LIC what should you know

Admission Of Age:

Age is the main basis of calculation of premium under life insurance policies. The following are accepted as evidence of age:

* Certified extract from Municipal or Local Body’s records made at the time of birth.
* Certificate of Baptism or Certified Extract from Family Bible, if it contains age or date of birth.
* Certified Extract from School or College records, if age or date of birth is stated therein.
* Certified Extract from Service Register in the case of Govt. employees and employees of Quasi-Govt. Institutions or
* Passport issued by the Passport Authorities in India.

Payment Of Premium:

* By cash, local cheque (subject to realization of cheque), Demand Draft at Branch Office.
* The DD and cheques or Money Order may be sent by post.
* You can pay your premiums at any of our Branches as 99% of our Branches are networked.
* Many Banks do accept standing instructions to remit the premiums. So by providing a standing instruction to your Bank to debit your account for the premium amount and send it vide a banker’s cheque to LIC, on the due dates and months mentioned on your policy bond.
* Through Internet : Payment of premiums can be made through Internet through Service Providers viz.HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Times of Money, Bill Junction, UTI Bank, Bank of Punjab, Citibank, Corporation Bank, Federal Bank and BillDesk.
* Premium payment can also be made through ATMs of Corporation Bank and UTI Bank.
* Premium payment can also be made through Electronic Clearing Service (ECS) which has been launched at Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai, Kolkata, New Delhi, Kanpur, Bangalore, Vijaywada, Patna, Jaipur, Chandigarh, Trivandrum, Ahmedabad, Pune, Goa and Nagpur, Secunderabad & Visakhapatnam. A policyholder having an account in any Bank which is a Member of the local Clearing House can opt for ECS debit to pay premiums. The policyholders wishing to use this system would have to fill up a Mandate Form available at our Branches/DO and get it certified by the Bank. The certified Mandate Forms are to be submitted to our BO/DO.

Policy can be anywhere in India.
* Citibank Kiosks at Industrial Assurance Building, Churchgate, New India Building, Santacruz, Jeevan Shikha Building, Borivili are dedicated for collection of premiums through cheques.

Days Of Grace:

* Policyholder should pay the premiums on due dates. However, a grace period of one month but not less than 30 days will be allowed for payment of yearly/half-yearly/quarterly premiums and 15 days for monthly premiums.
* When the days of grace expire on a Sunday or a public holiday, the premium may be paid on the following working day to keep the policy in force.
* If the premium is not paid before the expiry of the days of grace, the policy lapses.

Revival Of Lapsed Policy:

* If the policy has lapsed, it can be revived during the life time of the life assured, within a period of five years from the date of the first unpaid premium but before the date of maturity subject to certain conditions.
* The Corporation offers three convenient schemes of revival viz., Ordinary Revival, Special Revival and Installment Revival. Policies can also be revived under Loan-cum-Revival and SB-cum-Revival schemes.
* Request for revival may be made to the Branch Office servicing the policy.

Change Of Address And Transfer Of Policy Records:

* The policyholder should immediately intimate the change of his/her address to the Branch Office servicing the policy. The correct address facilitates better service and quicker settlement of claims.
* Policy records can also be transferred from one Branch Office to another for servicing, as requested by the policyholder.

Loss Of Policy Document:

* The Policy Document is an evidence of the contract between the Insurer and the Insured. Hence the policyholder should preserve the Policy Bond till the contracted amount under it is settled.
* Loss of the Policy Document should be immediately intimated to the Branch Office where it is serviced.

Loans:

* Loans are granted on policies to the extent of 90% of Surrender Value of the policies which are in force and 85% of the Surrender Value in case of policies which are paid-up, inclusive of the cash value of bonus. The rate of interest charged at present is 9% p.a. payable half-yearly.
* Loans are not granted for a period shorter than six months. The Conditions and Privileges printed on the back of the Policy Bond states whether a particular policy is with or without the loan facility.

Relief To Policyholders:

* The Corporation generally allows concessions on payment of premiums, settlement of claims, issue of duplicate policies, etc when the policyholder are affected by natural calamities such as droughts, cyclones, floods, earthquakes, etc.

Nomination:

* Nomination is a right conferred on the holder of a Policy of Life Assurance on his own life to appoint a person/s to receive policy moneys in the event of the policy becoming a claim by the assured’s death. The Nominee does not get any other benefit except to receive the policy moneys on the death of the Life Assured. A nomination may be changed or cancelled by the life assured whenever he likes without the consent of the Nominee.
Ensure nomination exists in the policy for easy settlement of claims.

