval).
The policyholder has the option of converting the policy into a Non – Participating
paid-up policy whereby the policy can be kept in force by reducing the face
amount in accordance with the premiums paid.
The Premium modes available are: Annual, Semi-Annual, Quarterly, Monthly and
Payroll Savings Program (PSP).
Benefits
On Survival
The Face Amount plus accrued Reversionary bonus plus Terminal bonus, if any,
is payable upon survival to Age 100.
37
On Death
The Face Amount plus accrued Reversionary bonus plus Terminal bonus, if any,
is payable upon death prior to Age 100.
Additional Riders
On Payment of additional premiums any one or more of the following riders can
be added to this Policy.
Accidental Death Benefit Rider
Term Rider
Waiver of Premium Rider
Critical Illness Rider
Other Conditions
Minimum Entry age: Age 15 last birthday.
Maximum Entry age: Age 70 last birthday for term of 15 years.
Age 65 last birthday for term of 20 years.
Age 60 last birthday for term of 25 years.
Age 70 last birthday for Life-PPT policy
Minimum Face Amount: Rs. 50,000.
Maximum Face Amount: Rs. 499,000.
Minimum premium Amount: Annualized premium of Rs. 2,500 (not inclusive of
the Rider Premium).
Exclusions
In the event the Insured commits suicide, whether sane or insane at that time,
within one year from the effective date of insurance cover or the date of the Policy or the
date of the last reinstatement whichever is later, the benefit is restricted to the extent of
refunding the premium(s) received without interest, if any, less any expenses incurred
by us.
38
Indicative Rates (These are just indicative, please refer to our Premium calculator or
contact our FA to get the exact rates.)
Illustration
Mr.Tijori is 27 years old and works for a Courier Company in Bangalore. He recently
married Sudipta. Mr. Tijori buys a Met 100 Gold Par at a premium paying term of 20
years. He has a sum assured of Rs.3,00,000 at an yearly premium of Rs.7,404 and a
critical illness rider for Rs.2,00,000 that protects him against 10 critical illnesses at an
additional premium of just Rs.744 per year.
Annual Premiums paid by Tijori Rs 7,404
Critical illness rider Rs 744
Total Yearly premium Rs 8,148
In case of the sudden unfortunate demise of Mr. Tijori, his family will receive a sum
assured of Rs 3,00,000. In case Mr. Tijori is diagnosed with 10 critical illness till the age
of 60, Rs 2,00,000 will be paid to his family for hospital and other expenses. The policy
will still be in force post the pay out of Rs 2,00,000.
Endowment Policy
As the most popular of all policies, Endowment gives you the right mixture of risk
coverage and returns on investment. With an Endowment policy, you can get the sum
assured along with bonus (applicable in case of participating) accumulated at the end of
Face Amount: Rs 1,00,000
MET 100 Gold (Par WL)
Age/PPT 15 20 25 Life
25 2806 2333 2073 1740
35 3715 3072 2765 2391
45 5073 4231 3843 3502
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the term of the policy. Unlike the Whole Life Policy, the Endowment policies cover the
risk on life of the Insured (usually the breadwinner) till the time the children grow up and
are settled. By that time you could plan your policy to mature and can enjoy the
accumulated benefits in your own lifetime.
MET Suvidha
MET Suvidha, a flexible endowment plan, combines savings with security that provides
you the unique option of flexibility of choosing both, the term of the policy and the
premium paying term. It gives you the flexibility of choosing a term anywhere between
5-30 years. So that, you have greater flexibility in planning for various milestones in your
life. A policy with shorter term would be ideal to protect the key people in your business
also
MET Suvidha (Participating Endowment Assurance)
Suitability
The plan is suitable for those who
Want the saving and security in one policy.
Want to share the future prosperity of the company by getting reversionary and
terminal bonuses.
Want protection.
Irregular or shorter income earning spans.
Want tax advantages.
Salient Features
Choose any term between 15 - 30 year i.e for terms 15, 16, 17, 18…30 years.
Choose from various premium paying term namely single, limited (5 year and 10
years) and regular pay.
Avail Tax Benefits under Income tax act 1961.
The plan is a Participating one.
No Bonus is payable for first two policy years. Thereafter a bonus as
declared by the company will be credited as reversionary bonus on the
policy anniversary. Company may also declare terminal bonus.
40
Reversionary Bonus: It is an insurance amount in addition to the face
amount. If declared and vested, the reversionary bonus is payable,
together with the face amount, on death of the insured person or maturity
of the policy. The bonus will be credited at rates as declared by the
company, on the policy anniversary.
Terminal Bonus: if any, would be a % of accrued reversionary bonus,
which becomes payable on maturity or on death, if it occurs after the 10th
policy anniversary.
Both Reversionary and Terminal Bonus are not guaranteed as they are
based on the company's actual investment returns, mortality, persistency
and expense experience.
GSV for Regular Pay and Limited Pay: Guaranteed cash surrender value
calculated as 30% of the total premiums paid until the date of surrender,
excluding the first year premium and any extra premium, if all premiums have
been paid for at least 3 full years and/or the policy had been in force for 3 full
years
GSV for Single Pay: The guaranteed surrender value would be payable from
end of 2nd year onwards and would be equal to 90% of the premium paid,
excluding any extra premium.
Loan can be availed under the policy provided the policy is kept in force for 3
years (90% of cash Surrender Value at the end of the relevant policy year less
any unpaid premiums for that year and loan interest accrued to the end of that
year can be taken as loan on approval).
The Premium modes available are: Annual, Semi-Annual, Quarterly, Monthly and
Payroll Savings Program (PSP).
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The following are the brands available for Met Suvidha Par:
Band Minimum Amount Maximum Amount
Silver Rs 75,000 Rs 224,999
Gold Rs 225,000 Rs 349,999
Platinum Rs 250,000 No Limit
Sameer is 30 years old and works as an Area Sales Manger in a FMCG company. He
buys a 20 year term Met Suvidha par endowment assurance plan from MetLife India
Insurance for a sum assured of Rs 5,00,000. He pays an annual premium of Rs
21,685/-. The beneficiary of the policy is his wife Meera.
Total Yearly premium Rs 21,685
Amount available upon maturity Rs 5,00,000
In case of the unfortunate demise of Vijay during the term of the policy, Meera
(beneficiary) will receive the sum assured of Rs 5,00,000. At the end of the term of the
policy term Vijay will receive Rs 5,00,000 .
