Canara HSBC OBC Life Insurance Company

About Canara HSBC OBC Life Insurance Company

Canara HSBC OBC Life Insurance Company is an amalgam of Canara Bank, Punjab National Bank, and HSBC Insurance (Asia-Pacific) Holdings Limited. Each of these three companies holds a stake of 51%, 23%, and 26% respectively. While Canara Bank and Punjab National Bank are both domestic financial institutions, HSBC Insurance provides its global touch and expertise making the company a strong contender in the life insurance segment. 

Canara HSBC OBC Life Insurance Company was established in the year 2008 and ever since then the company has been offering different types of life insurance solutions to its customers. Whether you want to invest in a term plan or opt for ULIPs for market-linked returns, Canara HSBC OBC Life offers these and other plans for your coverage needs. 

Key highlights of Canara HSBC OBC Life Insurance Company

Here are some statistics of Canara HSBC OBC Life Insurance Company –

Awards and achievements of Canara HSBC OBC Life Insurance Company

Since June 2008 when the company came into existence, a lot of awards and achievements have been bestowed on the insurer. Here’s a look at some of them –

• Awarded the ‘Best Video Content in an Influencer Marketing Campaign’ by The Video Media Awards & Summit in the year 2021
• The company won the Human Excellency Award for its diverse workforce. The award is called ‘Future of Work Diversity and Inclusion’.
• The company won the ‘Life Insurance Company of the Year – 2020’ award conferred by CMO Asia under the National Awards for Financial Services Marketing 2020.
• The company also won the Economic Times Best Brands Award in the year 2020
• Canara HSBC OBC Life Insurance Company has been honoured with the Asia’s Most Trusted Company Award in 2019 from the Indian region.

Why choose Canara HSBC OBC Life Insurance Company?

There are many reasons which make Canara HSBC OBC Life Insurance Company a suitable insurer for your coverage needs. Here are a few of them –

• The company offers an online revival facility that allows you to revive your lapsed policies online with ease and convenience. This has gone a long way in maintaining the persistency levels of the company at a high rate.
• With the innovative underwriting rule of ‘Straight Through Processing’ Canara HSBC OBC Life Insurance Company has reduced its underwriting TAT and has made policy issuance quicker.
• You can avail of an extended free-look period for cancelling the policy if you are not satisfied with it
• The company has more than 20,000 partnered bank branches in India which makes it easier for you to buy the plan as well as service it from your neighbourhood bank.

Types of life insurance plans offered by Canara HSBC OBC Life Insurance Company

Canara HSBC OBC Life Insurance Company offers a range of insurance solutions for your needs. Let’s explore these solutions in brief –

A. Term insurance

Term insurance plans are protection-oriented life insurance plans. They have low premiums allowing you to opt for a high sum assured. Term plans cover the risk of premature death and help you provide financial security to your family. You can choose the desired coverage level and policy term and also customize your plan as per your needs.

You can buy the following Canara HSBC OBC Life Insurance’s term insurance plan from PayBima –

1. iSelect Star Term Plan 

iSelect Star is an online term insurance plan which can be bought online with minimal hassles. The plan offers a comprehensive scope of coverage and flexibility in choosing what you need. Here are the salient features of the policy –

• You can choose from different plan options like Life, Life with Return of Premium, and Life Plus 
• Whole life coverage is also available under the plan variants
• You can opt for either a uniform sum assured or an increasing cover wherein the sum assured increases every year
• Four optional coverage benefits are allowed for enhancing the scope of the plan. These include the accidental death cover, disablement cover, and child support benefit among others 
• You can opt for a joint life plan and cover your spouse too under the same policy 
• You can opt to receive the death benefit in installments, in a lump sum, or in a combination of both
• Get the facility of increasing the sum assured at important stages of your life
• Get discounts for female lives or if you are an existing customer of the company

Eligibility conditions

B. Endowment assurance plans

Endowment assurance plans combine life insurance coverage with a saving element. They let you create a corpus over the policy tenure which is payable either on earlier death or on maturity. Some endowment plans also give the added benefit of bonus additions which help in enhancing the corpus that you can avail.

