Tata AIA Life Insurance introduces iRaksha Supreme, one of the most competitive online term insurance plans available in the market and probably the only one providing protection up to 80 years of age. Leena D Joshi, assistant vice president and head, product management group, Tata AIA Life Insurance, speaks to tata.com about the plan

What makes iRaksha Supreme a unique proposition for India?
At Tata AIA Life, it is our endeavour to anticipate customers’ savings and protection needs and to meet their expectations through solutions that combine the right product with the most convenient means of access. This has resulted in Tata AIA Life constantly enhancing its offerings for customers.

According to a recent Swiss Re study, India has an enormous ‘protection gap’ of over $6.67 trillion (approximately Rs374 lakh crore); an average Indian spends only Rs7.4 for every Rs100 that needs to be spent on life insurance cover, leading to a gap of 92.6 percent in a family’s financial protection. 

We launched our first pure online term plan, Tata AIA Life Insurance iRaksha Supreme, to provide customers an option for bridging their protection gap with the ease and comfort offered by the internet.

With increasing life expectancy, people need financial protection for longer periods of time. To meet this need in India, iRaksha Supreme provides life insurance protection up to age 80, probably the only term plan currently in the market to do so. In addition, we have provided a wide range of policy terms starting from 10 years to as high as 40 years. The plan also offers customers a wide range of premium paying options to suit individual customer needs.

Tell us about the plan’s focus on women and non-smokers.
Traditionally, the insurance split between males and females is tilted towards the male population. However, with the growing number of working women in the country today, the family’s dependence on the income of female members is increasing. We believe that this is leading to an enhanced sense of financial liberty, and the awareness about and need for life insurance will potentially increase. We are committed to making our contribution towards providing financial protection to this segment of customers and offer some of the best rates for female customers in the market.

As a responsible life insurer, helping people lead healthier lives is a natural concern to us. In order to give our customers the tangible benefits of healthy living, in this plan, non-smoking customers can avail of preferential premium rates.

How do online term plans differ from conventional ones?
While online term plans are a relatively recent phenomenon in India as compared to other insurance plans, they have received tremendous customer response, and combined with the emergence of e-commerce in the personal finance segment, have created a niche for themselves. This is because the product review, purchase and payment can be carried out by customers at a convenient place and time, with the click of a mouse or tap of a touchpad.

One of the key issues facing insurers in their attempt to bridge the protection gap in India, is the ability to reach out to customers in a cost-effective manner in our large and diverse country. The online medium has helped to address this issue to an extent by providing access to a large section of a growing category of customers.

Are they more attractive to urban / youth segments or is the objective to increase penetration into non-metro markets?
Well, online term insurance is attractive to anyone with access to the internet on account of easy accessibility and cost-effectiveness. What’s more, this is not a ‘metro only’ phenomenon. In fact, a recent Google India study revealed that 51 percent participants for its Great Online Shopping Festival were from outside the top four metros.

What are some of the other innovative schemes offered by Tata AIA Life Insurance?
For Tata AIA Life, innovation has been a fundamental driver for product development and we have pioneered a slew of products and solutions by anticipating customer needs.

One interesting plan is the Tata AIA Life Insurance MahaLife Supreme. It was recently launched with long-term guaranteed benefits along with financial protection – it is a limited premium paying, non-linked endowment plan. In this plan, the customer has the option to pay premiums for a limited period and receive guaranteed incomes for a longer period of time.

Another recent innovation is a unit-linked plan called Tata AIA Life Insurance Suraksha Kosh Supreme, with life cover that starts high and automatically reduces with attained age. It’s a one-of-its-kind plan in the market with very high protection elements.

We will continue to develop solutions that suit customers’ changing needs.