Five smart things to know about applicable charges for Unit-linked insurance plans

Here are 5 smart things to know about applicable charges for Unit-linked insurance plans...

1. Premium allocation charge is deducted from the premium and covers the costs of marketing, distribution and initial management. It is usually high in the initial two years.

2. Mortality charge is the charge for covering life and depends upon the gender and age of the insured and is charged on a monthly basis and is charged by cancelling units.

3. Policy administration charge is a fixed amount charged periodically, usually every month, by cancelling units.

4. Fund management charge is the charge for managing the fund in which the policy holder has invested and is adjusted every day in the NAV of the fund.

5. Switching charge is for switching between funds after the permitted free switches are exhausted. It is recovered either by cancelling units or deducting from the pre-switching amount.

(The content on this page is courtesy Centre for Investment Education and Learning (CIEL). Contributions by Girija Gadre, Arti Bhargava and Labdhi Mehta.)