BSLI Critical Illness Rider

The BSLI Critical Illness Rider is an add-on coverage that is optional for an individual who is buying a life insurance policy. The rider is available to anyone who buys a life insurance policy from Birla Sun Life Insurance and meets the eligibility criteria. The individuals who are considering the purchase of a life insurance policy are provided with an option to buy the BSLI Critical Illness Rider. The rider will help the policyholder in increasing the coverage for costs that are involved in the treatment of certain types of critical illness. The policy provides coverage for four types of critical illness. The rider sum assured is paid out if the insured life is diagnosed or been suffering from one of the critical illnesses covered under the scheme.

The rider sum assured is given to the life insured after survival of 30 days from the date of confirmed diagnosis. The rider can be bought along with a base policy from Birla Sun Life Insurance. The rider is not available as an independent policy and the policyholder must have a life insurance policy in order to buy the BSLI Critical Illness Rider for extra coverage for illness. The Rider allows the policyholder to enjoy the benefits of extra coverage that exclusively covers the costs involved in the treatment of four different types of critical illnesses such as First Heart Attack of Specified Severity, Cancer of Specified Severity, Stroke Resulting in Permanent Symptoms, and Major Organ / Bone Marrow Transplant. A critical illness can severely impact an individual's well-being through physical as well as financial difficulties. By having an active rider, the burden of treatment costs can be avoided or reduced to a great extent. Similar to the base life insurance policy, the policyholder can pay the premiums for this rider on a monthly, quarterly, semi-annual or the annual installments.

Eligibility – Who is the BSLI Critical Illness Rider for?

The BSLI Critical Illness Rider is available to those individuals who have purchased a life insurance policy from Birla Sun Life Insurance. The riders are provided as an add-on scheme for many types of insurance products. If the policyholder has not opted out of the rider, he/she will give the option to attach BSLI Critical Illness Rider to their insurance policy. The rider enhances the life insurance coverage through a valuable protection plan that ensures a certain amount of financial relief to the family of the life insured in case of the critical sickness. The life insurance coverage and the add-on rider provides many types of benefits to the policyholder, however, in order to be eligible for the BSLI Critical Illness Rider, the applicant needs to meet the following criteria:

Details	Parameters
18 years	Minimum Entry Age
65 years as maximum age at the end of the rider term is 70 years	Maximum Entry Age
70 years or regular retirement age	Maximum Maturity Age
Minimum of 5 years to a maximum of 52 years (same as that of the base plan)	Policy Term

The total age is calculated based on the age on the last birthday. The rider term and the premium paying term will be calculated depending on the base policy or the age of the life insured reaching 70, whichever is earlier.

Sum Assured and Other Details – What you get and how much it costs?

The BSLI Critical Illness Rider is an optional feature for the individuals who are buying a life insurance policy from Birla Sun Life Insurance. The rider sum assured is payable in the event where the life insured is diagnosed or been suffering from one of the listed critical illnesses listed for coverage under this scheme. Few benefits of the rider are listed below:

• Sum Assured - The sum assured amount is paid out to the policyholder in case he/she is diagnosed with one of the listed critical illness during the rider policy term. The minimum and maximum sum assured amount under the BSLI Critical Illness Rider are:

• Minimum rider sum assured of Rs.75,000
• Maximum rider sum assured of Rs.50,00,000 (depending on the maximum sum assured of the base plan)

• Premium - The premium or contribution made towards the rider's attachment to the life insurance policy requires the policyholder to make the premium payment periodically or occasionally based on the base plan. The premium installment is calculated based on the contributions made towards the base policy as discussed and agreed by the policyholder and Birla Sun Life Insurance at the time of policy inception. The premium term for the rider also depends on the base plan. The rider term is subject to:

• Minimum premium term of 5 years
• Maximum premium term of 52 years

Plan Coverage - What the BSLI Critical Illness Rider covers?

The policy offers Rs.75,000 as the minimum assured amount for covering costs arising from one of many of the listed critical illness. Depending on the sum assured under the base plan, the maximum sum assured for BSLI Critical Illness Rider will be calculated for the policyholder.

Details	Parameters
Rs.75,000	Minimum Sum Assured
If the employee is diagnosed with one of the critical illness or been suffering from it, after a period of 30 days from the date of diagnoses or a check-up, he/she will be entitled to the rider sum assured depending on the sum assured in the base plan.	Maximum Sum Assured

Type of Illness	Critical Illness Cover
First Heart Attack of Specified Severity - The occurrence and diagnosis of myocardial through various symptoms is counted as a critical illness under the rider.
Cancer of Specified Severity - The rider lists cancer as one of critical illness when malignant tumor causes uncontrolled spread and growth of malignant cells that destroys the normal tissues. Also, leukemia, lymphoma, prostate tumor, and sarcoma are counted as cancer. The non-invasive malignant changes are not counted for rider coverage.
Stroke Resulting In Permanent Symptoms - If a cerebrovascular is responsible for infarction of brain tissue, thrombosis, haemorrhage or embolisation, a diagnosis by a specialist medical practitioner will need to be carried out. to be eligible for the rider sum assured.
Major Organ / Bone Marrow Transplant - In case of the policyholder going through a human organ transplant of heart, lung, kidney, liver, or other vital body parts where the transplant results in an irreversible end-stage failure, the rider benefits will be applicable for a situation like this. The condition will need to be confirmed by a specialist medical practitioner through evidence of transplant with related documents and details.

