NRI CENTRE

Welcome to NRI Centre. We have made an attempt here to furnish important features applicable to Non-Resident Indians (NRI) and People of Indian Origin having foreign nationality and residing in foreign countries. (PIO).

Before entering to technical part of the subject we wish you to know the concept of insurance clearly; to identify the proper type of policy; to know the premium structure of the policy and to get the doubts, if any, on our different insurance plans clarified through your agent or LIC Branch Office.

Concept of insurance and different types of plans:

Life risk cover i.e. financial protection to the family in case of an unforeseen event- say death, illness, disability on account of accident, etc –is the main purpose of insurance. But, it is also seen as a ‘compulsory savings’ leading to creation of wealth which can be utilized for education/marriage of children; for old age provision; for construction of house; etc. Policies are taken to get exemption from Income Tax and to assign these to financial institutions as collateral security while availing different type of credit facilities including housing loan. In order to meet various socio-economic needs of different people, LIC has designed more than 40 types of plans which include whole life policies, endowment policies with a definite term, joint life policies, money back policies having provision for periodical lump sum payments called survival benefits, term insurance policies which have low premium but high risk cover, pension plans, children plans, Unit Linked Plans which provide an opportunity to invest in capital market, etc. etc.

Each of our plans has distinct features covering certain type of benefits. The selection depends on your needs. Details of plans are available under the option ‘products-insurance plans’. Each plan is given a table number for identification purpose. e.g. Table 14 refers to Endowment Plan which is most popular in India.

Calculations of premium:

Once short listing of two to three plans is made, you would proceed to know the premium rates & calculations. For this, you should decide the term of policy, Sum assured, Mode of payment of Premium ( Yearly, Half yearly, Quarterly or Monthly ) and whether you require additional benefits like accident benefit. You may go to the option :‘tools - premium calculator’ for knowing the premium amount to be paid for the policy of your choice. Thereafter, you would be required to know the formalities to be completed for obtaining the desired type of policy.

Requirements to take a policy of insurance:

Submission of prescribed proposal form ( Form No. 300 in majority of the cases )is the basic requirement. Medical report may be required to assess the health of the proposer. Proofs of age and income, agent’s recommendations, special reports in case of any deformity or history of major illness, etc. would be required to evaluate the risk. This process is called ‘Underwriting’ and it is done in India based on the facts appearing in proposal form and allied papers. If the proposed life is acceptable and sufficient amount is received towards the First Premium, acceptance letter would be sent to the proposer and policy bond would be issued in due course.

By this time, you might have felt that matter is rather technical and assistance/guidance of an agent is quite essential. Yes, that is why  we strongly recommend to seek help of an agent from India who can guide and assist you. You may seek help of any Divisional/Branch Office of LIC whose addresses you can find from the option: ‘locator’ appearing on main page. Now , let us enter in to the subject with more details.

NON-RESIDENT INDIAN:

1. A non-resident Indian is a citizen of India temporarily residing in the country of his/her present residence and holding a valid passport issued by the Government of India.
2. NRI should not be a green card holder. He/She should not have applied for or planning to apply in the near future for acquiring citizenship of his /her present country of residence or any other country.
3. It is clarified that People of Indian Origin having foreign nationality and residing in foreign countries (PIO) are not considered as NRIs for the purpose of allowing insurance. Rules applicable to PIOs are given in the last paragraph.
4. Policies are issued in Indian Rupees only. Our Branches and Joint Venture Companies ( refer to option ; ‘Associates’ on main page for details ) issue policies in their local currencies. e.g. Our U.K. Branch issues policies in Sterling Pound currency.
5. NRIs are allowed insurance on their visit to India where all formalities are completed during their stay in India. In such cases they would be treated on par with Indian Lives for the purpose of allowing insurance.
6. NRIs may also obtain insurance cover from their present country of residence where all formalities are completed in their present country of residence and this process is called ‘Mail Order Business’.
7. Minimum Sum Assured allowed would be Rs. 2 lakhs and maximum would depend on conditions of insurability. However, under mail order business, maximum sum assured would be limited to Rs. One Crore only.
8. Personal Financial Questionnaire (PFQ) and /or Proof of income in the form of income tax returns, copy of employment contract where emoluments are mentioned, Certificate from Chartered Accountant, etc. would be required if the sum assured is high or if the proposal is submitted through Mail Order Business.
9. All types of plans are allowed subject to the conditions that

10. NRIs may obtain insurance cover under our Non-Medical (Special) scheme subject to certain restrictions, some of which are listed below:

11. Rules regarding insurance under medical scheme through ‘Mail Order Business’ are given in Annexure-I at the end of this write up.
12. The rules regarding granting insurance cover to NRIs during their visit to India would be similar to those applicable to Indian Lives. Help of a local agent/ development officer / branch office of LIC may be obtained. Addresses of our Offices can be obtained from the option : ‘locator’.

13. The main papers required to obtain insurance cover would be

14. A reference may please be made to Annexure-V for details such as Residence Extra and other restrictive conditions.

People of Indian Origin having Foreign Nationality and residing in Foreign Countries.

1. Proposal would be under medical scheme only.
2. Policy in Indian Currency would be issued, only during their stay in India.
3. Report by designated LIC agents is compulsory.
4. Claim would be paid in India in Indian Currency only.
5. Maximum sum assured would be Rs. 50 lakhs and high risk plans and joint life plans are not allowed.
6. Please refer to Annexure-V for details such as residence extra and other restrictive conditions.

Other points:
Existing policies taken while in India will continue in Indian Currency even after your moving to foreign countries as NRI. Please keep the concerned servicing branch of LIC informed about your new status i.e. NRI and your new address. Please submit to them NRI questionnaire form duly filled and signed. (See Annexure-II). You may continue to pay premiums through various approved channels to LIC.