Assignment:

* Assignment means transfer of rights, title and interest. When an assignment is executed, all rights, title and interest in respect of the property assigned are immediately transferred to the Assignee/s and the Assignee/s become the owner/s of the policy subject to any lawful condition made in the assignment.
* Assignment can be either conditional or absolute. On assignment (other than to LIC), Nomination automatically stands cancelled. Hence, when such a policy is reassigned, the policyholder will have to make a fresh nomination to avoid delay in settlement of claim.

Survival Benefit/Maturity Claims:

* LIC settles survival benefit/maturity claims on or before the due date.
* Policyholder are intimated well in advance by the Branch Office which services the policy regarding the payment, and the necessary Discharge Voucher is also sent for execution by the assured. In case the policyholder does not get any intimation from the Branch Office concerned, he/she should contact them, quoting the Policy Number.
* Survival Benefit payment up to Rs.60,000/- are settled without insisting for Policy Bond and Discharge Voucher.

Death Claims:

* If the life assured dies during the term of the policy, death claim arises. The death of the policyholder should be immediately intimated in writing to the Branch Office where the policy is serviced along with the following particulars:
1. The No./s of the policy/ies
2. The name of the policyholder
3. Death Certificate issued by concerned Authority
4. The date of death
5. The cause of death and
6. Claimant’s relationship with the deceased
* On receipt of the intimation of death, necessary claim forms are sent by the Branch Office for completion along with instructions regarding the procedure to be followed by the claimant.
* The claims which have arisen after a period of three years are treated as non-early claims and settled within 30 days from the date of receipt of all requirements.
* The claims that have arisen within a period of two years from the date of commencement of the policy, are treated as early claims and investigation is compulsory in such cases.
* The claim is usually payable to the nominee/assignee or the legal heirs, as the case may be. However, if the deceased policyholder has not nominated/assigned the policy or if he/she has not made a suitable provision regarding the policy moneys by way of a Will, the claim is payable to the holder of a Succession Certificate or some such evidence of title from a Court of Law.
* The Corporation grants claims concessions under certain Plans whereby payment of full sum assured is made, subject to the deduction of unpaid premiums with interest till the date of death and unpaid premiums falling due before the next anniversary of the policy, in the event of the death of the life assured within a period of six months or one year from the date of the first unpaid premium, provided premiums have been paid for at least three years and five years respectively.

Claim Review Committee:
The Corporation settles a large number of Death Claims every year. Only in case of fraudulent suppression of material information is the liability repudiated. This is to ensure that claims are not paid to fraudulent persons at the cost of honest policyholders. The number of Death Claims repudiated is, however, very small. Even in these cases, an opportunity is given to the claimant to make a representation for consideration by the Review Committees of the Zonal office and the Central Office. As a result of such review, depending on the merits of each case, appropriate decisions are taken. The Claims Review Committees of the Central and Zonal Offices have among their Members, a retired High Court/District Court Judge. This has helped providing transparency and confidence in our operations and has resulted in greater satisfaction among claimants, policyholders and public.

Insurance Ombudsman:

* The Grievance Redressal Machinery has been further expanded with the appointment of Insurance Ombudsman at different centers by the Government of India. At present there are 12 centres operating all over the country.
* Following type of complaints fall within the purview of the Ombdusman
a) any partial or total repudiation of claims by an insurer;
b) any dispute in regard to premiums paid if payable in terms of the policy;
c) any dispute on the legal construction of the policies in so far as such disputes relate to claims;
d) delay in settlement of claims;
e)non-issue of any insurance document to customers after receipt of premium.
* Policyholder can approach the Insurance Ombudsman for the redressal of their complaints free of cost.

Initiatives In Policy Servicing Areas:

* All 2048 Branches of LIC are fully computerized covering all policy servicing aspects to give prompt computerized services from new policy introduction, acceptance of renewal premium, revivals, loans, etc to final claims settlement.
* Green Channel facility has been introduced for the speedy completion of proposals.
* Payment of premiums can be made through internet through service providers, viz., HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Times of money, Bill Junction, UTI Bank, Bank of Punjab,Citi Bank, Corporation Bank, Federal Bank and Billdesk.

Grievance Redressal Machinery:

* A machinery for redressal of policyholders� grievances exist in all the offices of the Corporation. These are headed by designated Officers who are available at their respective Offices every Monday between 2.30 pm and 4.30 pm. except holidays. Policyholder can approach these officers to get their grievances redressed.
* The Designated Officers at the various offices of the Corporation are :
At Branch Office --- Sr./Branch Manager
At Divisional Office --- Marketing Manager
At Zonal Office --- Regional Manager (Mktg)
At Central Office --- Executive Director (Mktg/IO/CRM)


Citizens’ Charter:

* Citizens' Charter was presented to the Nation in November, 1997. In the Charter the bench marks were prescribed for 30 servicing areas.