Max Life, Policybazaar join hands to offer independent term insurance cover for homemakers

Housewives can now buy term insurance cover independently without being linked as an add-on cover to the spouse’s life insurance cover. Max Life Insurance has joined hands with Policybazaar to offer its ‘Max Life Smart Secure Plus Plan’ on the latter’s platform as an independent cover to homemakers.

Currently, homemakers in India are typically allowed term cover only as an add-on to their earning spouse’s cover. Sajja Praveen Chowdary, Head - Term Life Insurance, Policybazaar.com told BusinessLine that an independent term cover was now available for the housewives segment irrespective of the fact whether the husband had a policy or not. So long as the household had an annual income of over ₹5 lakh, the housewife in the age group of 18-50 could now buy the independent cover from ₹25 lakhs to ₹49 lakhs.

There are now few policies available in the market where housewives could take a term cover, but they have to take along with the husband if he had a term policy. “Now it does not matter whether the husband had a term cover or not”, Chowdhary added.

Elaborating the situation that earlier prevailed, Chowdary explained: “For example, for someone who has ₹5 lakh annual income and If the insurer gives 20 times income multiplier, then the husband can take upto ₹1 crore cover. Suppose if the husband takes ₹1 crore cover, then the wife is not eligible to take a policy as the limit is exhausted. If the husband takes ₹75 lakhs, then the wife can take only ₹ 25 lakhs. Unfortunately there were not products available for ₹ 25 lakhs cover.

“The thesis behind this offering is that housewife contributes a lot to the family’s well being. While income in terms of hard money is not there, clearly contribution is there. The contribution of housewives is now recognised. Husband’s eligibility for term cover is no longer relevant. We have made this offering available to housewives which otherwise was not available  Making this available which otherwise was not available”, he said.

V. Viswanand, Deputy Managing Director, Max Life said, “A woman’s contribution as the homemaker is essential and irreplaceable. They take care of the family’s well-being, offer emotional support and ensure the financial balance of the household. Max Life’s Smart Secure Plus Plan for homemakers is a step towards empowering Indian women and enabling greater financial inclusion by providing protection in challenging times.”

Sarbvir Singh, CEO, Policybazaar.com said, “Policybazaar has a leadership positioning in the online life insurance market across savings and protection categories. In the current sales mix of the online protection category, however, the housewives segment remains an untouched opportunity. In the Indian context, this segment is and will continue to be a large pool. We are happy to partner with Max Life Insurance in their crucial endeavor to improve protection penetration and accelerate growth for homemakers.”

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