Benefits
On Maturity
The Face Amount plus accrued Reversionary bonus at rates as declared by the
company plus Terminal bonus, if any, is payable upon survival to maturity age.
42
On Death
The Face Amount plus accrued Reversionary bonus at rates as declared by the
company plus Terminal bonus, if any, is payable upon death during the policy
term.
Other Conditions
Minimum Entry age: Age 15 years last birthday
Maximum Entry age: Age 60 years last birthday
Maximum Maturity Age: Age 75 years last birthday
Minimum Face amount: Rs. 75,000
Maximum Face amount: No Limit
Minimum premium Amount: Annualized premium of Rs. 2,500 (not inclusive of
the Rider Premium)
Exclusions
In the event of the Insured committing suicide, whether sane or insane at that
time, within one year from the effective date of insurance cover or the date of the
Policy or the date of the last reinstatement whichever is later, the benefit is
restricted to the extent of refunding the premium(s) received without interest, if
any, less any expenses incurred by us.
MET Suvidha (Non Participating Endowment Assurance) Illustration
Suitability
The plan is suitable for those who
Want the saving and security in one policy.
Want protection.
Irregular or shorter income earning spans.
Want tax advantages.
Salient Features
Choose any term between 5 - 30 year i.e for terms 5, 6, 7, 8…30 years.
43
Choose from various premium paying term namely single, limited (5 year and 10
years) and regular pay.
Avail Tax Benefits under Income tax act 1961.
GSV for Regular Pay and Limited Pay: Guaranteed cash surrender value
calculated as 30% of the total premiums paid until the date of surrender,
excluding the first year premium and any extra premium, if all premiums have
been paid for at least 3 full years and/or the policy had been in force for 3 full
years
GSV for Single Pay: The guaranteed surrender value would be payable from
end of 2nd year onwards and would be equal to 90% of the premium paid,
excluding any extra premium.
Loan can be availed under the policy provided the policy is kept in force for 3
years (90% of cash Surrender Value at the end of the relevant policy year less
any unpaid premiums for that year and loan interest accrued to the end of that
year can be taken as loan on approval).
The Premium modes available are: Annual, Semi-Annual, Quarterly, Monthly and
Payroll Savings Program (PSP).
The following are the brands available for Met Suvidha Non-Par:
Band Minimum Amount Maximum Amount
Silver Rs 75,000 Rs 224,999
Gold Rs 225,000 Rs 349,999
Platinum Rs 350,000 No Limit
44
Illustration
Vijay is 32 and works as a brand manager in a FMCG company. He buys a 10 year
term Met Suvidha endowment assurance plan from MetLife India Insurance for a sum
assured of Rs.5,00,000. He pays an annual premium of Rs.42,440. The beneficiary of
the policy is his wife Meera.
Annual Premiums paid by Vijay Rs 42,440
Total Yearly premium Rs 21,685
Amount available upon maturity Rs 5,00,000
In case of the unfortunate demise of Vijay during the term of the policy, Meera
(beneficiary) will receive the sum assured of Rs.5,00,000. At the end of the term of the
policy term Vijay will receive Rs.5,00,000
Benefits
On Maturity
On the maturity of the Policy holder the 100% face amount is payable
On Death
The 100% of the Face Amount is payable upon death during the policy term.
Other Conditions
Minimum Entry age: Age 15 years last birthday
Maximum Entry age: Age 60 years last birthday
Maximum Maturity Age: Age 75 years last birthday
Minimum Face amount: Rs. 75,000
Maximum Face amount: No Limit
Minimum premium Amount: Annualized premium of Rs. 2,500
Exclusions
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In the event of the Insured committing suicide, whether sane or insane at that
time, within one year from the effective date of insurance cover or the date of the
Policy or the date of the last reinstatement whichever is later, the benefit is
restricted to the extent of refunding the premium(s) received without interest, if
any, less any expenses incurred by us.
MET Saral
You want the best out of life. Be it for yourself or your family. Having money when you
need it most. Met Saral , an endowment plan, gives you the chance to do exactly that.
With no medical tests and a simple application form, you could be the proud owner of
Rs. 1 Lakh , giving you the protection you need to live a life without worries
Met Saral
Introduction
The easiest way to ensure that you become a Lakhpati! The process has been made so
simple No medical check and sign a simplified application form and insurance cum
investment plan is yours.
Just need to write us a cheque and fill the application so we can begin your insurance
policy . The term offers you quick return options - 5 year term and 10 year term plan, at
the end of which you receive the sum assured as a lump sum of a lakh.
A timely and useful protection cum investment option that you will be happy you made.
So get in touch with you nearest MetLife Insurance desk and enjoy the rewards of an
endowment plan that MetLife India Insurance brings especially for you - Met Saral
What is Met Saral
Non Par Endowment with term of 5 and 10 year
Simplified application form
Guaranteed issue
No Medical Test
46
Tax Benefits under Sec 80 C and 10( 10 D) of Income tax act 1961
What is Met Saral
This policy is available for following ages and terms:
Minimum Entry Age: Age 15 years last birthday
Maximum Entry Age: Age 50 years last birthday
Maximum Maturity Age: Age 60 years last birthday
Face amount: Rs. 1,00,000 (fixed)
Tax Benefits under Sec 80 C and 10( 10 D) of Income tax act 1961
Premium Paying Modes
The product is available in the Semi Annual & Annual mode only
Riders
There are no riders attached to the base policy
Other Provisions
Exclusion on Base policy: In the event the Insured commits suicide, whether sane or
insane at that time, within one year from the effective date of insurance cover or the
date of the policy or the date of the last reinstatement whichever is later, the benefit is
restricted to the extent of refunding the premium(s) received without interest, if any, less
any expenses incurred by us.
Money Back Policy
As the most popular accumulation policy across consumers in different stages of their
life, Money back pays you back lump sums throughout the term of the policy, at regular
intervals. These periodic lump sums are usually a percentage of the sum assured and
the insurance continues through the term of the policy.
47
Met Sukh Money Back Non Participating
This plan allows you to plan your expenses you might incur at different stages of your
life. Apart from having life cover, you could get money back (depending on the sum
assured) at regular 5 year intervals
MET SUKH (Non Participating Money Back Plan)
Suitability
The plan is suitable for those who
Want money back at regular intervals
Want to grow savings
Want the protection of insurance
Want tax advantages
Salient Features
A money back policy where lump sum amounts are paid to the life assured at
periodic intervals on survival
Premiums cease on death or on expiry of term whichever is earlier.
