Nitesh was working with an IT company. However, because of COVID-19, the company had to downsize and Nitesh lost his job. Since job opportunities were lesser in the market, he could not get a job for a long time and had to use all his savings. He had a life insurance policy, and he could not pay the premiums, even during the grace period. This led to the lapse of his life insurance policy. Many people have gone through a situation like this. Well, just because a policy has got lapsed, does not mean you cannot revive it.
Know what happens when an Insurance policy goes lapses
- The main purpose of insurance terminates i.e sum assured is not received in case of occurrence of insured event.
- If it is a term insurance then plan terminates, in other plans like endowment partial benefits may continue provided policy has accumulated surrender value.
- In ULIP, plan terminates and fund is transferred in discontinued fund.
When does a life insurance policy lapse?
When you buy a life insurance policy, you certainly expect quite many benefits. However, to avail of the benefits, you have to keep paying the premiums without any fail. If you stop paying the premiums on time, you will get a grace period of 30 days. If you do not pay the premiums even after 30 days of a grace period, your policy will lapse.
When it is about reviving the life insurance plans, you must be aware of the fact that the process may vary for each insurer but companies run revival programs.
Insurance Plans other than term insurance can be revived as per the process below:
- Proof of insurability either through Good Health declaration or going through new medical at your own cost.
- Paying all pending premiums either with interest or without interest as per rules of your insurer. Companies run special programmes.
Problem of reinstatement:
- Case will be reunderwritten and the insurance company may revise the premium.
- The policy will be considered new and 3 years contestable period will rebegin as per Section 45 of Insurance Act.
- One-year suicide clause exclusion would also rebegin.
Tips for avoiding a life insurance policy lapse
If you do not want your life insurance policy to lapse, here are some tips that you can check out:
Choose an ECS: ECS or Electronic Clearing Service can be used so that you can give a standing order to the bank or credit card. The bank will deduct the specific amount from your account for your life insurance policy monthly, quarterly, half-yearly, or yearly, whichever mode you choose.
To sum it up, you must try to pay the premiums for your policy on time to avoid any lapse. And if it lapses, you must go for a revival.