LIC Bima Ratna (Plan No. 864)

LIC’s Bima Ratna (Plan No. 864) is a non-linked, non-participating, individual, savings, life insurance plan offering a combination of protection and savings. Plan Bima Ratna provides a lump sum amount to the family in case of the policyholder's unfortunate demise and periodic payments as a survival benefit to the policyholder. This endowment plan offers flexibility to the policyholder to customize the benefits per their financial needs.

Below mentioned are the highlights of Life Insurance Corporation Bima Ratna

• Policy Type:

  Endowment Plan

• Basic Sum Assured:

  Rs. 5 Lakh - No Limit

• Settlement Options:

  Receive benefits in 5, 10, or 15 years of instalments

• Policy Exclusion:

  Suicide

• 3-in-1 Benefits:

  Death, Survival & Maturity

To buy LIC Bima Ratna, you must need to meet the following eligibility criteria

• Minimum Age at Entry

  • 5 years (completed) for 15 years Policy Term
  • 90 days (completed) for 20 and 25 years Policy Term

• Maximum Age at Entry

  • 55 years (nearer birthday) for 15 years Policy Term
  • 50 years (nearer birthday) for 20 years Policy Term
  • 45 years (nearer birthday) for 25 years Policy Term
  • 65 years (nearer birthday) minus Policy Term (in case of policies procured through POSP-LI/CPSC-SPV )

• Policy Term

  • 15 years
  • 20 years
  • 25 years
  • 15 & 20 years (in case of policies procured through POSP-LI/CPSC-SPV)

• Premium Paying Term

  • 11 years for 15 years Policy Term
  • 16 years for 20 years Policy Term
  • 21 years for 25 years Policy Term

• Minimum Age at Maturity

  • 20 years (Completed) for 15 & 20 years Policy Term
  • 25 years (Completed) for 25 years Policy Term

• Maximum Age at Maturity

  • 70 years (nearer birthday)
  • 65 years (in case of policies procured through POSP-LI/CPSC-SPV)

In case the entry age of the life assured is less than 8, the commencement of the risk will start either one day before the completion of 2 years policy anniversary or one day before the policy anniversary on or immediately following the completion of 8 years, whichever is earlier. For policyholders over 8 years, the risk starts immediately from the policy issuance.

As a suitable investment plan, Life Insurance Corporation Bima Ratna Scheme provides financial protection to you and your family in the following events

If the policyholder dies after the commencement of risk and within the chosen policy term, the family can claim the death benefit. The death benefit is called “Sum Assured on Death” and is payable as

• 125% of the Basic Sum Assured or
• 7 times the annual premium, whichever is higher.

The final death payment should be higher than 105% of the total premium and consists of the Guaranteed Addition Benefits.

Bima Ratna provides the pre-defined survival benefit to the policyholder if s/he survives the entire policy term. The fixed 25% percentage of the basic sum assured is provided in the following years

If you as a policyholder survive the whole policy term, 50% of the basic sum assured is provided to you, termed as “Sum Assured on Maturity”.

At the end of each policy year, LIC makes a guaranteed addition to the sum assured under Plan Bima Ratna, defined as

LIC Bima Ratna provides the flexibility to choose the premium paying and receiving modes per their financial needs on a pre-defined yearly, half-yearly, quarterly, or monthly basis. To make it more clear how the Bima Ratna plan works, let’s have a look at an example

Suppose Rohit, working in an MNC at the age of 30, opts to buy Life Insurance Corporation Bima Ratna Plan after getting a suggestion from a friend with decent knowledge of savings and investment. In some uncertain cases, he dies before the policy gets matures, and his family will get the benefits listed as under

• Age (in years)

  30

• Policy Term (in years)

  25

• Premium Payment Term

  21

• Instalment Premium Amount

  Rs. 1,16,178

• Mode of Payment

  Annual

• Basic Sum Assured

  Rs. 20,00,000

• Basic Sum Assured on Death

  Rs. 25,00,000

The mentioned amount excludes taxes.

Besides the attractive benefits for life and the afterlife, LIC Bima Ratna has other significant features that make the plan a suitable investment. With these features, the policyholder can take maximum advantage of the plan to make a safe corpus for his financial needs. The highlighted Bima Ratna policy features are

Take Maturity and Death Benefit in Instalments

LIC’s Bima Ratna allows the policyholder to take the maturity and death benefits in instalments as a settlement option over a period of 5, 10, or 15 years instead of a lump sum. This feature is available under paid-up and in-force policy. The minimum amount of instalments during different periods can be made as under

* The chart is based on the illustration stated by LIC and approved by IRDAI.

Payment of Premiums

LIC Bima Ratna Scheme allows the policyholder to make premiums payments at regular intervals in yearly, half-yearly, quarterly, or monthly modes (using NACH only). The plan also allows salary deductions of the premium during the premium paying term of the policy.

Grace Period

The Life Insurance Corporation Bima Ratna policy offers a grace period of 30 days for payments in yearly, half-yearly, and quarterly modes and 15 days for monthly payment modes from the date of the first unpaid premium. During this period, the policy will remain in force, and if the policyholder misses paying the premium, the policy lapses.

Revival 

The lapsed Bima Ratna can be revived within 5 consecutive years from the first date of unpaid premiums and before the date of maturity. The policyholder must pay all outstanding premiums, interest, and other expenses.

The revival of the rider is only allowed with the revival of the base policy, not in isolation.

Free-look Period

LIC Bima Ratna allows a freelook period of 30 days from the policy buying date. If the policyholder is not satisfied with policy’s terms and conditions, they can return it within 30 days. The policyholder needs to state the reasons for objections to receiving the policy. The corporation shall cancel the Bima Ratna policy and return the premium amount paid, excluding any expenses.