This plan can be availed for terms 20 years.
The plan is a Non Participating one and hence all Premium rates, Sum Assured,
Surrender Values and Paid up Values are guaranteed upfront.
Provided the policy is in full force, a guaranteed addition of Rs.100.00 per Rs.1,
000 of Face Amount will be added to the Face Amount at the end of each policy
anniversary and will be payable either on the date of maturity or on earlier death
of the Life Insured
If premiums have been paid for at least 3 years then the Policy acquires a
Guaranteed Surrender Value, which can be surrendered for cash for its full
Guaranteed Surrender Value.
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The policyholder has the option of converting the policy into a paid-up policy
whereby the policy can be kept in force by reducing the face amount in
accordance with the premiums paid.
The Premium modes available are: Annual, Semi-Annual, Quarterly, Monthly and
Payroll Savings Program (PSP).
Benefits On Survival
Term At the end
ofAmount of money back
For Example, on a Rs.
1,00,000 policy
20
years
5th year 20% of sum assured Rs. 20,000/-
10th year 20% of sum assured Rs. 20,000/-
15th year 20% of sum assured Rs. 20,000/-
20th year40% Plus accrued guaranteed
additionsRs. 2,40,000/-
On Death
During the Term of the plan, Nominee / Beneficiary shall receive the Guaranteed
Sum Assured plus accrued guaranteed additions
Additional Riders
On Payment of additional premiums any one or more of the following riders can
be added to this Policy.
Accidental Death Benefit Rider
Term Rider
Waiver of Premium Rider
Critical Illness Rider
Other Conditions
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Minimum Entry age: Age 15 last birthday.
Maximum Entry age: Age 55 last birthday.
Minimum Face Amount: Rs. 75,000.
Maximum Face Amount: No Limit
Minimum premium Amount: Annualized premium of Rs. 8,000 (not inclusive of
the Rider Premium)
Exclusions
In the event the Insured commits suicide, whether sane or insane at that time,
within one year from the effective date of insurance cover or the date of the
Policy or the date of the last reinstatement whichever is later, the benefit is
restricted to the extent of refunding the premium(s) received without interest, if
any, less any expenses incurred by us.
Indicative Premium (These are just indicative, please refer to our Premium calculator
or contact our FA to get the exact rates.)
Face Amount: Rs 5,00,000
MET Sukh
Age/Term 20
25 49380
35 49915
45 51635
Illustration
Mr Vijay is aged 29 and works in a real estate company as a manager. He buys a Met
Sukh policy for a face amount of Rs 3,00,000 to fund periodic expenses incurring in his
50
life over the next 20 years - like his child’s education, house and marriage expenses of
his daughter. Mr. Vijay also opts for an additional critical illness rider of 2,00,000.
Annual Premium for the base policy Rs 29880
Premium for Critical illness rider Rs 628
Annual Premiums paid by Mr Vijay Rs 30508
For this premium, Mr.Vijay gets to enjoy periodical returns as money back. Please find
the amounts below indicative of the amounts Mr.Vijay gets in 5-year gaps.
Age 34 60000
Age 39 60000
Age 44 60000
Age 49 720000*
* includes the Guaranteed additions of Rs 100 per Rs 1000 of sum assured
Apart from the periodical money-back returns, his wife will receive a sum assured of
Rs.3,00,000 and accrued guranteed additions, should the unfortunate happen during
policy tem. And during the term of the policy, if Mr.Vijay contacts any of the insured
critical illnesses, he would be paid Rs.2,00,000 to fund his medical and hospitalization
expenses.
Met Bhavishya
This is a non par money back policy that provides guaranteed returns that specially
designed to meet children’s educational expenses at different life stages. There are two
options to choose from and fixed term benefits, periodic additions & terminal additions
are payable based on the option that you select. The policy is suitable for parents
having children between the age 0-12 children and parents in the age group 20-50
years old
Met Bhavishya (Money Back Policy)
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This is a non par money back policy that provides guaranteed returns that specially
designed to meet children’s educational expenses at different life stages. There are two
options to choose from and fixed term benefits, periodic additions & terminal additions
are payable based on the option that you select. The policy is suitable for parents
having children between the age 0-12 children and parents in the age group 20-50
years old.
Met Bhavishya could be the ideal plan if:
This is a money back policy where lump sum amounts are paid to the life
assured to fund the educational needs of the child
There are two options A and B depending on the funding requirement to choose
from depending on the requirement of the fund
Guaranteed additions of Rs 50 / Rs 1000 of sum assured, and terminal additions
of 20% of the guaranteed additions payable for every year premium paid
provided the policy is in force
In built Waiver of premium in case death of the life assured and the fixed term
benefits will continue post the death of the life assured to the beneficiary
The beneficiary in Met Bhavishya policy is the child
The policy can be customised through 4 riders - Accidental Death Benefit, Critical
Illness (10 illness), Waiver of Premium (Accidental Disability) and Term Rider
Illustration
Mr Ajay is aged 26 year years old and works for a software company in Bangalore. He
was recently married to Sangeeta and has a 6 month year old baby. Mr Ajay buys Met
Bhavishya option B. He pays a premium of Rs 51,030 per year. He has a sum assured
of Rs 10,00,000.
Face Amount: Rs 1,00,000
Child’s
age Payout
For Example for a
policy of Rs 10,00,000
17 20% of FA Rs.2,00,000
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21 30% of FA Rs.3,00,000
23 50% of FA Rs.5,00,000
25
Rs 50 per Rs 1000 of Sum assured ( Guaranteed
additions ) and 20% of Guaranteed additions For
25 years of premium paying
Rs.15,00,000
In case of the unfortunate death of Mr Ajay
Sum assured of Rs 10,00,000
Waiver of all future premiums
Fixed term benefits will continue as per the policy schedule
Other Conditions
Option A Option B
Minimum age of child 0 0
Maximum age of child 8 12
Minimum entry age of parent 20 20
Maximum entry age of parent 50 50
Minimum Face amount Rs 1,00,000
Maximum Face amount : No Limit
Minimum Annualised Premium Amount Rs 6000
Premium paying options
You have the choice of paying your premium either in yearly, half-yearly or quarterly
modes, depending on your convenience
Tax Benefits
53
The Premium paid under this plan will qualify for deduction under Sec 80 C of the
income tax act 1961 and the returns are fully exempt under Sec 10 (10 D)
54
General exclusion
In case the life insured commits suicide within 1 (one) year of the commencement of the
policy, no benefits outlined in the plan would be payable.
