Life insurance (or commonly life assurance, especially in the Commonwealth) is a contract between an insured (insurance policy holder)

and an insurer or assurer, where the insurer promises to pay a designated beneficiary a sum of money (the "benefits") in exchange for a premium, upon the death of the insured person. Depending on the contract, other events such as terminal illness or critical illness may also trigger payment. The policy holder typically pays a premium, either regularly or as a lump sum. ther expenses (such as funeral expenses) are also sometimes included in the benefits. !ife policies are legal contracts and the terms of the contract describe the limitations of the insured events. "pecific exclusions are often written into the contract to limit the liability of the insurer# common examples are claims relating to suicide, fraud, war, riot and civil commotion. !ife$based contracts tend to fall into two ma%or categories& 'rotection policies ( designed to provide a benefit in the event of specified event, typically a lump sum payment. ) common form of this design is term insurance. *nvestment policies ( where the main ob%ective is to facilitate the growth of capital by regular or single premiums. Common forms (in the +") are whole life, universal life and variable life policies.

Parties to contract[edit]
There is a difference between the insured and the policy owner, although the owner and the insured are often the same person. ,or example, if -oe buys a policy on his own life, he is both the owner and the insured. .ut if -ane, his wife, buys a policy on -oe/s life, she is the owner and he is the insured. The policy owner is the guarantor and he will be the person to pay for the policy. The insured is a participant in the contract, but not necessarily a party to it. )lso, most companies allow the payer and owner to be different, e. g. a grandparent paying premiums for a policy on a child, owned by a grandchild.

Contract terms[edit]
"pecial exclusions may apply, such as suicide clauses, whereby the policy becomes null and void if the insured commits suicidewithin a specified time (usually two years after the purchase date# some states provide a statutory one$year suicide clause). )ny misrepresentations by the insured on the application may also be grounds for nullification. 0ost +" states specify a maximum contestability period, often no more than two years. nly if the insured dies within this period will the insurer have a legal right to contest the claim on the basis of misrepresentation and re1uest additional information before deciding whether to pay or deny the claim. The face amount of the policy is the initial amount that the policy will pay at the death of the insured or when the policy matures, although the actual death benefit can provide for greater or lesser than the face amount. The policy matures when the insured dies or reaches a specified age (such as 233 years old).

Death proceeds[edit]
+pon the insured/s death, the insurer re1uires acceptable proof of death before it pays the claim. The normal minimum proof re1uired is a death certificate, and the insurer/s claim form completed,

signed (and typically notari4ed).5citation needed6 *f the insured/s death is suspicious and the policy amount is large, the insurer may investigate the circumstances surrounding the death before deciding whether it has an obligation to pay the claim. 'ayment from the policy may be as a lump sum or as an annuity, which is paid in regular installments for either a specified period orfor the beneficiary/s lifetime.5citation needed6

Limited-pay[edit]
)nother type of permanent insurance is Limited-pay life insurance, in which all the premiums are paid over a specified period after which no additional premiums are due to the policy in force. Common limited pay periods include 23$year, 73$year, and are paid out at the age of 89.

Accidental death[edit]
)ccidental death is a limited life insurance designed to cover the insured should they die due to an accident. )ccidents include anything from an in%ury and upwards, but do not typically cover deaths resulting from health problems or suicide. .ecause they only cover accidents, these policies are much less expensive than other life insurance policies. *t is also very commonly offered as accidental death and dismemberment insurance (AD&D) policy. *n an )D:D policy, benefits are available not only for accidental death, but also for the loss of limbs or bodily functions, such as sight and hearing. )ccidental death and )D:D policies very rarely pay a benefit, either because the cause of death is not covered by the policy, or the coverage is not maintained after the accident until death occurs. To be aware of what coverage they have, an insured should always review their policy for what it covers and what it excludes. ften, it does not cover an insured who puts themselves at ris; in activities such as parachuting, flying, professional sports or involvement in a war (military or not).

