Life Insurance provides compensation to the beneficiary upon the death of the insured. A life insurance cover is ideal for individuals who are the bread earners of the family as it provides a financial cushion to their dependants in the event of a financial crunch which can result due to the disability or death of the bread earner.

• Term Insurance: It provides an insurance cover for a specified period of time. The benefit of this policy is paid to the beneficiary only in case of the demise of the insured during this specified period.
• Whole Life Policy: It is a saving-cum-insurance plan which covers the insured for his/ her entire life. It offers a guaranteed sum paid out in case of death or on survival if/when the insured reaches a specified age.
• Endowment Policy: Although this too is a savings-cum-insurance plan, it covers the insured for a pre-specified time. If the insured dies during the policy term, the nominee gets the death benefit, which is in the form of the sum assured and the accumulated bonuses. On survival, the policyholder gets a survival benefit, including bonuses, if any.
• Money Back Policy: It is a life insurance policy where lump sum amounts are paid to the insured at periodic, pre specified intervals. In case of the death of the insured, the total amount is paid to the nominee, irrespective of earlier survival benefits. This policy is best opted for by people who want periodical payments.
• ULIPs: Unit linked insurance plans (ULIPs) provide a combination of risk cover and an investment avenue. These policies offer an opportunity to invest in the capital market. Your investment is denoted as units and is represented by a Net Asset Value (NAV). ULIPs provide high returns, flexibility and easy liquidity for the policy holder.
• Pension Plans: These are traditional retirement plans promising to give the insured regular payments at pre specified intervals, either for life or for a fixed number of years, usually after they are no longer earning a regular income from employment. This is in lieu of a single lump sum payment or regular instalments paid over a certain number of years.
• Child Insurance Plans: The plan helps in building wealth for your child's anticipated financial needs like education, wedding expenses, setting up a professional career etc. They also help you to protect their dreams in case of any unfortunate circumstances.
• Corporate insurance: It is a group insurance policy meant to protect businesses against certain risks. Such policies protect the interests of corporate houses, securing their business, employees and even customers at times.
• Employment Benefit Programmes: These are benefit plans offered to employees on behalf of employers by the insurance company. These programmes include life insurance, accident insurance, health insurance and retirement policies.

Riders are the additional benefits or add-ons available with basic policies and extend the benefits of the policy. Riders can be purchased along with the policy by paying a little extra premium over and above the regular premium

These policies cover every kind of insurance other than life insurance. General insurance policies cover assets, health, home, motor, travel and third party insurance.

• Standard Fire & Special Perils Policy: This insurance policy provides protection to corporates or individuals against financial loss to buildings (including plant, machinery, stocks, furniture, fixtures and other contents) due to fire, explosions, or Act of God peril like Flood, Storm, Tempest, Earth Quake.
• Transit Insurance: This insurance policy provides protection to cargo and goods (new or old) while they are in transit.
• Engineering Insurance: This insurance policy covers risks associated with any engineering Machinery (electrical/mechanical/hydraulic), Boilers, and Electronic Equipment etc. due to unforeseen physical loss or damage occurring whilst they are in operation or during storage, erection, commissioning and testing.
• Liability insurance: This insurance policy covers the liability to third party (personal or property) due to the omission and commission acts of the Insured.This include legal costs payable. Maximum liability being limits of indemnity chosen under the policy.
• Miscellaneous insurance: All the general insurance policies other than fire and marine insurance comes under miscellaneous insurance viz. Personal Accident, Money Insurance, theft & burglary etc...
• Motor Insurance: There are two types of policies.
  i) Liability only: This covers Third Party Liability for bodily injury and/or death and property damage.
  ii) Package policy: This covers loss or damage to the insured vehicle in addition to (i) above.
• Travel Insurance: It provides protection against a Hospitalisation/medical expenses for illness diseases or injury sustained while travelling abroad. A basic travel insurance policy also includes checked-in baggage loss/delay expenses, loss of passport, personal accident, etc.
• Health insurance: It is one of the most popular covers under general insurance. The policy covers reimbursement of Hospitalisation/Domiciliary Hospitalisation expenses for illness/diseases or injury sustained.

Income tax is the tax paid on the annual income of assesses. The rate of Income Tax varies for individuals with different income levels. Insurance provides an opportunity to save tax under sec 80 C, 80D, 80DD, 10(10D), 10(10A)(iii) of IT act, 1961.

• Deduction under Sec 80 C & 80CCC
  The premiums paid for life insurance policy and pension plan are included in Section 80C and 80CCC, respectively, with a maximum deduction limit up to Rs.1 lakh. These deductions are applicable on life insurance policies bought for self, spouse or children.
• Deductions under Section 80D:
  The premium paid for medical insurance is deductible from income with a maximum limit of Rs. 15,000 per year. In case of premiums paid for parents, an additional deduction of Rs.15,000 per year (Rs. 20,000 if the parent is a senior citizen) can be claimed under section 80D. As per the Union Budget 2010, contribution made to Central Government Health Scheme is also covered under Section 80D.
• Deductions under section 80DD:
  The premium paid for buying an insurance policy for the maintenance of a disabled dependant is included in section 80DD with a maximum limit of Rs. 50,000 Rs.1,00,000 if the dependant has a severe disability).

• Deductions under section 10(10D):
  The maturity benefits of a life insurance policy, including the sum allocated by way of bonus on such policies, is exempted from income-tax under  section 10(10D) of the Income-tax Act, 1961. If an insurance policy has been issued after 1st April, 2003 and the premium payable for any of the years during the term of the policy exceeds 20% of the actual capital sum assured, it will not be eligible for the Section 10(10D) benefits. However, if the death of the policy holder occurs during the term of the policy, the Section 10(10D) benefits hold, even if the premium payable for any of the years during the term of the policy exceeds 20% of the actual capital sum assured.
• Deductions under section 10(10A)(iii)
  Under this section one-third of the maturity benefits on the vesting date of the pension plan are tax free under section 10(10A) (iii)