PayBima offers the following endowment assurance plan offered by Canara HSBC OBC Life Insurance Company –

1. Guaranteed Savings Plan

As the name suggests, Guaranteed Savings Plan helps you create a guaranteed corpus for your financial goals. Here are the primary highlights of the plan –

• There are 3 plan options that you can choose from – Guaranteed Savings Option, Guaranteed Savings with Double Protection Option, and Guaranteed Savings with Premium Protection Option
• The plan offers a guaranteed maturity benefit if you pay the due premiums on time
• Only limited premiums are required to buy the policy
• Enjoy a high premium booster to get additional benefits on higher premium payments
• Guaranteed yearly and loyalty additions are added to the corpus to enhance it

Eligibility conditions

Other types of insurance plans sold by Canara HSBC OBC Life Insurance Company

Canara HSBC OBC Life Insurance Company also offers other types of life insurance policies which are as follows –

C. Money-back insurance plans

Money-back insurance plans are traditional life insurance plans that provide liquidity during the policy tenure. These plans pay the money back benefits during the policy tenure. These benefits are a part of the sum assured that is paid at specified intervals. Thereafter, on maturity, the remaining sum assured is paid with a bonus. However, in the case of death, money-back plans pay the whole sum assured as a death benefit irrespective of the money-back benefits already paid. 

D. Child insurance plans

Child insurance plans are savings-oriented life insurance plans which aim to create a corpus for the child. Under these plans, there is a premium waiver rider which usually comes inbuilt in the policy. Through this rider, the premiums are waived off if the parent dies during the policy tenure. The plan, however, continues till maturity whereupon a maturity benefit is paid. Child plans, thus, secure a corpus for the child whether or not the parent is around.

E. Unit linked insurance plans

If you want market-linked returns on your premiums, you can opt for unit-linked insurance plans. These plans invest the premium in market-linked funds. Thereafter, as the market performs, the funds perform and help you earn returns on your investment. ULIPs also offer the facilities of partial withdrawals, switching, top-up premiums, etc. to make the plan flexible and customizable. 

F. Pension plans

Pension plans are aimed at retirement planning. These plans can be bought either to create a retirement corpus or to secure a lifetime pension. Pension plans come in two variants of deferred annuity plans and immediate annuity plans. Deferred annuity plans help you create a retirement corpus with regular investment while immediate annuity plans pay lifelong incomes as soon as you buy the policy.

G. Health plans

Health insurance plans are those that cover medical contingencies and pay you a lump sum benefit to help you meet the financial implications of such contingencies. Health insurance plans issued by Canara HSBC OBC Life Insurance Company cover specific illnesses and if you are diagnosed with any covered illness, the plan pays the sum insured in a lump sum to give you financial assistance.

How can you buy Canara HSBC OBC Life Insurance plans?

The online marketplace has simplified the buying of life insurance policies. Canara HSBC OBC Life Insurance Company also offers many of its policies online. Here’s how you can buy suitable plans offered by the company through PayBima’s simple online marketplace –

• Enter your coverage details

To find the relevant plans for your needs, you need to enter in your coverage details. So, visit the online portal of PayBima at https://www.paybima.com/ and, under ‘Life’, choose the type of coverage that you want. Then, fill in your personal details in the online form to check the list of plans suiting your needs.

• Check the available plans and select one

After you have entered your details, you would be shown a list of plans that you can choose from. Compare these plans based on their coverage details and premium rate. Then choose a policy that best fulfills your coverage requirements at the best premium rate.

• Fill up the online proposal form

You would have to fill up an online proposal form to buy the policy that you have selected. Fill the form by providing all the correct and honest details about yourself, your finances, and your medical history. Submit the proposal form which would, then, be underwritten by the insurance company to issue the policy. 

• Complete the documentation process

You would also have to submit a list of documents when buying an insurance policy. These documents are as follows –

• Passport-sized photographs
• Identity proof can be a copy of your passport, Voter ID Card, Aadhaar card, PAN Card, etc.
• Standard age proof like your birth certificate, Voter ID Card, Aadhaar card, etc.
• Address proof like your passport, Voter ID Card, rent agreement, property deed, driving license, etc.
• Income proof like Form 16, salary slip, bank statements, or the audited copies of your financial statements

• Go for health check-ups, if needed

In some cases, insurers require you to undertake medical check-ups to assess your health risks. This happens especially when you are more than 45 years or if you have opted for a high sum assured. So, if the insurer demands go for the health check-up and submit the medical reports to the insurer.