Endowments[edit]
Main article: Endowment policy Endowments are policies in which the cumulative cash value of the policy e1uals the death benefit at a certain age. The age at which this condition is reached is ;nown as the endowment age. <ndowments are considerably more expensive (in terms of annual premiums) than either whole life or universal life because the premium paying period is shortened and the endowment date is earlier. *n the +nited "tates, the Technical Corrections )ct of 2=>> tightened the rules on tax shelters (creating modified endowments). These follow tax rules in the same manner as annuities and *?)s. <ndowment insurance is paid out whether the insured lives or dies, after a specific period (e.g. 29 years) or a specific age (e.g. 89). /Group insurance' is an insurance that covers a group of people, usually who are the members of societies, employees of a common employer, or professionals in a common group. @roup coverage can help reduce the problem of adverse selection by creating a pool of people eligible to purchase insurance who belong to the group for reasons other than for the purposes of

obtaining insurance. *n other words, people belong to the group not because they possess some high$ris; factor which ma;es them more apt to purchase insurance (thus increasing adverse selection)# instead they are in the group for reasons unrelated to insurance, such as all wor;ing for a particular employer.

,rom the above paragraphs we can infer the following are the characteristics of @roup !ife *nsurance a. there must be a group of people to be insured which should have something in common other than the purpose of obtaining insurance b. there must be a 0aster 'olicy Aolder who will retain the contract on the behalf of the member and the carriers c. "uch covers are typically available at a discount to the respective individual rates.

!ife *nsurance Corporation of *ndia

Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) (Aindi& ) is an *ndianstate$ owned insurance group and investment company head1uartered in 0umbai. *t is the largest insurance company in *ndia with an estimated asset value of 2983B>2.>B crore(+"C793 billion).576 )s of 732D it had total life fund of ?s.2BDD23D.2B crore with total value of policies sold of D8E.>7 la;h that year. The company was founded in 2=98 when the 'arliament of *ndia passed the !ife *nsurance of *ndia )ct that nationalised the private insurance industry in *ndia. ver 7B9 insurance companies and

provident societies were merged to create the state owned !ife *nsurance Corporation.

Slogan
!*C/s slogan yogakshemam vahamyaha is in "ans;rit language which translates in <nglish as "Four welfare is our responsibility". This is derived from ancient Aindu text, the .hagavad @ita/s =th chapter, 77nd verse.586 The slogan can be seen in the logo, written in Devanagariscript.

Awards and recognitions

The <conomic Times .rand <1uity "urvey 7327 rated !*C as the Go. 8 0ost Trusted "ervice .rand of *ndia.5E6 ,rom the year 7338, !*C has been continuously winning the ?eaders/ Digest Trusted brand award.5>6

Employees and Agents[edit]

)s on D2 0arch 7327, !*C had 22=,E8E employees, out of which 7B,7=9 were women (73H). 526

Life Insurance Corporation of India

ype

"tate$owned

Industry

,inancial services

!ounded

2 "eptember 2=98

"ead#uarters

0umbai, *ndia ".I ?oy (Chairman), "ushobhan "ar;er (0anaging Director), ".. 0aina; (0anaging Director) J.I "harma (0anaging Director),

$ey people

+sha "angwan (0anaging Director)

Products

!ife insurance, health insurance, investment management,

mutual fund %e&enue Profit otal assets 'wner(s) Employees Su*sidiaries +"CB8,E=B million (7327) +"CD,79E million (7327) 2D79333 crore(+"C723 billion) (7323) @overnment of *ndia 22=,E8E (0ar 7327)526 !*C Aousing ,inance !*C 'ension ,und !td. !*C *nternational !*C Cards "ervices !*C Gomura 0utual ,und +e*site www.licindia.in

!ogo of !*C

!*C offers a variety of insurance products to its customers such as insurance plans, pension plans, unit$lin;ed plans, special plans and group schemes.