iProtect Smart – ICICI Prudential’s New Term Insurance plan – Features, Benefits & Review

ICICI Prudential’s online term insurance plan is known as ‘iprotect’ plan. This plan was launched in 2010. It is a pure protection plan with optional Accidental Death Benefit rider. ICICI Prudential has recently launched iProtect Smart, a new comprehensive online term insurance plan with more optional benefits & features than their iProtect plan.

I believe that ICICI is trying to aggressively market this product and compete with other comprehensive term insurance plans like HDFC’s Protect Plus.

Basic life cover is a must. Over and above this if you would like to opt for optional benefits like Critical Illness rider or Accidental death benefit rider etc., I suggest you to carefully go through the terms and conditions before adding them to your basic cover. Select them based on your affordability and requirements.

In this post let us understand about– Key features of iProtect Smart plan, details about various plan options, information on accidental death benefit & Critical illness benefit, death benefit payment options, enhanced protection at key life stages (like marriage, child birth etc.,) and review on iprotect smart insurance plan.

Key features of ICICI Prudential new Term plan – iProtect Smart

iProtect Smart is a pure term insurance plan. Below are some of the key features of this new term plan offered by ICICI;

• iProtect Smart plan offers death benefit (or) terminal illness benefit and waiver of future premiums on permanent disability. Death benefit is paid to the nominee on the first occurrence of either life assured’s death (or) on diagnosis of Terminal illness. On diagnosis of Permanent Disability (PD) due to an accident, the future premiums are waived. These benefits are available under all the plan options.

(What is Terminal Illness? – A Life Assured shall be regarded as Terminally Ill only if that Life Assured is diagnosed as suffering from a condition which, in the opinion of two independent medical practitioners’ specializing in treatment of such illness, is highly likely to lead to death within 6 months.)

• This plan offers three payout options of ‘Death Benefit’;
  • i) Lump sum – the entire death benefit amount is payable as a lump sum.
  • ii) Regular Income – Under this option, 10% of the death benefit amount is payable every year for 10 years. For example : If Sum assured is Rs 1 cr, your nominee or legal heir would be receiving Rs 83,333 per month for 10 years. (Your nominee can also take the entire first year’s income as lump sum)
  • iii) Increasing Income option – 10% of the death benefit amount is payable to the nominee every year for 10 years. However, the income amount will increase by 10% every year. For example : If Sum assured is Rs 1 cr, your nominee or legal heir would be receiving Rs 83,333 per month in the first year, in second year Rs 91,667 p.m. (110% of Rs 83,333) and so on for the next 10 years.
• Optional benefits (riders) like Accidental Death Benefit (ADB) & Critical Illness Benefit (CIB) are offered under this plan.
  • ADB – In case of death due to accident, your nominee will get basic sum assured plus the sum assured opted under ADB.
  • CIB – If you opt for this rider, you will get coverage against 34 critical illnesses. The CIB is payable on first occurrence of any of the covered 34 illnesses. The benefit is payable as lump sum irrespective of the actual expenses incurred by the policyholder. Your basic cover (death benefit) will get reduced by the extent of the CI benefit paid.
• iProtect Smart Term plan offers you the flexibility to pay the premiums as single payment, limited period payment or throughout the policy (monthly, quarterly, semi-annual or annually) (Limited pay = Policy term – 5 years)
• Special premium rates are offered for women. This plans offers coverage for female organ cancers such as breast cancer & cervical cancer.
• ICICI Prudential’s iProtect Smart offers the flexibility to increase the level of protection at key life stages of marriage and child birth, without any medicals

iProtect Smart Plan & Benefit Options (Plan Options)

This new term plan offers below benefit options;  

• Life Option : Under this option, Death Benefit (or) Terminal Illness Benefit + Waiver of Premium on Permanent Disability are provided.
• Life Plus Option : The benefits that are provided under this option are; Death Benefit (or) Terminal Illness Benefit + Waiver of Premium on permanent disability + Accidental Death Benefit
• Life & Health Option : Death Benefit (or) Terminal Illness Benefit + Waiver of Premium on permanent disability + Critical Illness Benefits are offered under this option.
• All in one : Under this option all benefits are offered. Death Benefit (or) Terminal Illness Benefit + Waiver of Premium on permanent disability + Accidental Death Benefit +  Critical Illness Benefit

ICICI’s iProtect Smart Term Plan & Indicative premiums

The below table gives you an idea about the indicative premiums that are applicable under various ‘Benefit options’ and’ Death Benefit payout’ options.

