Kotak Life Insurance Company offers one type of child insurance plan called the Kotak Headstart Child Assure Plan. The plan promises multiple benefits and comes loaded with great features. The plan with its complete set of characteristics is described below: Kotak Headstart Child Assure Plan This is a unit linked child insurance plan which protects the childs future against untimely death of the parent by providing financial assistance. Notable elements of the plan are highlighted as under: Premiums for the plan are required to be paid either for the entire period of the plan through the Regular Pay option of premium payment or for a limited period under the Limited Pay option of paying the premium The premiums paid net of charges can be invested in a choice of seven funds available with the company at the discretion of the policyholder. The funds are Classic Opportunities Fund, Frontline Equity Fund, Balanced Fund, Dynamic Bond Fund, Dynamic Floating Rate Fund, Dynamic Gilt Fund and Money Market Fund If the insured dies when the plan is continuing, the Sum Assured and the Fund Value is immediately paid to the nominee provided that the minimum value should not be lower than 105% of the premiums which were paid before death. Future premiums will be credited by the company in the fund value. On maturity, the available fund value is paid On maturity, the Fund Value is paid and the policyholder can take it either in lump sum on maturity or in instalments post maturity over 5 years under the Settlement Option. Four switches are allowed annuallywhich are free to change between the funds Partial withdrawals are allowed after policy completes 5 years subject to a minimum amount of Rs.10, 000 Premium redirection facility is available to redirect future premiums into a choice of another fund The premiums you pay for buying the plan will not be taxed as they are exempt as per the provisions of Section 80C Eligibility Details Applying for a Child Plan from the company: Online The company offers specific plans which are available online only. The customer only needs to log into the companys website, choose the required plan, choose the coverage and provide the details. The premium will be determined using the filled details. The customer then needs to pay the premium online through credit card, debit card or net banking facilities and the policy will be issued Intermediaries Plans which are not available online can be purchased from agents, brokers, banks, etc. where the intermediaries help with the application process. Applying For Child Plans through PolicyBazaar On the PolicyBazaar homepage, click on Child Plans under the Personal tab. Click New Quotes to compare and choose from top insurance providers. Fill your date of birth (DOB), whether you are a smoker/non-smoker, and the payout amount. On the basis of your payout amount, you will get an estimate of your premium. Next click Continue. Fill in your name, email address, city, country code, and mobile number. Click Continue. You will be taken to the Life Insurance quotes page where you will see life insurance quotes of more than 10 insurers. Next, choose the plan as per payment schedule – One Time Payout and Monthly Payout Plans. After reviewing and comparing each life insurance quote, click the premium amount to buy the desired plan. You will see a pop-up on the screen which will give you an overview of the chosen plan like premium, plan features, exclusions, additional riders, etc. Click Proceed. This will take you to the insurers website. Fill in the necessary details to buy the plan. What makes a child plan unique? The fact that the policyholder and the beneficiary are completely different entities, make the child plans unique insurance products. Here, quite literally the policy is purchased for someone elses benefit. The policyholder is the parent who buys the policy for his/her child. While the child benefits greatly, the parent also stands to gain from a child plan. Let us take a look at the illustration below to understand this concept. Hari has an ambitious daughter who wants to study abroad in the future. However, with limited finances and a mid-level job, Hari probably cannot sponsor his daughters course in a top American university. As a result, with over 10 years to go for his daughter to finish school, he buys a child plan and begins investing in it. At the end of 10 years, not only does he receive the sum assured that is enough to pay for the girls travel and college expenses, Hari doesnt need to pay anything extra from his own pocket. So both he and his daughter gain immensely from the child plan. Is it mandatory to buy a child plan? While there is no law in our country that makes child plans compulsory for parents, it is only but logically sound for each and every parent in todays day and age to buy a child plan. With soaring expenses and rising education costs, it is foolish not to secure the childs future. Apart from paying for the childs professional and personal expenses, a child plan also protects the child against unforeseen factors such as a parents death. If one or both of the earning parents die within the policy period, the childs future continues to be safe. The funds continue to flow in but the premium of the plan is waived off. This is undoubtedly the biggest advantage of a child plan. Keeping this in mind, it becomes mandatory for every parent to buy a child plan. Child plan is a simple traditional investment plan with a coverage kept in mind for a child. It can be taken on the life of a parent or even the child so long as the policy has been especially designed for the childs bright future.