Exclusions for Accidental Death Benefit, Term Rider and Waiver of Premium
The Accidental Death Benefit, Term Rider & Waiver of Premium would not be paid out
in the following circumstances:
Self-inflicted injuries, suicide, insanity, immorality of the proposer, or his
committing any breach of law or being under the influence of drugs, liquor etc.
When the life insured is engaged in aviation or aeronautics other than as a
passenger on a licensed commercial aircraft operating on a scheduled route.
Due to injuries from war (whether war is declared or not), invasion, hunting, other
dangerous hobbies or activities, or having been on duty in military, para-military,
security or police organization.
Prohibition of rebates
Section 41 of the Insurance Act, 1938 states:
No person shall allow or offer to allow, either directly or indirectly, as an
inducement to any person to take out or renew or continue an insurance in
respect of any kind of risk relating to lives or property in India, any rebate of the
whole or part of the commission payable or any rebate of the premium shown on
the policy, nor shall any person taking out or renewing or continuing a policy
accept any rebate, except such rebate as may be allowed in accordance with the
published prospectuses or tables of the insurer.
Any person making default in complying with the provision of this section shall be
punishable with fine, which may extend to five hundred rupees.
55
EMPLOYEE BENEFITS VISION
To help the employee to select the right mix of life insurance and services features to fit
there given situation making grup life a cornerstone to building financial freedom.
Protection
Protection plans, as the name implies, protects your loved ones against liabilities that
might be left out, should something unfortunate happen to you. For instance, if you have
a home loan pending, Protection Plans pay off the balance amounts on your demise
and lets them enjoy the asset.
MetLife has a comprehensive plan that allows you to provide that all-important shelter
for your family against life’s uncertainties.
MET Suraksha - TROP
The most important things in life are inexpensive. If you think precious life cover costs
the earth, think again. Met Suraksha, a non participating term assurance plan, offers
cover for a large sum assured at rates that are very economical. Met Suraksha is an
invaluable protection at a not-so-valuable cost.
MET Suraksha - TROP
Suitability
The plan is suitable for those who want
Low cost protection for a specified period
Tax benefit throughout the premium paying term
Return of premium with guaranteed additions at the end of the premium paying
term
Multiple premium paying option
Customisation with 2 riders - Accidental Death Benefit and Critical Illness
56
Salient Features
Met Suraksha ( TROP ) has policy term of 15 & 20 year
Met Suraksha has three premium paying options namely single, limited (3 year
limited pay) and regular pay for all policy terms
The Premium modes available are: Annual, Semi-Annual, Quarterly, Monthly and
Payroll Savings Program (PSP)
Guaranteed additions are at 10% of premiums (inclusive of policy fee) paid
(excluding extra premiums) paid on the maturity of the policy
Benefits
Death Benefit
o The Death benefit for Met Suraksha - Term Assurance with return of
premium is the sum assured
Maturity Benefit
o The Maturity Benefit for Met Suraksha TROP is the return of premium and
10% guaranteed additions
Premium Paying Options
The following option are available for Met Suraksha TROP:
o Single Pay.
o 3 year limited Pay.
o Regular Pay.
Other Conditions
Minimum issue age Age 18 year last birthday
Maximum issue age Age 50 years last birthday
57
Met Suraksha Level Term to 60
Maximum expiry age Age 65 years last birthday
Terms 15/20 years
Minimum sum assured Rs.2,00,000
Maximum sum assured
The maximum face amount will be determined on a
case by case basis based on medical and financial
underwriting.
Minimum annual
premium Rs2,500 p.a
Illustration
Mr Sameer is a 30 year old man working in an IT company in Bangalore . He
buys a Met Suraksha TROP policy with a sum assured of Rs 20, 00,000 for a 20
year term . The total premiums paid would be Rs 9620/- per annum. His wife
Sunita is a beneficiary
In case of the unfortunate death of Mr Sameer his wife Sunita will receive Rs
20,00,000 . At maturity Mr Sameer would receive Rs 211640/ ( Premiums paid
+Guaranteed additions )
Exclusions
In the event the Insured committing suicide, whether sane or insane at that time,
within one year from the effective date of insurance cover or the date of the
Policy or the date of the last reinstatement whichever is later, the benefit is
restricted to the extent of refunding the premium(s) received without interest, if
any, less any expenses incurred by us.
MET Suraksha - TA
58
The most important things in life are inexpensive. If you think precious life cover costs
the earth, think again. Met Suraksha, a non participating term assurance plan, offers
cover for a large sum assured at rates that are very economical. Met Suraksha is an
invaluable protection at a not-so-valuable cost
MET Suraksha
Suitability
The plan is suitable for those who want
Low cost protection for a specified period
Tax benefit throughout the premium paying term
Multiple premium paying option
Salient Features
Met Suraksha ( TA) has policy term of 5/10/15/20 /25 years and level term to age
60 years.
Met Suraksha has three premium paying options namely single, limited (3 year
limited pay) and regular pay for all policy terms
The Premium modes available are: Annual, Semi-Annual, Quarterly, Monthly and
Payroll Savings Program (PSP).
Benefits
Death Benefit
o The Death benefit for Met Suraksha - Term Assurance is the sum
Maturity Benefit
o There is no Maturity Benefit of Met Suraksha
Premium Paying Options
The following option are available for MET Pension:
59
o Single Pay.
o 3 year limited Pay.
o Regular Pay.
Other Conditions
Minimum issue age 18 Years Age Last Birthday
Maximum issue ageMet Suraksha - TA: Age 60 years last birthday
Met Suraksha Level Term to 60
Maximum expiry age
Met Suraksha - TA: Age 65 years last birthday
Met Suraksha Level Term to 60: Age 60 years last
birthday
Minimum sum assured For Met Suraksha - TA: Rs.50,000
Maximum sum assured
For Met Suraksha - TA: The maximum face amount
will be determined on a case by case basis based
on medical and financial underwriting.
Minimum annual
premium For Met Suraksha - TA: Rs.1,000 p.a.