• Accidental Death Benefit is available under Life Plus & All in one benefit options only.
• Critical Illness Benefit additional benefit is available under Life Health Option & All in one options only.
• Premiums vary depending on the death benefit payout option (lump sum / regular income / increasing income options)
• Premium amount is also dependent on ‘premium payment options’ (single pay / limited pay / regular pay).
• Below premiums are for a healthy 35 year male, non-smoker, for Rs 1 Crore sum assured + Rs 1 Cr Accidental death benefit + Rs 10 Lakh Critical Illness benefit & regular annual premium payment mode for 20 year term. 

Enhanced sum assured Option

ICICI Pru iProtect Smart offers the flexibility to increase the level of protection at key life stages of marriage and child birth, without any medicals as below;

Life stage protection benefit is available only under ‘Life option’. Additional premium will be calculated based on the increased Sum Assured and outstanding policy term.

Should you buy iProtect Smart Online Term Life Insurance plan?

If protection is your objective, my standard recommendation is always to buy a term insurance plan with adequate cover. This plan offers basic cover and a lot of additional features / benefits. So, based on your requirements, affordability & medical profile you can opt for  any of these additional features. Also, suggest you to compare the premiums with other best term insurance plans and take a final decision.

You may also keep in mind the below points before buying iProtect Smart Term plan;

• The death benefit is paid on the first occurrence of either death of the life assured (or) on diagnosis of Terminal illness. So, the life assured can claim the Sum assured when he/she is actually still alive.
• If you have a family history of Critical illnesses, you may consider buying a comprehensive stand-alone CI plan.
• Under this plan, pre-existing conditions (if any) are not covered by Critical Illness benefit (any condition which is diagnosed or received treatment within 48 months to prior to the first policy issued by the Company will be excluded). So, you may have to buy a separate Critical Health Insurance plan to cover pre-existing diseases (if any). (Read : ‘Best portals to compare Health Insurance Plans‘)
• If you opt for CI benefit, on diagnosis of any of the covered 34 illnesses, the policyholder will be paid lump sum CI benefit. Your basic cover (death benefit) will get reduced by the extent of the CI benefit paid.
• Kindly note that this plan does not provide ‘Permanent Disability Benefit’ on accident, it only waives off the future policy premiums. So, you may have to buy a separate stand-alone  Personal Accident Insurance plan to cover the disability risk. (Read : ‘Best Personal Accident Insurance plans‘)
• Do read carefully the terms & conditions that are applicable for ‘Additional benefits’ (ADB / CIB / Waiver of Premium).
• You may opt for ‘Regular income’ (or) ‘Increasing income’ options, only if you believe that your nominee or legal heir can not manage or re-invest the claim amount. Else, it is advisable to opt for lump sum death benefit pay out option. Your nominee can earn better returns by re-investing the claim amount based on his/her age and financial goals.
• If you decide to go ahead with iProtect Smart term plan, you may consider assigning this plan under ‘Married Women’s Property Act‘.
• Income tax benefits under section 80C & Section 80D (Premium towards Critical Illness Benefit) are available.
• Do keep in mind that basic term insurance cover is a must. You may buy a term plan form a life insurance company that you are comfortable with. If you want to add more additional benefits to the basic cover, your premium amount will certainly increase. Everything comes with a price!

Do you think that ICICI’s iProtect Smart Plan is one of the most comprehensive online Term Insurance plans that are available in the market today? Kindly share your views and comments.

Continue reading :

1. ICICI Prudential Precious Life (new) Term Insurance Plan | Life Cover to Individuals With Health Conditions
2. Top 5 Best Online Term Life Insurance Plans 2020 | Comparison & FAQs

(Reference : iciciprulife.com & iprotectsmart product brochure) (This is NOT a sponsored post. ReLakhs.com is not associated with ICICI Prudential Life Insurance company)