Term Insurance

Term Insurance in India, Explained With Real Prices

Term insurance is life cover that pays your family a fixed sum if you die during the policy term, and nothing if you outlive it. That is why it is cheap: ₹1 crore of cover to age 60 cost a healthy 30-year-old man ₹738 to ₹870 a month across the five plans we priced (nyvo premium data, May 2026).

Written by Kshitij JainReviewed by Harsh SoniUpdated nyvo insurance Services LLP, IRDAI Corporate Agent (Composite) CA1085Salaried advisors, no commission-based ranking

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Five term plans side by side

These are the five plans in our ₹1 crore comparison, cheapest first. The premium is for a healthy 30-year-old man with cover to 60. The claim and complaint figures describe the insurer, from IRDAI data averaged over three financial years to March 2026.

PlanInsurerClaims settledComplaints per 10,000 claims₹1 crore at 30, monthlyWhat stands out
Bajaj Life eTouch IIBajaj Life99.2%3.95₹738Terminal illness paid early up to ₹2 crore; cover can run to 99
Tata AIA Sampoorna Raksha PromiseTata AIA99.5%3.0₹782₹3 lakh advance within one working day of a claim, after three policy years
Axis Max Life Smart Term Plan PlusAxis Max Life99.3%7.0₹794Your nominee chooses lump sum or income at claim time
ICICI Pru iProtect Smart PlusICICI Prudential98.5%11.0₹835Payout shape, including a rising income, fixed when you buy
HDFC Life Click 2 Protect Supreme PlusHDFC Life99.6%1.33₹870Lowest complaint rate we track; premiums back via Smart Exit after 25 years

Not sure which of these fits your family? Talk it through with a nyvo advisor. Our advisors draw a salary rather than a commission on each policy, and the call costs you nothing.

What is term insurance, and how is it different?

A term plan is the plainest kind of life insurance: you pay a premium for a fixed number of years, and if you die in that time your nominee gets the sum assured. Survive the term and nothing comes back. Endowment, money-back and ULIP policies also pay on death, but they spend part of your premium on a savings payout, which is why the same cover costs multiples of a term premium. We set the two side by side in term insurance vs life insurance.

Which term insurance plan is best in India in 2026?

There is no single best plan, because the premium, the insurer and the features pull in different directions. HDFC Life has the strongest claim record but was the dearest of the five above; Bajaj Life eTouch II was the cheapest with a strong record too. We have read 32 term plans from the insurers' own documents, from LIC's Yuva Term to the Shriram Life Online Term Plan, and our best term insurance plans of 2026 ranks the ones we would shortlist.

How much does a term plan cost at your age?

Age moves the premium more than anything else you control. For ₹1 crore of cover to 60, here is the monthly range across the same five plans, for non-smokers, from nyvo's premium data of May 2026. A woman pays about 15% less than a man of the same age.

AgeMan, monthlyWoman, monthly
25₹669–₹763₹568–₹649
30₹738–₹870₹628–₹740
35₹902–₹1,070₹767–₹910
40₹1,229–₹1,437₹1,044–₹1,222
45₹1,761–₹2,053₹1,497–₹1,745

Every entry age from 25 to 45, with the median and the total you would pay, is in our ₹1 crore term insurance premium table.

How do you choose a good term insurance plan?

Work out the cover first, then the insurer, then the plan. The cover is your loans plus 10 to 15 years of household spending plus big goals, minus what you already have; our guide to how much term cover you need has the worksheet. For the insurer, read the complaint rate beside the settlement ratio: settlement ratios sit within a few points of each other, complaints run from 1.33 to over 180 per 10,000 claims. Then pick the plan, and declare every illness and habit when you apply.

Watch: how to choose a term plan

Watch: how much cover to take, why a plain term plan usually wins, and the two insurer figures to check (2 min). Open the video page
What this video covers (8 chapters)
  1. 0:09What is term insurance?
  2. 0:23How much term insurance cover do you need?
  3. 0:33How to choose a term insurance plan
  4. 0:39Why buy a vanilla term insurance plan?
  5. 0:52Claim settlement ratio
  6. 1:06Amount settlement ratio
  7. 1:28Comparing term insurance premiums
  8. 1:44What to disclose when buying term insurance

Start here

Buying your first policy

20 articles
  1. Step 1Why you need itWhat happens to your family's finances if the earner dies.
  2. Step 2The complete guideEvery step of buying term cover, in order.
  3. Step 3How much coverSizing cover against income, loans and goals.
  4. Step 4Cover calculatorWork out the cover your family needs.
  5. Step 5Best plans 2026Our shortlist, compared on claim record and premium.
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Term insurance questions, answered

Size your own cover with the term insurance calculator, and compare every life insurer's death claim settlement ratio.

Term insurance vs life insurance: what is the difference?
Term insurance is a type of life insurance, not an alternative to it. Life insurance is the category of policies that pay out on death; term is the kind that pays only on death and returns nothing if you outlive the term, which is why it buys the most cover per rupee. The other kinds bundle cover with a savings plan.
How much term insurance cover do I need?
For a typical salaried buyer with a home loan, nyvo's term guide puts it between ₹1 crore and ₹2 crore. Add your outstanding loans to 10–15 years of family expenses and big goals such as children's education, then subtract the liquid savings and any life cover you already hold. The term insurance calculator works it out from your own figures.
What is the approximate premium for a ₹1 crore term insurance plan?
₹738 to ₹870 a month for a healthy 30-year-old non-smoking man with cover to age 60, and ₹628 to ₹740 for a woman, across the five plans we priced (nyvo premium data, May 2026). At 40 the range rises to ₹1,229 to ₹1,437 a month for a man. Individual life insurance has carried nil GST since 22 September 2025.
What are the top 5 term life insurance companies?
On complaints per 10,000 claims, the figure that separates life insurers, the five best are HDFC Life (1.33), Aditya Birla Sun Life (2.33), IndusInd Nippon Life (2.9), Tata AIA (3.0) and Bajaj Life (3.95), and all five settle at least 98.5% of death claims (IRDAI data, three-year average to March 2026).
Which term insurance companies have the best claim settlement ratios?
HDFC Life and Bandhan Life settle 99.6% of individual death claims, Tata AIA 99.5% and PNB MetLife 99.4% (IRDAI data, three-year average to March 2026). Read the complaint rate beside it: Bandhan Life draws 39.67 complaints per 10,000 claims and PNB MetLife 44.33, against 1.33 at HDFC Life and 3.0 at Tata AIA.
What happens if I outlive my term insurance policy?
Nothing is paid: a pure term plan ends with its term and has no maturity value, which is exactly why it is so cheap. Return-of-premium variants refund the premiums you paid if you survive, but cost noticeably more for the same cover, and the refund is nominal rupees with no growth.
Can a term insurance claim be rejected after three years?
No, not by questioning the policy. Under Section 45 of the Insurance Act, 1938, a life insurance policy cannot be called into question on any ground once it has been in force for three years. Within those first three years, a hidden habit or illness can void the policy, so declare everything when you apply.

Sources

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