Illustration
Mr Sameer is a 30 year old man working in an IT company in Hyderabad . He
buys a Met Suraksha policy with a sum assured of Rs 20, 00,000 for a 10 year
term . The total premiums paid would be Rs 4500/- His wife Sunita is a
beneficiary
In case of the unfortunate death of Mr Sameer his wife Sunita will receive Rs
20,00,000 .
Exclusions
60
o In the event the Insured committing suicide, whether sane or insane at
that time, within one year from the effective date of insurance cover or the
date of the Policy or the date of the last reinstatement whichever is later,
the benefit is restricted to the extent of refunding the premium(s) received
without interest, if any, less any expenses incurred by us.
Met-Mortgage Protector Single Pay / Limited Pay (MRTA)
Met-Mortgage protector Single Pay / Limited Pay is specially designed to protect your
dependents against the liabilities incurred on a housing loan. Available in terms of 5
through 25 years, the Met Mortgage Limited pay version continues even after the
premium paying term is over.
Met-Mortgage Protector Single Pay / Limited Pay (MRTA)
Met-Mortgage Protector Single Pay / Limited Pay is specially designed to protect your
dependents against the liabilities incurred on a housing loan. Available in terms of 5
through 25 years, the Met Mortgage Limited pay version continues even after the
premium paying term is over
Met Mortgage Protector could be the ideal plan for you if you’re looking for -
An affordable plan that has been designed to help your family repay the
outstanding home loan in case of your unfortunate death.
Premium payment options – single pay or limited pay
Tax Benefits
The Premium paid under this plan will qualify for deduction under Sec 80 C of the
income tax act 1961 and the returns are fully exempt under Sec 10 (10 D).
61
Premium paying options
You have the choice of paying your premium either in yearly, half-yearly or quarterly
modes, depending on your convenience.
Indicative Premiums (These are just indicative, please refer to our Premium calculator
or contact our FA to get the exact rates.)
Face Amount: Rs 5,00,000
Loan Interest: 11%
MET Mortgage Protector (SP)
Age/Term 5 10 15
25 4609 6906 8704
35 5113 8278 11183
45 7916 14272 20733
Face Amount: Rs 5,00,000
Loan Interest: 11%
MET Mortgage Protector
(LP)
Age/Term 10 15 20
25 1700 1675 1683
35 1948 2001 2093
45 3119 3430 3740
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Other Conditions
To insure your family under Met Mortgage SP, you need to fulfill the following
conditions:
Minimum age of Entry – 18, last birthday
Maximum age of Entry – 60, last birthday
Maximum Maturity Age – 65, last birthday
The minimum face amount is Rs.50,000/-
There is no limit on the maximum face amount
Minimum Premium Amount – As applicable to the minimum face amount
General Exclusion
In case the life insured commits suicide within 1 (one) year of the commencement of the
policy, no benefits outlined in the plan would be payable.
Prohibition of rebates
Section 41 of the Insurance Act, 1938 states: -
No person shall allow or offer to allow, either directly or indirectly, as an
inducement to any person to take out or renew or continue an insurance in
respect of any kind of risk relating to lives or property in India, any rebate of the
whole or part of the commission payable or any rebate of the premium shown on
the policy, nor shall any person taking out or renewing or continuing a policy
accept any rebate, except such rebate as may be allowed in accordance with the
published prospectuses or tables of the insurer.
Any person making default in complying with the provision of this section shall be
punishable with fine, which may extend to five hundred rupees.
Retirement
63
There's a day in all our lives that we look forward to with anticipation and some anxiety
too - the first day of retirement. A time when finances are crucial. A time when you want
to be sure that you are financially independent and secure.
MetLife has comprehensive plans that allow you to build a fund to enjoy financial
security on retirement.
MET Pension - Participating Deferred Annuity
MET Pension (Par) gives you a friendly helping hand so you can be independent even
after retirement. It helps you build a fund to enjoy financial security on retirement. This
participating deferred annuity plan comes with or without life cover.
With this plan, you can now lead a retired life without worrying about financial
insecurities
MET Pension - Participating Deferred Annuity
Suitability
The plan is suitable for those who want
Financial security after retirement
Tax benefit throughout the premium paying term
Multiple premium paying option
Salient Features
MET Pension is structured as a participating endowment and a participating
immediate annuity.
Save up to Rs 33,660 in tax for every year of premium payment subject to
conditions given under income tax 1961 (* For person having a taxable income of
above Rs. 10 lakhs).
Choose from various premium paying term namely single, limited (3 year and 5
years) and regular pay.
64
A one-time lump sum addition equal to 10% of the face amount is payable along
with the maturity proceeds.
Withdraw up to 33% of the annuity amount tax free and chose to buy an annuity
with the balance amount from not only MetLife but any other insurance
company.
MetLife gives you only one annuity option namely - Life annuity.
The plan is a Participating one.
No Bonus is payable for first two policy years. Thereafter a bonus as
declared by the company will be credited as reversionary bonus on the
policy anniversary. Company may also declare terminal bonus.
Reversionary Bonus: It is an insurance amount in addition to the face
amount. If declared and vested, the reversionary bonus is payable,
together with the face amount, on death of the insured person or maturity
of the policy. The bonus will be credited at rates as declared by the
company, on the policy anniversary.
Terminal Bonus: if any, would be a % of accrued reversionary bonus,
which becomes payable on maturity or on death, if it occurs after the 10th
policy anniversary.
Both Reversionary and Terminal Bonus are not guaranteed as they are
based on the company's actual investment returns, mortality, persistency
and expense experience
The Premium modes available are: Annual, Semi-Annual, Quarterly, Monthly and
Payroll Savings Program (PSP).
Benefits
Death Benefit
Endowment phase: In case of the death of the policy holder during the
endowment phase, there will be return of premium plus reversionary bonus if
any
Immediate annuity phase: There will be no death benefit during the annuity
phase for the beneficiary of the policy
65
Maturity Benefit
The amount of maturity benefit at the end of the endowment phase is equal to
the face amount plus guaranteed addition plus attached reversionary bonuses, if
any plus terminal bonus, if any.
1/3 of the maturity benefit will be paid out to you as a lump sum, tax free. The
balance must be used to convert into a life annuity either with MetLife India
Insurance or with any other insurance company offering annuities.
Premium Paying Options
The following option are available for MET Pension:
Single Pay.
3 year limited Pay.
5 year limited Pay.
Regular Pay.
