SBI Life Insurance is India’s leading company that offers a comprehensive range of insurance products at affordable prices.
SBI Life Insurance is a collaboration between the State Bank of India and BNP Paribas. SBI is an Indian multinational company with 198 foreign offices in 37 countries whereas the BNP Paribas is one of the largest banks in the world. It is present in more than 70 countries in the world.
SBI has a comprehensive portfolio of life insurance products to meet the various needs of a large customer base. SBI life insurance plans are designed to cater to the insurance needs of people aged from 18 to 65 years. The company offers customized plans from self-employed, salaried, professionals and business persons.
SBI Life’s Saral Shield plan is a traditional, non-participating pure term insurance plan which comes with an affordable cost. Saral Shield policy provides cover for your family and ensures a financial safety net. It is a simple term plan with added benefits in the form of riders and has three different plans under the scheme namely Level Term, Decreasing Term Assurance for family protection and Decreasing Term Assurance for the loan repayment.
SBI Saral Shield plan comes with additional benefits such as discounted premiums for women, tax benefits on the large sum assured death and accident riders, and above all a financial security to your family.
SBI Saral Shield is pure term insurance which helps you to build a corpus over a period of time by paying an affordable premium to protect your family against unfortunate demise.
Coverage: The nominee will receive the benefits if the policyholder dies during the policy term. The policy does not offer any survival benefits at the end of the policy.
Free-look period: You can review the terms of policy within 15 days from the inception of the policy through any channel other than distance marketing, and 30 days in case of policy purchased through distance marketing. In case you disagree with the terms of the policy, you can cancel it within the free look period. Upon such cancellation, the policyholder will be paid back the advance premium in a specific time period. However, the customer will have to bear the stamp duty and medical expenses.
Surrender period/value: The policyholder can surrender this policy from second year onwards. The surrender benefits are available only to single premium policies.
Grace period: The company offers a grace period of 30 days from the premium due date in case of yearly, half-yearly, and quarterly premium payment frequency. The grace period is 15 days in the case of monthly premium payment.
Nomination and Assignment: Nomination is allowed as per Section 39 of the Insurance Act 1938. Assignment of the policy is permitted as per Section 38 of the Insurance Act 1938. They both are subject to amendments from time to time.
Revival facility: In case if your policy has lapsed, it is possible to start again enjoying the policy benefits by reviving your Saral Shield Plan. You can restore a lapsed policy within two years from the date of first unpaid premium. However, you may have to present a satisfactory proof of insurability as required by the company.
To be eligible to purchase the SBI Saral Shield plan, customers need to meet certain standards in terms of entry age, maturity age, and the minimum policy term. The eligibility details under SBI Saral Shield policy are as mentioned below:
| Parameter | Minimum | Maximum |
|---|---|---|
| Entry age of the policyholder | 18 Years | 60 Years |
| Policy term | 5 years | 30 years |
| Sum assured | Rs. 7,50,000 | Rs. 24,00,000 |
| Premium payment term | Equal to the policy term | Equal to the policy term |
| Age at maturity | - | 65 years |
| Single premium | Rs. 10,000 | No limit |
| Payment Modes | Yearly, half-yearly, quarterly, monthly and single for Level Term plan. Only a single premium for Decreasing Term Plan |
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The SBI Saral Shield offers three plans, based on your needs you can choose any of these:
Level Term Assurance: A Level Term plan ensure that your family is financially protected even after your demise and maintain their lifestyle. You can choose a sum assured keeping in mind their future requirements. This is the right option at an affordable cost if you want to go for a level cover throughout the policy term.
Decreasing Term Assurance (Loan protection): This option is available only if you have taken a loan to buy a house or a car. Decreasing term insurance option for loan protection helps you to cover the outstanding loan amount as per the schedule, and it ensures that in case of any unfortunate demise, the outstanding liability does not affect the dependents. The schedule will be as per the interest rate of the loan. The available rate of interest rates for loan repayment schedules are 6%, 8%, 10%, 12%, 14%, 16%, 18% and 20%.
Decreasing Term Assurance (Family income protection): This option is best suitable for those who wish to secure a regular monthly income for their dependents. The sum assured that you have chosen under SBI Saral Shield policy will be divided by the total term (in months), and the resulted amount will be paid to your family for the remaining months as death benefit on a monthly basis. Additionally, the nominee can ask for discounted value for the remaining monthly payouts
Riders: You can enhance your Saral Shield policy coverage by adding riders to it with an additional nominal premium.
It is important to note that the riders are available only for Level Term Assurance and the rider sum assured cannot exceed the basic sum assured. Moreover, the total sum assured under riders on all your individual policies with SBI Life, put together would not exceed Rs 50 lakhs. The discounted premium for female: The premium rate is lower for female policyholders. They are eligible for a special discount of 3% for Level Term Assurance.
