A good initiative from insurance regulator- Saral Jeevan Bima Standard Term Insurance Plan

 While most of the world is witnessing an economic slowdown of unprecedented proportions, India’s life insurance companies witnessed an 11.36% growth in their collective income during the fiscal end of March 2020. This has also been accompanied by a deluge of different life insurance products that can sometimes make it difficult for customers to navigate through the maze of policies and covers. Additionally, the absence of a standardized product can lead to miss-selling, as well as insurers contesting claims on various grounds. 

We saw this happen in the health insurance sector during the pandemic, where a number of insurers were rejecting claims on grounds of misrepresentation or non-disclosure. While a standardized product called Arogya Sanjeevani was soon launched for the health sector, the life insurance sector was still lacking a standardized product. However, come January 2021, all Indian life insurance companies are mandated to provide a standardized life insurance policy called Saral Jeevan Bima, prefixed with the name of the Indian insurance provider.


In a statement released by the IRDAI, officials were quoted stating “customers often cannot devote adequate time or energy to make informed choices,” and “products may not be available for the intended sum assured.” This is why the new Saral Jeevan Bima is set to have “simple” features as well as standard terms and conditions. The policy can be availed of by anyone between the age of 18-65 with a maximum age of 70. Minimum and maximum terms are 5 and 40 years respectively, while the life insurance cover is between Rs. 5-25 lakh.


With the new guidelines in place, anyone who avails of this policy will receive ten times the annualized premium in case of the death of the policyholder, as well as the assured amount and 105% of all premiums paid as of the date of death. Additionally, single premium policy holders will receive 125% of all single premiums in addition to the assured amount. Last but not least, this policy will have no exclusions except a suicide clause. In conclusion, it’s about time the life insurance sector received some standardization, and such measures only serve to benefit consumers.

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