Illustration
Mr Ajay is a 27 year old man working in an IT company in Pune having annual Taxable
Income 6 lakhs. He buys a Met Pension policy with a sum assured of Rs 5, 00,000. He
chooses a vesting age ( retirement ) of 55 years . This vesting age would be the age
when the annuity would start . The total premiums paid would be Rs 18,550/-.
Guaranteed Illustrated
(Returns at 3%)
Illustrated
(Returns at 6%)
Total Premium Paid (Rs.) 519,000 519,000 519,000
Total Maturity amount at
vesting (Rs.)550,000 1,215,040 2,590,895
Amount receivable under
Life Annuity *(Rs. p.a.) 18,920 41,797 89,127
66
What You Pay Annually
Annual Premium Paid on Basic Policy (Rs.) 18,550
Annual Tax Savings u/c 80CCC (Rs.)** 5,676
Net Annual Premium if tax savings are considered (Rs.) 12,874
* The Annuities calculations shown in the table below are based on the current annuity
rates and the assumptions taken in the benefit illustration. The Annuity shown in the
table are indicative and are not guaranteed.
** If the Annual Taxable Income is more than Rs. 10,00,000 then the tax savings will be
33.66% of the amount eligible under Section 80CCC, else 30.60% /20.40% /10.20%
Note : From the assessment year 2006 - 07, deduction under Sec 80 C, 80 CCC
and 80 CCD cannot exceed Rs,1,00,000.
Other Conditions
Minimum Entry age: Age 18 years last birthday
Minimum age for vesting age (retirement): Age 45 years last birthday
Maximum age for vesting age (retirement): Age 70 years last birthday
Minimum Face amount: Rs. 50,000
Minimum premium Amount: Annualized premium of Rs. 4,000 (not inclusive of
the Rider Premium)
Minimum policy term of 10 years
Exclusions
In the event the Insured committing suicide, whether sane or insane at that time,
within one year from the effective date of insurance cover or the date of the
67
Policy or the date of the last reinstatement whichever is later, the benefit is
restricted to the extent of refunding the premium(s) received without interest, if
any, less any expenses incurred by us.
Met Advantage Plus - Unit-linked Pension Plan (Non Par)
Met Advantage Plus is a Unit-linked Pension Plan that works hard for you when you
stop working. And like the name suggests, it comes with the maximum number of
advantages. For one, it ensures that you lead a comfortable lifestyle. Always. More
importantly, it helps you plan ahead, keeping in mind the escalating cost of living.
What’s more, unlike any other plan, Met Advantage Plus comes with six investment
options, eight annuity options, and much.
MULTI PURPOSES
Met Smart Plus & Met Smart Premier
Unit-Linked Life Insurance Plans (Non-Par)
You want to protect your family from life’s uncertainties; at the same time, you wish
insurance would yield higher returns on your investments. You want your insurance
policy to help realize all your dreams. Met Smart Plus & Met Smart Premier is our
answer for your quest.
Met Smart Plus & Met Smart Premier are transparent, Unit Linked whole life plans that
mature at the age 100. The premium you pay is used partly for insurance cover and the
balance is invested in funds to buy units.
Met Smart Plus - Single Pay &
Met Smart Premier - Single Pay
Unit-Linked Life Insurance Plans (Non-Par)
68
At times, you feel the need for a plan that offers you more that just protection. A plan
that makes your money work that extra bit for you. And offers you an excellent balance
between wealth creation and protection.
Presenting Met Smart Plus Single Pay and Met Smart Premier Single Pay. All it needs
is a single payment in return for a lifetime of your family’s protection.
Add Ons
At MetLife, we want our customers to get maximum out of their lives. Be it in terms of
making their dreams come true or getting the best out of their insurance plan. With this
in mind, we created MetMore, which allows you to customize your life insurance plan.
So that it can be tailored to meet the unique needs of you and your family members.
MetMore offers you a choice of riders, which are optional contracts that allow you to
enjoy additional benefits. They are always attached to the basic policy at the time of
purchasing it, and cannot be bought separately or independently. Each rider comes with
it’s own premium rates and separate policy conditions. The premium, nature and
characteristics of the rider are based on the base policy to which the rider is
attached.
So go on, get more out of life.
ACCIDENTAL DEATH BENEFIT (ADB)
Provides for the payment of an additional amount should death occur as a result of an
accident by outward violent and visible means before age 60 years.
Death of the life insured must occur within 180 days from the date of accident
ACCIDENTAL DEATH BENEFIT (ADB)
Provides for the payment of an additional amount should death occur as a result of an
accident by outward violent and visible means before age 60 years.
Death of the life insured must occur within 180 days from the date of accident.
69
Eligibility criteria
Minimum age at entry 15 years age last birthday
Maximum age at entry 55 years age last birthday
Maximum age at maturity 60 years age last birthday
Minimum face amount Rs 50,000
Maximum face amount Rs 10,00,000 or base policy face amount which ever is
lower
Termination of the Rider
The rider will be terminated on the earlier of
The end of the grace period of the first unpaid premium
The policy anniversary on which the life assured is aged 60 years (as on last
birthday) or the maturity date of the base policy which ever is earlier
Death of the life assured
Exclusions for Accidental Death Benefit (ADB)
The sum assured under this rider is not payable if Death is caused (or contributed to)
by:
Any infection, except infection caused by an external visible wound accidentally
sustained
Suicide
Homicide
Self inflicted injury; intentional self-inflicted injury by the life insured
Drug abuse including alcohol or solvent abuse
War, riot and civil commotion
Criminal acts: committing an assault, a criminal offence, an illegal activity or any
breach of law
Aviation other than as a passenger in a commercially licensed aircraft or aboard
a non-military flight for the purpose of descent from the aircraft while in flight
Hazardous sports and pastimes
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Nuclear contamination
71
TERM RIDER
The term rider allows the payment of an additional amount should death of the
life insured occur before 60 years. You can match your changing needs (risk
protection) and buy additional insurance at a low cost.
TERM RIDER
The term rider allows the payment of an additional amount should death of the life
insured occur before 60 years. You can match your changing needs (risk protection)
and buy additional insurance at a low cost.
