Reliance Nippon Life Group Insurance Plans

• Reduce taxable income by up to Rs. 1,50,000 deduction under section 80C**
• Convenient payment options - annual, half-yearly, quarterly or monthly premium payments
• Do more with plans that offer pure protection, retirement planning and investment options

Group insurance plans are meant for employers to secure the job and life of its staff. According to Indian rules, companies have to offer insurance plans – life cover, retirement and superannuation plans – to its employees. Group insurance plans also protect the employers from liabilities such as leave encashment and accidental death of employees.

Reliance Nippon Life Insurance Company is part of the Reliance Capital group of companies. Japan’s Nippon Life Insurance owns a 49% stake in the company. The company offers a range of life insurance plans from term insurance to investment-linked insurance and retirement plans to group insurance schemes. Reliance Nippon’s group insurance portfolio has a large list of products for the benefit of employers and employees.

Benefits of Reliance Nippon Group Insurance Plans:

The main advantages of having a group insurance scheme by Reliance Nippon are:

• The employer can ensure the welfare of the staff with life protection, income protection, saving, and pension plans.
• Both pure life and investment-linked products are available.
• You will never lose your money as the returns are guaranteed.
• You can add extra protection at an additional cost.
• You don’t need to manage your policies and funds – the Reliance Nippon executives assigned to you will take care of everything for you.
• You can pay your premiums/monthly contributions in any mode that you want to. You can also choose the payment frequency most convenient to you.
• Outstanding loans of employees can also be insured, thereby ensuring that the employee’s family or co-borrower does not have to bear the credit burden in case of the person’s accidental demise or total disability in an office accident.
• You can claim tax benefits on contribution as well as death benefits for the policies that are eligible for them under the Indian tax laws.

Reliance Nippon Group Insurance Plans:

Reliance Nippon offers three kinds of Group Plans:

1. Employers Liability Plans: These plans help the employers cover the needs and future of their employees and show the staff that the company cares for their well-being. The plans offered under this sub-category are:
   1. Reliance Nippon Life Traditional Group Employee Benefit Plan
   2. Reliance Traditional Group Superannuation Plan
   3. Reliance Group Leave Encashment Plus Plan
   4. Reliance Group Gratuity Plus Plan
2. Employee Protection Plans: These plans are intended for the protection of the income and life of employees against accidental death or disability while at work. The schemes offered under this are:
   1. Reliance Group Credit Assure Plan
   2. Reliance Group Term Assurance Plus
   3. Reliance Group Credit Assure Plus
   4. Reliance Group Term Assurance Plan EDLI
3. Group Saving Plans: These schemes help employees save for their future through their employer. The Reliance Group Sarv Samriddhi plan is offered under this sub-category.

If you choose additional death benefit on any policy, then you need to pay an insurance premium for that category alone. Group plans usually need a contribution and not a premium payment.

List of Reliance Nippon Group Insurance Plans

Now let us look at each plan in detail:

1. Reliance Nippon Life Traditional Group Employee Benefit Plan: This policy provides employers with an opportunity to insure the life of their employees as well as guarantee them additional financial benefits. The scheme offers payouts upon resignation, retirement, gratuity, leave encashment, and in case of death or complete disability of an employee at the workplace. The sum assured and other benefits depend on the policy amount that the employer has chosen. The policy has to be renewed every year and the minimum contribution is Rs.50,000. There is no limit on the number of employees, or on how much contribution the employer can make and how much sum assured each employee gets. The main features of this plan are:

   1. Minimum number of members in the group: 10
   2. Entry age: 18 years to 79 years
   3. Age at policy maturity: 19 years to 80 years
   4. Policy tenure: 1 year, renewable
   5. Minimum contribution: Rs.50,000
   6. Minimum sum assured: Rs.1,000 per member
   7. Payment frequency: Once in a month, once in 3 months, once in 6 months, or once in a year
   8. Charges applicable:
      1. Mortality charges: Rs.1 for every Rs.1,000 every month
      2. Rider premium: As per policy
      3. Surrender charges: 0.05% of the fund value if the policy is surrendered within 3 years, or Rs.5 lakh, whichever is lower.
      4. Fund management charge: 0.75% p.a.
   9. Riders available:
      1. Group Accidental Additional Death Benefit Rider
      2. Group Accidental Total and Permanent Disablement Rider