Tax benefits: Policyholder is entitled to receive tax benefits under SBI Saral Shield plan under the Income Tax Act 1961. They can avail benefits for:
| Sum assured SA (greater than or equal to Rs 15 lakh) | For Level Term Assurance | For Decreasing Term Assurance |
| Regular Premium | Rebate on SA Rs. 0.30 per Rs. 1000 SA | Not applicable |
| Single premium | Rebate on SA Rs. 0.95 per Rs. 1000 SA | Rebate on SA Rs. 0.95 per Rs. 1000 SA |
SBI Life – Saral Shield Plan at a glance.
| Entry age | Minimum: 18 years | Maximum: 60 years |
| Maximum age at maturity | 65 years | |
| Plan options | ||
| Sum assured (In multiple of 50,000) | Minimum: 7,50,000 | Maximum: 24,00,000 |
| Policy term | Minimum: 5 years | Maximum: In the case of Level Term Assurance and Decreasing Term Assurance (family income protection) – 30 years. For Decreasing Term Assurance (loan protection) – Equal to the outstanding loan term (subject to a maximum of 30 years). |
| Premium paying term | Regular premium: Till the chosen policy term Single premium: Pay premium once for the policy overage. |
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| Premium modes | For Level Term Assurance: Single premium, or regular premium (Yearly, half-yearly, quarterly, monthly). For Decreasing Term Assurance (family income protection) and Decreasing Term Assurance (Loan protection): Single premium. |
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| Minimum premium amounts | Regular premium: Yearly: Rs. 2000 (x100) Half-yearly: Rs. 1,100 (x100) Quarterly: Rs. 600 (x100) Monthly: Rs. 250 (x50) | Single premium: Rs 10,000 (x1000) |
| Benefits | Death benefits: The nominee will receive death benefits as per the plan option is chosen. | Survival benefits: Not applicable. |
| Exclusions | Suicide within the 1st year, sexually transmitted diseases. | |
Below is the illustration of the annual premium for the sum assured of Rs 20 lakhs for the policy term of 25 years.
| Age | 25 Years | 30 Years | 35 Years | 40 Years |
| Premium | Rs. 4163 | Rs. 5602 | Rs. 8255 | Rs. 12096 |
Documents required to process SBI Smart Shield policy include:
Age proof: Driving license, school/college certificate, Passport, PAN card, birth certificate.
Identity proof: Passport, voter ID card, a letter from recognised public authority with photograph verifying the identity and address. Address proof: Electricity bill, telephone bill, Bank account statement, Aadhar card, Passport, voter ID card.
Income proof: Employer’s certificate, Income Tax return, Assessment Order.
Base policy exclusions: If the life insured commits suicide within one year from the commencement of the Saral Shield plan, no claim will be payable in such case. In the case of single premium policy, 90% of the total premium paid will be given as a death benefit to the nominee.
Rider exclusions:
Below-listed are the exclusions of the riders of this policy. The policyholder or the nominee is not liable for any death benefit if any of the below-listed events occur.
If you are the breadwinner in your family, you can’t afford not to have a term insurance. Term insurance offers high coverage at an affordable premium. In the unfortunate event of the death, the benefit is payable to your family in a lump sum or the form of monthly income. The policy assures that your family is not under the financial burden and maintains their current lifestyle.
The SBI’s Saral Shield policy ensures the flexibility to select the best-suited cover options. This policy comes with three variants. Level Term Assurance is the general term insurance where the sum assured remains constant throughout the policy term. Premiums are lowest here when compared to other two options. Decreasing Sum Assured (loan protection) plan offers death benefits equivalent to the outstanding loan amount at the time of death. The premium rate depends on the interest rate of the loan. A loan protection plan is an ideal option if you have taken a loan and you are the breadwinner of your family. It gives adequate protection to your family and removes the burden of loan repayment in your absence. Decreasing Sum Assured (Family income protection) is a single premium option. You may go ahead with this option if you are approaching retirement and expect your household expenses to decline in the future.
SBI Saral Shield policy comes with a number of additional benefits such as accidental death benefits and total permanent disability. You can add these riders to your Level Term Assurance to enhance the coverage of your plan.
Since this is a pure term plan, no survival benefits are paid at the end of the policy term. Premium rates are lower for a female policyholder.
You are entitled to receive tax benefits as per Income Tax Act 1961.
Why should I buy SBI Saral Shield plan?
You should buy SBI Saral Shield plan because of the following reasons:
What are the options offered under the SBI Smart Shield plan?
Three options are available under the SBI Saral Shield policy.
Can a loan be taken under SBI Life – Saral Shield policy?
Loan facility is not available under SBI Saral Shield plan.
What are the survival benefits?
Since SBI Saral Shield is a term plan, no survival benefits are payable to the policyholder.
How to buy SBI Saral Shield plan?
The customer has to fill up an application form with the personal details and medical history along with residential proof and other KYC documents. In some cases, a medical examination may be required based on the age of the customer
What are the conditions for reviving/restoring the policy?
The Smart Shield plan can be revived within two years from the due date of first unpaid premium. However, the company may ask for a satisfactory proof of insurability in such case.
What value can I get if I surrender the policy?
It is important to note that the surrender benefits are available only to single premium policies.
In the case of Level Term Assurance, surrender value = Single premium x 75% x Outstanding maturity term / total term.
In case of decreasing term insurance, surrender value = Single premium x 75% (Outstanding maturity term / total term) x (effective sum assured at the time of surrender / initial sum assured)
What are the advantages of buying SBI Saral Shield plan?
The SBI Saral Shield plan provides a number of advantages to the policyholder.
Security: It provides a safety net for your family and dependents in case of any unforeseen event.
Flexibility: You can choose from three plans according to your needs. Additionally, it gives you the freedom to choose a policy term, premium payment term and frequency term as per your comfort.
Affordability: The plan comes with an affordable cost. You may enhance your coverage by adding riders such as accidental death and total disability rider to it at a nominal cost. You can enjoy discounted premium rates on the large sum assured. Moreover, premiums are lower for female customers.
The premiums and policy benefits are exempted from the tax as per The Income Tax Act 1961.