• Complete the premium payment

Lastly, pay the premium for the policy online so that the policy can be issued. You can use your debit or credit card, net banking facility, NEFT/RTGS, or any other digital payment mode to pay the premium and buy the policy.

Lapse and revival of the policy

Premiums are payable on the due date to continue the policy. A grace period is also allowed so that you can pay the premium even after the due date passes. However, if you don’t pay the premium even during the grace period the policy lapses. 

In a lapsed policy, the benefits are either reduced or stopped completely. However, Canara HSBC OBC Life Insurance offers you the facility to revive your policy. A revival period is allowed during which you can revive the lapsed plan. You just need to pay the outstanding premium and interest and submit a declaration of good health to revive the policy. 

Online revival is also allowed by Canara HSBC OBC Life Insurance. You can also revive the policy through PayBima by calling on its helpline number 800 267 67 67 or by sending an email to paybima.care@mahindra.com. PayBima’s executives would help you revive the policy in the most hassle-free manner and that too online.

How to file a claim for Canara HSBC OBC Life Insurance plans?

Maturity claims are easier to avail of since the insurer pays the claim automatically when the plan matures. You just need to fill up and submit a discharge voucher to get the claim. However, in the case of death of the insured, the following steps would have to be followed to get the claim settled –

• Intimate the insurer about the claim

As soon as you suffer a claim, inform the insurance company. Canara HSBC OBC Life Insurance allows you the online facility to inform it about the claim. You can request a callback or send an email to the company’s claim department and the company would initiate the claim process.

• Fill and submit the claim form

After informing the insurer, fill up the claim form. The form should contain all the details of the claim and the details of the claimant as well. The form should be submitted to the insurer so that the claim can be processed.

• Provide all the relevant claim documents

You would also have to provide all the claim-related documents so that the insurance company can verify the claim details and pay the claim amount. The documents that are needed include the following –

• The policy bond
• The claim form
• Death certificate issued by the local authority
• Police FIR, post-mortem report, panchnama, police inquest report, etc. in the case of accidental death
• All hospital and medical records in the case of death due to an illness
• The identity proof of the claimant
• The bank account details of the claimant where the claim amount would be credited 

Review of Canara HSBC OBC Life Insurance Company 

Here is a quick review of Canara HSBC OBC Life Insurance Company and the insurance plans that it offers –

• Canara HSBC OBC Life Insurance Company has a high rating for its Claim Paying Ability as rated by CARE. The company is rated CARE AAA (IN). 
• For the financial year 2020-21, Canara HSBC OBC Life Insurance Company recorded a claim settlement ratio of 97.1%
• With the insurer’s InstaPromise, you are promised a 1-day claim settlement subject to certain terms and conditions
• You can use the company’s tools and calculators to estimate your coverage needs and then buy suitable plans to fulfill such needs

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Do term insurance plans have any exclusion?

Yes, there is an exclusion for suicide committed within 12 months of buying a policy or reviving a lapsed policy. Under this exclusion, if the insured commits suicide within 12 months of buying the policy, 80% of the premium would be refunded. On the other hand, if the insured commits suicide within 12 months of reviving a lapsed policy, a higher than 80% of the premium paid or the available surrender value would be paid.

Q: If I opt for optional riders, would the premiums increase?

Optional riders enhance the scope of coverage of the policy. As such, they require an additional premium to be paid. So, if you opt for optional riders, the rider premium would be added to the premium of the base policy and the overall premium payable would increase.

Q: What is the revival period that Canara HSBC OBC Life Insurance allows?

The revival period available under Canara HSBC OBC Life Insurance plans is 5 years. This period is calculated from the date of the first unpaid premium. You can revive the plan within this period of 5 years.

Q: Can I avail of a loan under Canara HSBC OBC Life Insurance plans?

Yes, Canara HSBC OBC Life Insurance Company’s Guaranteed Savings Plan provides a loan facility. You can avail of a loan if your policy acquires a surrender value. The minimum loan amount available is Rs.20,000 and the maximum is up to 80% of the sum assured.

Q: Is the maturity benefit paid under Guaranteed Savings Plan tax-free?

If the annualized premium paid was limited to up to 10% of the sum assured, the maturity benefit would be allowed as a tax-free benefit in your hands. The tax benefit is available for the whole amount of maturity benefit that you receive under Section 10(10D) of the Income Tax Act, 1961.