2. Reliance Group Gratuity Plus Plan: This policy helps you pay gratuity to your employees after they complete 5 years in your organisation, as per the Payment of Gratuity Act. It is difficult to estimate whether your company’s profits will cover the gratuity for all your employees. By opting for the Group Gratuity Plus Plan, you can make monthly contributions to a long-term investment plan and get high returns that will enhance your capacity of paying gratuity to all your employees. This policy offers an option of 4 investment funds – a balance fund, an equity fund, a corporate bond fund and a money market fund. The plan also offers retirement and resignation benefits and death payout of 15 days’ salary or Rs.10 lakh, whichever is lower. If you already have a gratuity plan with another company, you can transfer it to Reliance Group Gratuity Plus Plan. You can also surrender a policy if you do not want to continue with it for any reason, and Reliance Nippon will pay you the surrender value of the policy. The key features of this plan are as follows:

   1. Minimum number of members in the group: 10
   2. Entry age: 18 years to 65 years
   3. Age at policy maturity: 19 years to 70 years
   4. Policy tenure: 1 year, auto-renewed every year unless the insured company terminates/surrenders the policy.
   5. Yearly gratuity liability contribution: Rs.2 lakh
   6. Minimum sum assured on death of employee: Rs.1,000 per member
   7. Payment frequency: Once in a month, once in 3 months, once in 6 months, or once in a year
   8. Charges applicable:
      1. Surrender charges: 0.05% of the fund value if the policy is surrendered within 3 years, or Rs.5 lakh, whichever is lower.
      2. Fund management charge: 0.75% p.a.
      3. Switching charges: Four switches are free every year. Post that, 0.1% of the switched amount will be taken, subject to a maximum of Rs.5,000 per switch.
      4. Service tax: 14% on insurance premium, switching charge and fund management charge. This is subject to change as per government rules.
   9. Riders available: None

3. Reliance Group Leave Encashment Plus Plan: This policy is ideal for companies that allow its employees accumulate leave days over the years and encashed at the time of resignation, retirement or death. In order to be ready for the requirements of an employee’s leave encashment, this scheme offers an investment-linked group insurance plan that will also cover the death of the employee while at work. The amount payable depends on the annual salary of the employee, the number of leave days accumulated and the sum assured chosen by the company. This policy offers a choice of 4 funds to invest in. You can choose to cease or surrender your policy and take the surrender value of the policy any time you want. The plan is characterised by these features:

   1. Minimum number of members in the group: 10
   2. Entry age: 18 years to 65 years
   3. Age at policy maturity: 19 years to 70 years
   4. Policy tenure: 1 year, auto-renewed every year unless the insured company terminates/surrenders the policy.
   5. Yearly leave encashment contribution: Rs.1 lakh
   6. Minimum sum assured on death of employee: Rs.1,000 per member
   7. Payment frequency: Once in a month, once in 3 months, once in 6 months, or once in a year
   8. Charges applicable:
      1. Surrender charges: 0.05% of the fund value if the policy is surrendered within 3 years, or Rs.5 lakh, whichever is lower.
      2. Fund management charge: 0.75% p.a.
      3. Switching charges: Four switches are free every year. Post that, 0.1% of the switched amount will be taken, subject to a maximum of Rs.5,000 per switch.
      4. Service tax: 14% on insurance premium, switching charge and fund management charge. This is subject to change as per government rules.
   9. Riders available: None

4. Reliance Traditional Group Superannuation Plan: Superannuation is a retirement savings plan under which employees contribute a specific amount every month to the company’s superannuation fund and after they retire they can get the money and use it to make their post-retirement life comfortable. Companies can offer superannuation plans to their employees, and instead of managing the fund and its investment themselves, the fund can be given to Reliance Nippon for management. The fund will earn extra interest rate every financial quarter. You can add riders to the policy and increase your employees’ protection levels. Tax benefits are available on this policy. The important characteristics of this plan are listed below:

