Do you have sufficient life insurance?

Term insurance is by far the best form of financial protection. Yet, very few people are aware of it and even fewer buy it, resulting in grossly low levels of protection in Indian cities, says a study by Max Life Insurance and Kantar IMRB.

Here are some key takeaways of the survey conducted last month.

India Protection Quotient stands at a low of 35

The India Protection Quotient is the degree to which an individual feels protected on a scale of 0 to 100. It measures, among other things, awareness and ownership of life insurance, level of preparedness and preference for term plans.

Protection levels in urban India are low

Few know of term insurance, even fewer buy it

Bengaluru and Pune, which have a high % of millennials and educated professionals, were among the lowest scorers.

How various demographic segments look at term insurance
Millennials don't care too much about protection

Age also plays a role in awareness and purchase of term insurance
Awareness and ownership higher for older people

Reasons for not buying term plans
80% of respondents don't think they will die suddenly

Numbers will not add up to 100 because of multiple responses

And what makes people buy
Actual result or purchase by peers have biggest impact

10% of term plan buyers take a critical illness rider. nine out of 10 buyers are not fully covered.

Expected sources of support in case of critical illness
Don't count on anyone other than your immediate family

• 65% Immediate family
• 31% Extended family
• 21% No one
• 14% Friends
• 3% Employer

How much does a term cover of Rs 1 crore cost?

Age of buyer	Tenure (In Years)	Monthly Premium	Annual Premium
25 years	40	675	7,670
30 years	35	810	9,204
35 years	30	1,018	11,564
40 years	25	1,319	14,986
45 years	20	1,745	19,824
50 years	15	2,316	26,314
55 years	10	3,063	34,810

*Premium rates of Max Online Term Plan for male non-smokers; premium inclusive of GST
Source: The India Protection Quotient 2019 study had 4,566 respondents from five metros and nine Tier I cities.