The type of the policy chosen for discussion is term life Insurance.

Here, a
comparison of the term life offered by SBI Life and HDFC Life is discussed.
Following are the two policies discussed1. SBI e-shield- A Pure Term Insurance Plan UIN: 111 N0 89 V01
2. HDFC Life Click 2 Protect Plus UIN: 101 N1 01 V01
Lets discuss the basic features which are common to both the policies.
Both the plans are available online. They are Online Pure Term, Non-Linked, NonParticipating insurance plan, where one gets insured by just a click. Lets see what
do these terms mean.

Pure Term PlanTerm insurance is a type of life insurance which provides coverage for a
certain period of time or years. If the insured dies over the policy tenure a
death benefit (or sum assured) is paid out.

Non-Linked
It means that the policy only provides risk cover. Here, the investment
earning is not shared with the insured. It is a pure insurance plan and not
investment + insurance plan.

Non-Participating
Life insurance policy whose policyholders do not receive dividends, because
they are not participants in the interest, dividends, and capital gains earned
by the insurer on premiums paid.

Main motto of both the plans is to protect the interests of the loved ones of the
policy holder at affordable price against the uncertainty of the policy holders death.
This plan provides a benefit amount in the unfortunate event of death of the Life
Assured anytime during the policy term. This amount would help the family to pay
any outstanding debts or fund the day to day expenses, thus easing the financial
worries.
Both the plans offer various options. Lets compare both the plan
KEY
FEATURES
Plan Options

SBI E-Shield

HDFC Click to Protect

Level CoverThe Sum Assured remains same

throughout the policy term

Life Option
The Sum Assured remains same
throughout the policy term

Level Cover with Accidental

Death
Benefit
With Level Cover, insured get

Extra Life Option

With Life Option, insured get
additional accidental benefit

additional accidental benefit

Increasing Cover
This option increases the sum
assured by 10% after every 5th
Policy year without increasing the
premium
Increasing Cover with Accidental
Death Benefit
With Increasing option, insured
get additional accidental benefit

Minimum
Entry Age
Maximum
Entry Age-

18 Years

Income option
Part of the Death benefit as a
Lump sum with the remaining
payable in form of
Monthly income over a period of
15 years
Income Plus option
100% of Sum Assured is paid on
death and a monthly income
equal to 0.5% of Sum Assured
becomes payable for a period of
10 years. The monthly income
can be level or increasing at
10% p.a. as chosen by the
policyholder
18 Years

-For Level Cover and Level Cover

with
Accidental Death Benefit 65 Years
-For
Increasing
Cover
and
Increasing Cover with Accidental
Death Benefit - 60 Years
70 Years

65 Years

Sum Assured

Minimum: 20,00,000
Maximum: No Limit (Subject to
underwriting)
Sum assured would be in
multiples of 1,00,000 only

Minimum: 25,00,000
Maximum: No Limit (Subject to
underwriting)

Premium
Payment
Mode

Annual

Regular, Limited, Single Pay

Maximum
Maturity Age

75 Years

Regular
PayInsured
pay
throughout the policy term
(Yearly, Half Yearly, Quarterly,
Monthly)
Limited Pay- Insured pay his
premium for chosen policy term
less 5 years (Yearly, Half Yearly,
Quarterly, Monthly)

Single Pay- One time premium at

the start of the policy term
10 40 Years

Policy Term

For Level Cover and Level Cover

with Accidental Death Benefit - 5
Years
For
Increasing
Cover
and
Increasing Cover with Accidental
Death Benefit - 10 Years

Maximum
Policy Term

30 Years

40 Years

Premium
Payment
Term
Premium
Amount

Same as the policy Term

Same as the policy Term (Except

for Single Pay)

Minimum- 3,500
Maximum: No Limit

Minimum- 3,000
Maximum: No Limit

Grace Period

30 Days

30 Days (Yearly, Half Yearly,

Quarterly)
15 Days (Monthly)

Suicide
Clause

In case of death due to suicide,

within 12 months from the date
of inception of the policy, the
nominee of the
Policy holder is entitled to 80% of
the premiums paid.

In case of death due to suicide,

within 12 months from the date
of inception of the policy, the
nominee of the
Policy holder is entitled to 80%
of the premiums paid.

