How to Pay Life Insurance Premiums Online!

Going to the branch of the Insurance Company and standing in queue for paying your insurance premium is a thing of the past. Now, you can easily pay your premiums any time you want, sitting at the comfort of your house. By using online gateways available on the websites of the insurance providers, you can easily deposit your premiums, provided you are a registered customer of the company.

There are at least 23 insurance providers in India and most of them offer the facility to pay online premiums. There are a number of benefits of paying online premiums. Some of them are pointed out as follows:

You have to pay no extra charge for availing the online payment service.

1. 1. * In case of a failed transaction, you are immediately informed so that you can take immediate action or repay your premium. In case of successful transaction, an e-receipt which is digitally signed is generated and sent to your through e-mail.

• The premium receipts are stored in your online account. You can see your premium receipt anytime and it prevents the receipt from getting misplaced.
• You can choose the policy for which you want to pay the premium.
• You can also pay your renewal premiums any time you want.
• If you do net banking, on the website of your bank also you can check the amount of premium you need to pay to the insurer.
• Only the amount of premium to be paid is displayed by your bank. This helps to keep you reminded of the premiums due from time to time. But the insurer does not share any other policy data with your bank.

It is very easy to your premiums online. Just go to the homepage of your insurer. You will find two types of premium paying options. One is for paying your initial premium and the other is for paying your renewal premiums. If you are an existing customer and want to pay your regular premiums, you just have to click on the login button and the insurer will ask for your login id or the policy number. As soon as you enter your policy number and clicked on the payment button, you will be redirected to the online payment gateway where you can pay your premium using credit/debit card or through net banking (whatever facility your insurer allows).

If you are a new customer and want to pay your premium for the first time you have to go through the following steps.

STEP 1: You have to go through the plans offered by the Insurance Company and select the one that suits all your requirements.

STEP 2: You have to fill up an application form in which you have to provide some personal details.

STEP 3: You have to choose your sum assured, the policy term, and payment frequency. (Some insurers provide different payout options; in that case you have to select a payout option as well.)

STEP 4: You have to calculate your premium amount. You get a calculated result of your premium based on the sum assured and payment frequency you have chosen.

STEP 5: After you have completed all the above steps, and you have confirmed to purchase the policy, you click on the payment button.

STEP 5: You pay your premium/purchase price online using the online payment gateway of your insurer’s website.

Different insurers allow different payment options. Birla Life Insurance, for example, allows a number of premium payment options. Net Banking, Debit card, Direct Debit, NEFT etc. are all allowed by Birla Sun Life for paying premiums. Those who are not much comfortable with paying your premiums online, you can also pay your Birla Life Insurance Premium at CAMS Service Centres and Common Service Centre through cheque or Demand Draft. But people prefer online premium payment because of the convenience it provides.

On the website of every insurance provider that allows online premium payment, you will find the "Pay Premium" button. You have to click on that and select the type of premium you want to pay. For instance, if you click on the "pay premium online" button on PNB metlife insurance homepage, you will get to choose from three types of payments – Renewal payment, new business payment, and Cancel SI Payment. You have to choose renewal payment to pay your metlife Life Insurance premiums. Birla Life Insurance, on the other hand, offers you only two options if you click on the "pay premium" button- initial and renewal. But if you visit the homepage of Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance, you will find no general "pay premium" button there. You will find two separate sections- one for new customers and the other for the existing customers. Under the section for new customers, you will find the option to "Buy Online". Under the section dedicated to the Existing customers, you will find the option "Pay renewal premiums". You have to choose the right payment type to pay your Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance premium. Similarly, if you visit the homepage of Tata AIG Life insurance Company, you will find no "pay premium" button on the home page. In order to reach the payment gateway, you have to first select the plan you want to buy or want to pay your premium for. Here I would like to clear a confusion that buyers have. Tata AIG no more sells life Insurance plans. TATA AIG Life Insurance is the former name of Tata AIA Life Insurance.

All the Life Insurance companies in India offer online payment service these days only except a few. Among those few companies, Shriram Life Insurance is one. Though Shriram Life Insurance is quite popular now, especially in South India, the company has not yet introduced any online payment service for its customers. Shriram Life Insurance may soon launch online payment service or else it will lag behind in the completion with other insurance companies that allow online payment.

Only except 4 companies, all the other insurance companies currently operating in India provide online payment service. It has many benefits as discussed above. So, no more taking leave from office and standing in queues for paying your premiums, just a click on a button and your premiums are paid.

Archana Singh is a Finance Advisor and Investment Planner. She Also does like to share finance and insurance related write ups on the web. Follow Archana on her social networking sites to know more about her.