Life insurance is a thriving industry in India. The basic concept of life insurance is that if you pass away, the insurance company will pay your family a good sum of money. Yet, this is not where the benefits of a life insurance end. People buy life insurances for various reasons which include planning for unforeseen upcoming expenses. Finding the best life insurance company is a tedious task but an impertinent necessity. A person who has to take care of a family must under all circumstances have their lives insured.
You need to choose your insurance plan carefully. There are different plans from different companies with varied features. You need to look into the following features to judge if an insurance company is good or not:
- Range of plans offered.
- Cost of plans (Affordable or not).
- Claim Settlement Ratio (Should be at a decent level or high).
- Good customer service
- Digitally accessible
- Ratings and reviews
In this article, we have enlisted the best life insurance companies in 2020, in India, mainly based on their claim settlement ratio from the IRDAI Annual Report for the FY 2018-19.
1. Max Life Insurance
This is a joint venture by Max financial services Ltd. And Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co. Ltd. It has a wide variety of life insurance solutions to meet long-term savings goals and protection to over 30 lakh customers. They have a wide and liberal distribution model that includes agents, advisors, and other allied partners. Max Life is a leading and established life insurance provider. The entire process of buying the plan, paying premiums, starting a claim, etc. remains uncomplicated with them. They offer a wide range of plans and their customer support is very helpful too. They have the highest claim settlement ratio in FY 2018-2019 at 98.74%.
2. Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC)
This falls in the list of the oldest state-owned insurance companies in India. It is the only public sector life insurance company offering a wide range of life insurance policies like insurance plans, pension plans, unit-linked plans, and other schemes. The customer support offered by LIC is great. Its total claim settlement ratio was 97.9% in the FY 2018-19.
3. Tata AIA Life
This is a joint venture between the Tata Group and the AIA Group Ltd. Their insurance business started in the year 2001 and ever since, the company has been offering life insurance policies for protection, savings and so on. It has a wide distribution channel of agents, brokers, and other direct channels. They have a claim settlement ratio of 99.07% in the fiscal year 2018-19.
4. ICICI Prudential Life Insurance
A joint venture between ICICI Bank and Prudential plc. ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company has 74% stakes held by ICICI Bank and 26% by Prudential Plc. It offers a wide range of products like term, health, ULIP, savings and retirement plans. It incurred a claim settlement ratio of 98.58% in the fiscal year 2018-19. ICICI is a well-known name in India. They are very professional and the entire procedure of getting life insurance is hassle-free and quick with them.
5. HDFC Life Insurance
HDFC Life Insurance Company is a joint venture by Housing Development Finance Corporation Ltd and Standard Life plc. HDFC has 70.65% of the shares and the rest is held by Standard Life. You get many life insurance products like term insurance, health cover, child plans, pension, etc. It had a claim settlement ratio of 99.04% in the financial year 2018-19. HDFC Life Insurance has an excellent digital presence and offers an efficient and handy mobile app. It offers great coverage at an affordable price.
6. Bharti AXA Life
A joint venture between Bharti Group and AXA group, Bharti AXA Life Insurance Company has 51% of its shares under Bharti and rest 49% with AXA. You get a stunning line of insurance products including protection, health, investment plans and much more. They also have a claim settlement ratio of 97.28% in the financial year 2018-19.
7. Exide Life Insurance Company
Exide stepped into the insurance market in the year 2001-2002. They have many channels like agents, brokers, direct channels, online, etc. to distribute their insurance products. They have over 200 offices all over the country and over 45,000 advisors ensuring wide accessibility to the customers. In the fiscal year 2018-19, they had a claim settlement ratio of 97.03%.
8. SBI Life Insurance Company
This is a joint venture between State Bank of India and BNP Paribas Cardiff wherein SBI holds most of the shares (74%) and PNB Paribas owns the rest 26%. They offer both individual and group insurance plans such as protection, retirement, child, savings plans and many more. They have a good mobile app via which you can easily handle and maintain your policy. They have a claim settlement ratio of 95.03% in FY 2018-19.
9. Pramerica Life Insurance Company
This too is a joint venture between Prudential International Insurance Holdings Ltd. They have 144 branches all over India, 3143 employees, 4710.574 crores assets under management. They have secured over 20 million lives as of 31st August 2019. They also stand strong with a claim settlement ratio of 96.80% in the fiscal year 2018-19.
10. Aditya Birla Sun Life
The company is a joint venture between Aditya Birla Group and Sun Life Financial Inc. They started their business in the year 2000. They offer protection, wealth, health, child, cover, savings and other plans to cater to your needs. They own a claim settlement ratio of 97.15% in the fiscal year 2018-19.