Eligibility criteria
Minimum age at entry 15 years age last birthday
Maximum age at entry 55 years age last birthday
Maximum age at maturity 60 years age last birthday
Minimum face amount Rs 50,000
Maximum face amount base policy face amount
Termination of the rider
The rider will be terminated on the earlier of
The end of the grace period of the first unpaid premium
The policy anniversary on which the life assured is aged 60 years (as on last
birthday) or the maturity date of the base policy which ever is earlier
Death of the life assured
Exclusions for Term Rider
No amount shall be payable under this benefit if death was caused due to
Suicide: within one year of the date of issue or reinstatement of the policy
Self inflicted injury: intentional self-inflicted injury by the life insured
Drug abuse: alcohol or solvent abuse
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War and civil commotion
Criminal acts: committing an assault, a criminal offence, an illegal activity
or any breach of law
Aviation other than as a passenger in a commercially licensed aircraft or aboard
a non-military flight for the purpose of descent from the aircraft while in flight
Hazardous sports and pastimes
Nuclear contamination
WAIVER OF PREMIUM
In case of total and permanent disability of the life assured due to accident by outward,
violent or visible means, this rider allows premium on base policy and attached riders, if
any, to be waived. Total and permanent disability means that at the time at which
disability starts or any time thereafter, the life assured can never be capable of doing
something to earn wages, compensation or profits. The total disability should last for at
least 6 consecutive months. There is no disability cover during the first 6 months of the
policy
WAIVER OF PREMIUM
In case of total and permanent disability of the life assured due to accident by outward,
violent or visible means, this rider allows premium on base policy and attached riders, if
any, to be waived. Total and permanent disability means that at the time at which
disability starts or any time thereafter, the life assured can never be capable of doing
something to earn wages, compensation or profits. The total disability should last for at
least 6 consecutive months. There is no disability cover during the first 6 months of the
policy.
Eligibility criteria
Minimum age at entry 15 years age last birthday
Maximum age at entry 55 years age last birthday
Maximum age at maturity 60 years age last birthday
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Termination of the Rider
The rider will be terminated on the earlier of
The end of the grace period of the first unpaid premium
The policy anniversary on which the life assured is aged 60 years (as on last
birthday) or the maturity date of the base policy which ever is earlier
Death of the life assured
Exclusions for Waiver Of Premium (WOP)
The premium shall not be waived for total permanent disability caused due to:
Infection, except infection caused by an external visible wound accidentally
sustained
Homicide
Diseases in presence of an HIV infection
Self inflicted injury; intentional self-inflicted injury by the life insured
Drug abuse including alcohol or solvent abuse
War, riot and civil commotion
Criminal acts: committing an assault, a criminal offence, an illegal activity or any
breach of law
Aviation other than as a passenger in a commercially licensed aircraft or aboard
a non military flight for the purpose of descent from the aircraft while in flight
Hazardous sports and pastimes
Nuclear contamination
CRITICAL ILLNESS
Critical illness provides payment of an additional amount on diagnosis of as many as 10
critical conditions. You can have the money to pay for the illness when you need it
rather than after the treatment is over, Thus helping you protect yourself against any
health or lifestyle risk.
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CRITICAL ILLNESS
Critical illness provides payment of an additional amount on diagnosis of as
many as 10 critical conditions. You can have the money to pay for the illness
when you need it rather than after the treatment is over, thus helping you protect
yourself against any health or lifestyle risk.
1. Insured critical illness conditions
2. Heart attack
3. Stroke
4. Cancer
5. Surgery to coronary arteries
6. Kidney failure
7. Major organ transplant
8. Aorta surgery
9. Blindness
10.Heart valve replacement
11.Paraplegia
Eligibility criteria
Minimum age at entry 18 years age last birthday
Maximum age at entry 55 years age last birthday
Maximum age at maturity 60 years age last birthday
Minimum face amount Rs 50,000
Maximum face amount Rs 10,00,000 or base policy face amount which
ever is lower
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Waiting period
No amount will be payable under this benefit in respect of critical illness
diagnosed within a period of 90 days from the date of issue or reinstatement of
the policy.
Survival period
The benefit amount under this rider is payable only if the insured survives for the
period of at least 30 days from the date of diagnosis of the insured critical illness.
Termination
The riders will terminate on the earliest of any one of the four mentioned below
On diagnosis of the critical illness within 90 days from the issue date or
reinstatement of the policy
Lapse, surrender, conversion of the base policy into paid up insurance
The policy anniversary on which the life assured is aged 60 years (as on
last birthday) or the maturity date of the base policy which ever is earlier
The date of first occurrence of the event on which benefit becomes
payable
SERVICES TO VALUABLE CUSTOMERS
Medical Provider Network
You will probably be asked to have a medical examination when you apply for life
insurance, depending on your age and the amount of insurance you're buying. This can
include a basic physical exam, urine specimen, blood work, ECG and X-ray. For high
amounts of life insurance, Treadmill ECGs and Mammogram are usually required, too.
There is a chart that lists medical requirements based on your age and the amount of
insurance for which you're applying. Typically, insurance medical exams are done by
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licensed health professionals.
Here's how it works?
What are we looking for?
Our Medical Provider Network facility for our customers include a network of preferred
diagnostic centres, general practitioners, consultants and hospitals which could be
accessed and used by the customers, in various locations in India. The network
providers are also subjected to periodic reviews for efficiency, effectiveness and
standard of service provided. Using these reviews, we enroll new medical providers
requested and may remove certain medical providers from our network, owing to a
deficiency in any one or all of our review criteria. These updates to our network are then
communicated to all our regional offices nationwide for their on-going use.
The network of preferred diagnostic centres around the country have been selected for
their ability to provide a wide range of services, their geographical location, efficient
administrative processes and reputation for provision of high quality care.
Paying your Renewal Premiums
At MetLife we have a host of options for you to remit your renewals premiums.
Payments can be made through:
Cheques / Drafts: At any of our offices or a drop box located near you. Please ensure
that the cheque/Draft is drawn out as per the image alongside.
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To enable faster processing of your cheque / draft please ensure
The payment slip is completed and attached with the payment.
In case you have multiple policies, please deposit Separate payments for each
policy.
Note: No post dated or Outstation cheques would be accepted.
Cash:: In person, by the policy owner, at any of the MetLife offices. Please do not
deposit any cash in the drop boxes.
Standing instructions: You can make premium payments by using your Master or
Visa credit cards. Do feel free to contact us Toll Free on 1800-425-6969 or email us at
[email protected] for additional details on how to process a standing instruction
request for your policy.
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CONCLUSION
Observations after contacting various persons for Life Insurance.
