Term insurance from Max New York. Review on Max Life Insurance

I have a term cover with Max New york. The reason I went for a term cover is pure and simple: I want risk to be covered and did not want to confuse it with any "investment". My way can be summarised shortly as follows - "Max new york, take care of my risks, my investments I will take care of myself!!"

The best thing about their policy is that it even covers suicide, apart from all other sorts of death. I think that is really good, not because one would commit suicide after taking the policy, but because it shows the confidence on the part of the company. Please note, in suicide, the amount will be given only after one year of completion of the policy. If you take a policy and commit suicide the next, your nominees get nothing.

I do not have any information on their claims settlement details... and since I hold a term cover, I will never know! :) Meaning, term cover settlements will be done after my death... so let my nominees bother. Jokes apart, I think they are a professional lot and that should not be an issue.

One of my friends has cribs about them not taking the premiums (half yearly) through ECS, though he had filled up the mandate and gave it to them before. So he had to do it on his own... and since he had his ECS mandate, they did not send him a reminder to pay the premium...

I found that I can pay the premium from citibank site directly to Max New york. It is a really cool thing: no need to write cheques in the elusive skypak drop boxes or call the agent.

I had my policy loaded due to my weight, but my friends had it straight through.

Their term cover premiums are lower than many other insurers like ICICI, except Metlife... ICICI refuses to give cover for big sums like 50 lacs... inspite of showing proof of income and tax payment. Max New York has not such problems. If you can show the proof, they will give you the cover, no issues. And that is really good for high earning individuals.

I have been holding the term cover for 12 months now, paying half yearly premiums. I have got the first reminder promptly, at least 15 days before the payment was due.

Just now I found that I can actually pay the premium for max new york online through citibank. :) Another reason to smile.

They allow covers to the age of 60.

Personal Accident cover:

Though max new york has a accidental death benefit rider, I guess it is better to go for Reliance General Insurance or National Insurance and get a full fledged PAIP (personal accident insurance policy). They are dirt cheap - for lowest risk folks (white collar jobs), with National Insurance Corporation, premium for 10 lakhs cover comes to only 450 Rs per YEAR! This covers only death and permanent disability. For reliance general insurance, it is 700 rs per YEAR.

Reliance TPA (third party agents) seem to be very slow - they take more than a week to issue the policy. National Insurance issues the policy instantly if you produce the money and the proof of income (form 16, tax return etc).

I guess it would be a good idea to go for a pure PAIP along with your usual term insurance. That should take care of your insurance needs.

Need for insurance:

Personal finance magazines like outlook money has been shouting from rooftops for the past 8-10 years on how important it is to insure. Unfortunately, in our country it is confused with investments, with the spate of endowment and money back policies from LIC...

Typically, a term cover would come to 2500 Rs per year for 10 lakhs cover upto the age of 60 for a 25 year old. Who can't afford it? But the trouble is the Indian psyche and the way we wish to spend money - we want a tangible return for our money, which may not be the case in term cover where you get nothing when the policy finishes!! We still dont accept the fact that the company gives you that intangible thing - peace of mind and security for the dependents in case the inevitable happens before it is due!