Other Key Features- Freelook Period, Surrender Value, Grace Period, etc.

In addition to providing coverage for certain critical illness, the BSLI Critical Illness Rider provides many features for the benefit of the policyholder. Following are few of the key features that are offered by this rider:

Freelook, Grace Period, and Reinstatement

The rules pertaining to the freelook and grace period will depend on the base life insurance policy. If the life insurance policy allows a freelook period along with surrender value, etc. the rider will provide the same benefits/features. Most of the policy once surrender or closed cannot be reinstated after the settlement of the payment. In a similar situation, the customers are advised to open a new policy.

Tax Benefits

As per the latest Income Tax guidelines, the policyholder will be entitled to tax benefits under Section 80D of the Income Tax Act, 1961, which is subject to other factors that are taken into consideration for the calculation of tax amount (subject to fulfillment of the other conditions).

Exclusions – What the BSLI Critical Illness Rider does not include?

The policyholder will be entitled to the rider's sum assured benefit if his/her critical illness did not occur due to any of the following reasons:

• The manifestation of a pre-existing physical condition that was diagnosed at a later stage
• The presence of a pre-existing physical condition that manifested or showed up after the rider's effective dates.
• A congenital condition
• AIDS and HIV-related illness and other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs)
• Suicide or self-harm attempts
• Policyholder's involvement in criminal, unlawful or illegal activity
• Consumption of intoxicating liquor, drug, narcotic, etc.
• Usage of non-prescribed medicine, sedative, poison, and other substances
• Illness and damage arising from nuclear contamination, radioactive particles, explosive or hazardous nature of nuclear fuel
• Various factors related to sports (playing certain types of sports)
• Participating in dangerous or hazardous sports, etc.

Tax Benefits – How you can save with the BSLI Critical Illness Rider?

The current tax rules mention the importance of Section 80D of Income Tax Act, 1961, and how it can be used for saving tax. The premiums paid towards the life insurance policy are exempted from tax (subject to fulfillment of other factors). The customers are advised to check the latest policy documents and also to get in touch with a qualified tax consultant to understand the important factors surrounding the IT and insurance policies. Most types of investment and insurance plans provide tax benefits under different sections based on the type of the transaction. A tax consultant can help you determine the tax benefits based on the type of policy, current market, and other factors.

Other Benefits – How you can save with the BSLI Critical Illness Rider?

The BSLI Critical Illness Rider from Birla Sun Life Insurance offers an extensive range of benefits in addition to the policy benefit associated with critical illness. The policyholders or potential customers can visit the Birla Sun Life Insurance's website to find in-depth information on a wide variety of policies, plans, and add-ons. From the initial policy inception stage to documents, verification, claim settlement ratio, etc. the insurer has an excellent track record for providing hassle-free and smooth financial services. Following are few of the extra benefits that are not mentioned earlier:

• Insurer's website has all the details that an individual may require for understanding any part of the insurance policy. The individuals can also access a broad range of financial products and services to learn and compare.
• Policyholders are allowed to make contributions through credit/debit card, cash, cheque, wire transfer and a host of other payment methods.
• The policyholders can make the payments in quarterly, monthly, half-years, yearly, one-off, and periodical cycle based on the type of the insurance/policy.
• The FAQ section on Birla Sun Life Insurance's website provides a ton of useful information to individuals who wants to know about the claim procedures, tax benefits, investment options, etc. Moreover, the customer service department can be reached through chat, toll-free Indian number, dedicated number when dialing from outside India, etc. As a customer, you can also get a representative to call you or visit you at your home or office for your convenience.
• The existing policyholders and customers can log on to the website to access an extensive range of services that are exclusively designed for them.
• The insurer specializes in providing personalized plans to the customers that suits their requirements while keeping the budget at utmost priority.

Why you should buy the BSLI Critical Illness Rider from Birla Sun Life Insurance?

Known for being one of the leading life insurance company in India, Birla Sun Life Insurance Company Limited (BSLI) is a joint venture between the famous Aditya Birla Group from India and Sun Life Financial Inc from Canada. Both the companies have been providing financial services to customers for over a decade. With a customer base of over two and a half million policyholders and an excellent claim settlement ratio, BSLI has become the synonym for one of the most trusted life insurance company. The company has won many awards for enhancing customer's experience through the implementation of the latest technology in the financial and insurance division. The customer service department handles the customers efficiently while educating them on financial matters.

The BSLI Critical Illness Rider takes off the financial burden from a policyholder and allows him/her to manage the medical expenses of a critical illness efficiently. Considering the fact that the treatment and surgery required for any critical illness can a burn hole in anybody's pocket, it is advisable to have a rider policy that can come to rescue when needed. Moreover, the plan offers a sum assured of 100% in case of critical illness depending on the base plan. Rest assured this plan can manage the expense related to some of the most common critical illness. This rider will provide financial safety to the policyholder and his/her family.