Avail Loan

Loans can be availed against the Bima Ratna policy if a policyholder has paid at least two full years’ premium and the policy has acquired a surrender value. The policyholder can avail of the maximum loan as a percentage of surrender value in the following conditions

• During the premium paying term
  For in-force policies– upto 90% of the surrender value
  For paid-up policies– upto 80% of the surrender value

In the conditions of unpaid loans, recovery should be allowed from the survival benefit or claim during exit, along with the applicable interest.

7. Surrender Value

A policyholder can surrender the policy anytime after paying two full years' premiums. In such cases, the Bima Ratna LIC acquires a surrender value. The insured will receive the surrender value, termed as Guaranteed Surrender Value or Special Surrender Value, whichever is higher.

8. Rebates

Bima Ratna scheme offers rebates on different premium modes.

Rebates are also offered based on the basic sum assured.

9. Paid-Up Value

If a policyholder has paid a premium of less than two years and subsequent premiums are not duly paid, all policy benefits cease after the grace period expires. If at least two years' premiums are duly paid, and any subsequent premiums are not paid, the policy acquires a paid-up value until the end of the term.

• As per the plan, the sum assured paid at the time of death is known as “Death Paid-Up Sum Assured” and is calculated as

Death Paid-up Sum Assured = (Number of premiums paid/ Total Number of Premiums to be paid) X Sum assured on death

• As per the plan, the sum assured paid at the time of maturity is known as “Maturity Paid-Up Sum Assured” and is calculated as

Maturity Paid-up Sum Assured = (Number of premiums paid/ Total Number of Premiums to be paid) X Sum assured on Maturity

In addition to the paid-up sum assured, Guaranteed Additions shall be calculated and paid up to the first unpaid premium of death or maturity.

10. Tax Benefits

The premium paid towards Bima Ratna Policy is eligible for tax exemption under Section 80C and Section 10(10 D) of the Income Tax Act.

11. Waiting Period

Bima Ratna policy provides a waiting period of the first 90 days from the commencement date of risk only for life assured above 8 years of entry age.  If the plan is purchased through Point of Sales Persons- Life Insurance (POSP-LI) or CPSC-SPV in the condition of the death of the policyholder (except for the accident) within this waiting period, the corporation will refund the total premium paid.

In case the death is caused due to an accident during the waiting period, a “Sum Assured on Death” is payable.

An extra premium amount needs to be paid by the policyholder to avail of 5 optional riders under LIC Bima Ratna plan. A maximum of 5 riders can be availed from the following five optional riders under this plan

• LIC’s Accidental Death and Disability Benefit Rider
  Suppose this rider has opted in case of accidental death of the policyholder. In that case, the accident benefit sum assured will be payable in lump sum along with the death benefits of the base plan, and the rider is at least 5 years. In case of accidental disability (within 180 days of the accident date), a benefit amount equal to the accidental benefit sum assured will be paid in equal monthly instalments up to 10 years. The benefit under this rider will be available from the policy anniversary following the completion of 18 years of age of the policyholder.
• LIC’s Accident Benefit Rider
  If this rider is opted, in case of accidental death of the policyholder, the accident benefit sum assured will be payable in lump sum along with the death benefits of the base plan, and the rider is at least 5 years. The benefits this rider covers are only payable under the premium payment term.
• LIC’s New Term Assurance Rider
  A policyholder can only opt for this rider during the inception of the policy. If this rider is selected, an amount equal to the term assurance rider sum assured, including the base death benefit, shall be offered.
• LIC’s New Critical Illness Benefit Rider
  A policyholder can only opt for this rider during the inception of the policy. The critical illness benefits are payable on the first diagnosis specified under the rider. Basically, 15 critical illnesses are covered under this rider benefit.
• LIC’s Premium Waiver Benefit Rider
  If opted for this rider, all the future due premium payments under the base policy will be waived off following the policyholder's death, and the rider is at least five years.

By now, you know all the benefits and features of Bima Ratna Plan 864. Still, you must know some key clauses under Bima Ratna LIC exclusions. These are:

• Suppose the policyholder (sane or insane) commits suicide within 12 months of the commencement of risk. In that case, the company will not provide any risk cover but is entitled to payout 80% of the total premium paid, excluding the rider premiums, additional premiums, and taxes other than term assurance rider, if any.
  (This clause shall not apply if the life assured's entry age is less than 8 years.)
• If the policyholder (sane or insane) commits suicide within 12 months from the revival date, the company will pay an amount higher than 80% of the total premium until the death date. Or the company is liable to pay the surrender value available as of the date of death. The amount excludes any extra premiums, taxes, or rider premiums. The policy will not bear any further claims under the LIC Bima Ratna.
  (Nothing shall be payable if the life assured is less than 8 years at the revival or for the policy lapsed without acquiring the paid-up value.)

Bima Ratna plan offers the suitability to purchase from both online and offline mediums. It makes the plan accessible for digital users and those away from the digital world. You can easily buy a Bima Ratna policy offline by contacting corporate agents, POSP-LI, Insurance Marketing Firm (IMF), Brokers and CSC. Also, you can easily visit your nearest registered LIC office to learn more about the plan in detail.

With the flexibility of settlement for premium payment, the LIC Bima Ratna becomes the top choice for those who want to make investments at a very affordable cost and save for their future requirements. The plan secures you and your family by providing periodic financial assistance at predetermined intervals to help expand income sources. You can also avail of loans under Bima Ratna Policy to complete your liquidity requirement.

Hopefully, we made it easy to understand the working and buying process of Bima Ratna. Want to compare the benefits in minutes to make a sound decision? Make it easier by connecting with one of our experts at RenewBuy.