Non Smoker
Benefit
Revival Term
Free
Look
Period
Tax Benefit

Available

Available

Within 2 Years
30 Days

Within 2 Years
30 Days

Available

Available

Lets discuss the benefits offered by each plan in detail

SBI E-Shield
1. Death Benefit
Depending upon the Plan option chosen, the nominee will receive the effective Sum
Assured.

2. Maturity Benefit
No benefit is payable on survival till end of policy term.
3. Accidental Death Benefit
Death should occur within 120 days of the date of accident, solely and directly due
to injuries as stated below and independent of all other causes. The Sum Assured
for accidental death will be equal to the basic death Sum Assured. However, the
maximum accidental Sum Assured that you can avail under all your policies under
this product is 50,00,000.
4. Increasing Cover
Consider Sum Assured is 50,00,000 for 20 year policy term. Till the end of 5 th Policy
Term, Sum Assured will be 50,00,000. The Effective Sum Assured applicable from
the 6th Policy Year, till the end of 10th Policy Year will be 55,00,000.Fom 11th Policy
Year till 15th Policy Year it will be 60,00,000.
HDFC Click to Protect
1. Death Benefit
In the unfortunate event of death of life assured during the policy term, the
nominee will receive the benefit. For Single Premium Policy, nominee will receive
the maximum of 125% of Single Premium or Sum Assured whichever is highest.
For other than single premium policy, nominee will receive either 10 times the
annualized premium or 105% of all the premiums paid as on date of death or Sum
Assured whichever is highest. The annualized premium shall exclude the
underwriting extra premiums and loadings for modal premiums, if any.
Under Life Option, the Death Benefit specified above shall be payable in the form of
a lump sum upon death.
Under Extra Life Option, the Death Benefit specified above shall be payable in the
form of a lump sum and an additional benefit equal to the Sum Assured shall be
payable in case of accidental death.
Under Income Option, the Death Benefit specified above is paid in the following
manner:
10% of the Death Benefit paid as a lump sum upon death
Remaining 90% of the Death Benefit shall be paid as monthly income over next 15
years
(0.5% of Death Benefit every month for 15 years)
Under Income Plus Option:
100% of the Death Benefit specified above shall be paid as a lump sum upon death

In addition, a monthly income equal to 0.5% of the Sum Assured shall be payable
for a period of 10 years. The monthly income can be level or increasing at 10% p.a.
as chosen by the policyholder.
2. Maturity Benefit
No benefit is payable on survival till end of policy term.
3. Life Stage Protection
During various stages of life, insured can avail for increase or decrease risk cover.
During various life stages like marriage or child birth, this kind of option can be
chosen.
EVENTS
Marriage
Birth of 1st Child
Birth of 2nd Child

ADDITIONAL SUM ASSURED (% of Sum

Assured)
50%
25%
25%

Similarly, as the age of insured increases and his earnings also increases, his
children are no more dependent on him. At this stage, he can reduce his additional
insurance cover.
4. Accidental Death Benefit
If the death occurs within 180 days of the suicide, the nominee receives accidental
death benefit.
HDFC Click 2 Protect has relatively lower premium for the same age and
same policy term of the insured as compared to SBI e-shield. It even offers flexibility
of payment (though extra premium is charged if policy premium is paid in other
than yearly way). But it is still affordable as the premium itself is very low for the
term plan for the amount of risk covered. Maximum maturity age is also higher. So,
more number of people can avail for this policy.
The Life Stage Protection feature is appealing. During different stages of the
life, policy holder can increase or decrease his risk cover. As compared to the
increasing plan option which increases the policy holders sum assured by 10%
every five years. Though this may be effective to beat inflation.
Death benefit in case of SBI e-shield is always received as lump sum amount
of the effective sum assured. But in case of HDFC Click 2 Protect, policy holder can
choose from the options available like a part of sum assured is availed on the
occasion of death and annuity is received by the nominee on the monthly basis for
10 to 15 years.
From the various online policy websites, it can be inferred that HDFCs Click 2
Protect is preferred over SBIs e-shield. Looking at the features available, I would
avail HDFC Click 2 Protect over SBI e-shield.

References:
http://www.hdfclife.com/
http://www.sbilife.co.in/