The general perceptions towards Life Insurance:-
In common thinking Life Insurance is considered important for two factors:
a) For providing Financial Shelter to dependents in case premature death, this
covers the lower/upper middle class of society.
b) For ensuring saving of Income Tax, which covers the upper middle class and
higher class of society.
In addition to above, the essential features such as the Lock-in-period of any policy has
been observed as a big discouraging factor to probable customers as they feel that they
will not be able to utilise the amount deposited before completion of three years in case
of any future crisis.
Further the apprehension of heavy deduction, the long time required for claim
settlement and refund of surrender value in case of premature withdrawal of deposited
amount of policy are also act as a discouraging factor for the customers.
People do not take it as an instrument for investments of their money. It is not taken as
an instrument to multiply the money in order to make oneself capable of fulfilling their
desires or dreams which needs heavy investment.
The basic requirements and desire of Indians are:
a) The higher educations for their children. The middle class people even
desires/dreams for sending their children abroad for higher education.
b) The requirements of substantial funds to meet the expenses of marriage of their
daughters.
c) The house for self.
d) The substantial financial provisions to meet the cost medical expenses in case of
any eventuality keeping in view of growing cost of medical care.
e) The financial support to meet the expenses of post retirement life span.
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The above requirements are becoming essential mainly for salaried persons or the
people with limited and fixed source of income.
There are policies in market in the name of education policy and marriage policy, but
these failed attract the people for its name as these are not sufficient to meet the
present growing cost of higher educations or the cost of marriages. Limited people take
these only get minor financial relief as well as for creating other instruments for tax
saving.
There are policies in market against which one can take loan for housing but no policy
which could provide substantial sum for housing. Similarly is the case of policies for
medical care and policies for pension scheme. The amount paid for medical policy is not
accumulated and refunded. In case of no claim and the amount received from policy of
pension does provide financial support in the line of pension received by central govt.
employees.
Till year before last these were popular for getting 100% deduction from earning in tax
calculation. It was also popular among the higher salaried employees.
The lower income group persons and the farmers remain uninfluenced with
development in number and nature of product developed in life insurance market, may
be because of distrust on other in respect of their hard earned money and may be
because they are not fully aware with the benefits of existing policies.
India is very vast market for Life Insurance Policy as it has got second highest
population in world and that is why foreign Insurance Players are trying their best to
enter and get foot hold in Indian market.
The existing Indian Players of Insurance market have to demise means which could
make Life Insurance policies more popular tax saving instruments among the masses
which possible only when these policies provide major financial support for their above
requirements along with coverage of Life. In order to pass on maximum benefits to
customer holding Life Insurance Policies may be thought by linking these with mutual
funds or equities of reliable companies. It has to be made most attractive in order to
convince general people that Life Insurance Policies are most profitable instruments in
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market which provide the coverage of life as well as provide major financial support to
meet their desires and dreams of future.
ENSURING FUTURE GROWTH
Further the masses should be informed about the benefits of policy or the articles of
various writers of policies, the queries on policy may be published regularly in
Newspapers, which are presently appearing in business magazines only which are not
popular among general masses.
Lastly I would like to bring to notice while developing a product we should keep in mind
outlook of customers towards insurance market that vary with the change of class,
change of geographical region, change of cultural background as well as changes in the
financial resources. If we make the marketing policy of insurance keeping in view of the
factors affecting the mental aptitude of persons the making of policy will definitely meet
the positive result and this will keep the company at no1 position forever.
Multinational partnerships
The winds of liberalisation have initiated vast changes in the functioning of the industry
today. Increasing number of multinational partnerships with private insurers have paved
the way for a radical shift in insurance selling - through a number of new distribution
channels besides bringing about more awareness on the need for insurance and also
stressing on the important role technology can play.
With major trade barriers gone, the Indian insurance industry is slowly opening itself
from a protected environment to e-business, incorporating newer technologies in
insurance, thanks to competition, that will hopefully bring forth a marked improvement in
customer service, insurance marketing, risk management, claim settlement,
underwriting etc in comparison to its earlier days.
Faster decision making
Today, information dissemination is increasingly faster with the advent of information
technology, which will largely help individuals gain access to every bit of information
they would require, enabling faster decision-making. This is in stark contrast with the
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pre-liberalisation era wherein information sourcing was virtually non-existent except
from the recruited agents of the insurance company.
Policy servicing, an area that has long remained neglected will now receive a major
thrust with insurance companies redefining strategies to weed out sluggishness and
provide the policyholder with prompt service. Online policy servicing too will soon
become the norm thereby cutting down on the unnecessary delays.
Information explosion:
The oncoming technological revolution is all set to totally revamp the very concept of
Knowledge management. Automating knowledge management will become the sole
aim to increase productivity. Large databases of raw information on individuals'
investment patterns can be fed into computers to enable faster segregation of
information as per required categories.
Computerizing information can make a major difference to the general insurance
industry wherein motor claim losses particularly have been hitting the roof. With an
organized system of data collection and storage, data analysis and claim management
system, keeping track of the claim applicants’ behavioral patterns becomes easy.
Easier Claims settlement
Claims settlement that was hitherto a time consuming affair will see a marked difference
in operations. With competition building and improved customer service becoming the
new mantra the time taken for claim settlements will reduce considerably. World over
underwriting risks, claims management, risk surveys etc are far more simplified thanks
to technology.
Insurance companies are slowly realizing the mass difference information technology
can make to business. Consider policy information being made available online.
Tracking policy details, the premiums to be paid, premiums paid so far, the bonus
percentage, maturity date of the policy and several such details can be accessed at the
mere click of a mouse soon.
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Banc assurance
Moreover, in addition to the single distribution channel of selling insurance policies
through a large network of agents,
Banc assurance is gradually gaining prominence. Utilizing the extensive network of
banks for selling insurance will over a period of time bring about an increase in
insurance density besides improving insurance penetration in rural areas wherein a
large unexploited potential exists.
Improved customer service - the ultimate aim
The insurance industry, with competition hotting up is has woken up to ground realities
and is in the process of implementing software solutions. Realizing the unlimited power
information technology holds, insurance companies have realized that strategic
deployment of technology for integrating office operations, and gaining customer
confidence through improved customer service is the need of the hour.
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BIBLOGRAPHY
http://www.metlife.com/
http://www.Indiainfoline.com/
http://www.IRDA .com
http://www.google.com
Datas also collected from the Outlook magazine.
Information has been sourced from various sources namely, Books,
Newspapers, trade journals, monitoring industry news and developments.
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