How To Choose The Right Life Insurance Policy

Given that it is used by people to not only protect themselves but also their belongings and loved ones, how does one decide that a particular level of insurance, especially life insurance would be enough?

Even in cases, where one holds multiple insurance policies, how would one be able to determine that they are collectively sufficient to protect them from harm?
Truth is that there is no one single amount that would suffice for everyone. There are however, multiple factors at play that go on to determine the amount of life cover you need.

Marital status
Usually, when one is in a relationship, they do bear a certain responsibility towards their partner and should something was to affect them, the individual would have to make arrangements to provide for them in their absence.

The dependent factor
If you have your parents living with you, then your life insurance requirements would be different from those who live on their own. Similarly, in the case of joint-families, the number of dependents would have a definite bearing on the coverage needs.

Liabilities
As you progress in life, there are bound to be liabilities. These could be in the form of outstanding loans (Most likely to be for having purchased a home or a vehicle, or sometimes, for personal activities too). One is also require a large amount of money for funding the education of one’s children and/or their marriage.

Number of bread-winners
Being the sole earning member of the family or having others to contribute to the collective income too has a bearing on the amount of life insurance one would be required to purchase.

Asset Valuation

The monetary value of one’s financial assets too is factored into the equation.
What all things a life insurance policy should cover:

It is extremely important that one makes adequate arrangements to support their dependents in maintaining a similar lifestyle even when you are not around.

Family Expenses
These are the single largest worry for those that lose their primary bread-winners. Purchasing coverage that would take care of these, helps ease the pressure and takes the edge off their ordeal.

Inflation
One’s monetary outgo increases due to a rise in inflation rates. For example, if the Monthly expenditure of say, ‘A’ is Rs.10000 (& one presumes a 10% Inflation Rate), then in Ten Years, ‘A’ would need approx. Rs. 26000. You could use this nifty calculator to arrive at the value of this factor here. You can check your future expenses by using this future expenses calculator.

Financial Capability
Even as one needs tons of insurance to truly secure the future of their loved ones, their financial capability (individually as well as collectively) would also be needed to be taken into consideration before deciding upon the quantum of coverage required.

Family Knowledge of finance
In instances where one’s family members are not that strong when it comes to financial knowledge, it would be a boon to have additional cover in accordance to their needs.
Monthly Income or Lump sum.  One would have to check if a single, one-time pay-out would suffice, or the dependents would need regular payments at pre-determined intervals.
How to choose right insurance company:

Given the saturation in the Life Insurance Sector, confusion reigns rife on how to narrow down on the right insurer. The factors mentioned below, would help you towards this decision:

High Claims Settlement Ratio
Insurers with a high claims settlement ratio are willing to pay-out the insured amount in the case of a claim being made for some eventuality and are favored by policy buyers.

Customer base of the company
Larger the number of customers, the higher is the confidence of those looking to purchase their insurance solutions.

Market Reputation
The goodwill of an insurer is an important factor for making a decision amongst prospective buyers. These days, there are multiple avenues for checking up on the quality of a particular insurance offering, from consumer forums and review sites, to popular social platforms like Facebook, Twitter, etc