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With news outlets broadcasting dire predictions about the financial downturn like afrothy-mouthed preacher on the apocalypse, we feel it’s time to take a look at how peoplethink the recession will affect insurance. With this in mind, we’ll take a look at projections about how insurers may fare, how your premium could shape up, and other worries and notable points to keep in your head moving forward.Views on how the insurance industry will deal with the financialclimate are a decidedly mixed bag. Larger, more established insurancecompanies are expected to do well, such as more diversified healthinsurers. Their size, balance sheets, and diversity of both product andgeography are believed to allow a degree of protection from the needto boost operating earnings during the down times. Considering thatthe international private medical insurancemarket posted growth ratesof around 20% or more for 2008 it’s hard to imagine some of the larger companiesneeding to start penny-pinching policies which would drive away customers. Combiningtheir growth rates with their long-running operational stability and ratings agencies’inclination to keep decently performing insurance companies at a favorable rating, andwe will hopefully see some benefits for policyholders, not just shareholders. After all, theacceptable balance sheets and relative operating stability mean that your insurer stays in business and keeps offering your plan, plus there’s always the hope that with less of aneed to increase earnings and squeeze margins, there may be less pressure to increaseyour premiums. However, given that insurance premiums have gone up 119% in the last9 years, don’t hold your breath.There are also those who believe that the world’s financial nose dive will be a boon toinsurers in the international health insurance markets, and their reason is that duringrecessions, people are more open to traveling to other countries in order to find jobopenings. With more and more businesses extending their operations into new geographicareas, not only are people more willing to travel to foreign countries for jobs, butcompanies embracing globalization are increasingly opening branch offices and sendingout local staff to manage new operations. This is seen as a potential spike in demand for expatriate insurance products both for individuals and companies. If this is indeed thecase, then there are a number of ways this could affect your current policy or your plan toget one. One worry is that the increased demand for international health insurance willlead to increased premiums due to a burgeoning number of clients and the need to cover the increase in claims. I find this assertion extremely dubious, but resisted the temptationto file it under wild conjecture and speculation.

Mostinternational health insuranceproducts are community-rated,which means that their premiums are based on your age and area of cover, and the factorscalculated for your premium such as medical inflation, claims ratios from the previousyear’s age group are not linked to the number of policyholders in the plan. Simply put, an

increase in people paying premiums does not alter the cost of care, or your likelihood of making a claim, and therefore is a highly unlikely reason for an increase in your premiums, so you can rest easy on that count.Another issue that was raised by some spectators, such as those at the web publication for expatriates,Shelter Offshore, also think that with increased demand for insurance products geared towards expatriates, insurers may become a little choosier about whothey will accept for coverage. In contrast with the other claim, this may actually be possible, but then again with tighter budgets all around it would be hard to imagineinsurers becoming overly-picky

Life insurance in India made its debut well over 100 years ago.In our country, which is one of the most populated in the world, the prominence of insuranceis not as widely understood, as it ought to be. What follows is an attempt to acquaint readerswith some of the concepts of life insurance, with special reference to LIC.It should, however, be clearly understood that the following content is by no means anexhaustive description of the terms and conditions of an LIC policy or its benefits or privileges.For more details, please contact our branch or divisional office. Any LIC Agent will be glad tohelp you choose the life insurance plan to meet your needs and render policy servicing.

What Is Life Insurance?

Life insurance is a contract that pledges payment of an amount to the person assured (or hisnominee) on the happening of the event insured against.The contract is valid for payment of the insured amount during:

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The date of maturity, or

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Specified dates at periodic intervals, or

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Unfortunate death, if it occurs earlier.Among other things, the contract also provides for the payment of premium periodically to theCorporation by the policyholder. Life insurance is universally acknowledged to be an institution,which eliminates 'risk', substituting certainty for uncertainty and comes to the timely aid of thefamily in the unfortunate event of death of the breadwinner.By and large, life insurance is civilisation's partial solution to the problems caused by death.Life insurance, in short, is concerned with two hazards that stand across the life-path of everyperson:1.That of dying prematurely leaving a dependent family to fend for itself.2.That of living till old age without visible means of support.

Life Insurance Vs. Other Savings

Contract Of Insurance:

A contract of insurance is a contract of utmost good faith technically known as uberrima fides.The doctrine of disclosing all material facts is embodied in this important principle, whichapplies to all forms of insurance.At the time of taking a policy, policyholder should ensure that all questions in the proposalform are correctly answered. Any misrepresentation, non-disclosure or fraud in any documentleading to the acceptance of the risk would render the insurance contract null and void.

Protection:

Savings through life insurance guarantee full protection against risk of death of the saver.Also, in case of demise, life insurance assures payment of the entire amount assured (withbonuses wherever applicable) whereas in other savings schemes, only the amount saved (withinterest) is payable.

Aid To Thrift:

Life insurance encourages 'thrift'. It allows long-term savings since payments can be madeeffortlessly because of the 'easy instalment' facility built into the scheme. (Premium paymentfor insurance is either monthly, quarterly, half yearly or yearly).For example: The Salary Saving Scheme popularly known as SSS, provides a convenientmethod of paying premium each month by deduction from one's salary.In this case the employer directly pays the deducted premium to LIC. The Salary SavingScheme is ideal for any institution or establishment subject to specified terms and conditions.

Liquidity:

In case of insurance, it is easy to acquire loans on the sole security of any policy that hasacquired loan value. Besides, a life insurance policy is also generally accepted as security,even for a commercial loan.

Tax Relief:

Life Insurance is the best way to enjoy tax deductions on income tax and wealth tax. This isavailable for amounts paid by way of premium for life insurance subject to income tax rates inforce.Assessees can also avail of provisions in the law for tax relief. In such cases the assured ineffect pays a lower premium for insurance than otherwise.

Money When You Need It:

A policy that has a suitable insurance plan or a combination of different plans can beeffectively used to meet certain monetary needs that may arise from time-to-time.Children's education, start-in-life or marriage provision or even periodical needs for cash overa stretch of time can be less stressful with the help of these policies.Alternatively, policy money can be made available at the time of one's retirement from serviceand used for any specific purpose, such as, purchase of a house or for other investments.Also, loans are granted to policyholders for house building or for purchase of flats (subject tocertain conditions).

Who Can Buy A Policy?

Any person who has attained majority and is eligible to enter into a valid contract can insurehimself/herself and those in whom he/she has insurable interest.Policies can also be taken, subject to certain conditions, on the life of one's spouse or children.While underwriting proposals, certain factors such as the policyholder’s state of health, theproponent's income and other relevant factors are considered by the Corporation.