   1. Minimum number of members in the group: 10
   2. Entry age: 18 years to 69 years
   3. Age at policy maturity: 19 years to 70 years
   4. Policy tenure: 1 year, renewable
   5. Minimum contribution: Rs.2 lakh
   6. Payment frequency: Monthly, quarterly, half-yearly, annual
   7. Charges applicable:
      1. Surrender charges: 0.05% of the fund value if the policy is surrendered within 3 years, or Rs.5 lakh, whichever is lower.
      2. Service tax: 14% on rider premiums and fund management charge. This is subject to change as per government rules.
      3. Fund management charge: 1% p.a. for amounts up to Rs.5 crore, going down to 0.25% for amount above Rs.200 crore.
   8. Riders available:
      1. Group Accidental Additional Death Benefit Rider
      2. Group Accidental Total and Permanent Disablement Rider

5. Reliance Group Credit Assure Plan: This policy helps employees protect their families from liabilities in case they pass away unexpectedly. So if an employee dies while employed at a company that provides this group plan, then the policy will take care of their outstanding loans. It also protects the interests of the co-borrower if the loan account is joint in nature. This policy covers most kinds of loans and lenders, such as home loan, car loan, business loan, secured and unsecured personal loans, education loan, and commercial vehicle loan. The Group Credit Assure Plan also provides life insurance during the moratorium period of a loan. There is an option of taking either a Level plan (for interest only) or Reducing plan. The features of this plan are as follows:

   1. Minimum number of members in the group: 20
   2. Entry age: 14 years to 65 years
   3. Age at policy maturity: 16 years to 70 years for Single Pay plan, and 22 years to 70 years for Limited Pay schemes.
   4. Policy tenure: A minimum of 2 years for single premium policy and 8 years for limited premium scheme. The maximum policy period is 30 years.
   5. Minimum sum assured: Rs.1 lakh for home loans and Rs.10,000 for other loans per member.
   6. Payment term: One payment for Single Pay scheme, and for Limited Pay plan, 5 years to 20 years.
   7. Premium payment frequency: Monthly, quarterly, half-yearly, annual for Limited Pay policy.
   8. Riders available: None

6. Reliance Group Credit Assure Plus: This policy is similar to the Credit Assure Plan, and offers cover for loans taken by the employee. You can take insurance for amounts lower than your loan liabilities as well under this plan. The main features of this plan are:

   1. Minimum number of members in the group: 20 for employer-employee groups and 50 for non-employer-employee groups.
   2. Entry age: 16 years to 65 years
   3. Age at policy maturity: 18 years to 70 years for Single Pay plan, and 24 years to 70 years for Limited Pay schemes.
   4. Policy tenure: A minimum of 2 years for single premium policy and 8 years for limited premium scheme. The maximum policy period is 30 years.
   5. Payment term: One payment for Single Pay scheme, and for Limited Pay plan, 5 years to 20 years.
   6. Premium payment frequency: Monthly, quarterly, half-yearly, annual for Limited Pay policy.
   7. Riders available: None

7. Reliance Group Term Assurance Plus: This is a pure life policy that covers the life of an employee against unexpected accidents and death. You can add riders and increase the life cover amount. You can change group cover into personal individual cover as well. You can also claim the tax benefits on premium payment associated with term life plans. Here are some important characteristics of this plan:

   1. Minimum number of members in the group: 10 for employer-employee groups and 50 for non-employer-employee groups.
   2. Entry age: 14 years to 80 years
   3. Age at policy maturity: 15 years to 81 years
   4. Policy tenure: 1 year, renewable.
   5. Minimum sum assured on death of employee: Rs.5,000 per member
   6. Payment frequency: Once in a month, once in a quarter, semi-annually, or once in a year
   7. Premium payment tenure: As long as policy is active.
   8. Riders available:
      1. Group Accidental Additional Death Benefit Rider
      2. Group Accidental Total and Permanent Disablement Rider

8. Reliance Group Term Assurance Plan EDLI: According to Indian rules, any company with at least 20 full-time permanent staff and who fall under the purview of the Employee’s Provident Fund and the Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952, have to be part of the Employee’s Deposit-Linked Insurance (EDLI) Scheme. However, the government also allows employers to provide a better life insurance scheme for its employees where the life cover is higher than the EDLI scheme. The Group Term Assurance Plan EDLI is ideal for this purpose as this policy offers better options than the EDLI scheme. For the same premium as the government scheme, the employer can get a higher life cover for their staff. This is also a pure life policy where benefits are received only in case of accidental death and there are no maturity benefits. The policy can be renewed every year and all eligible new employees are added to the scheme from their date of joining.

   1. Minimum number of members in the group: 10 for employer-employee groups and 50 for non-employer-employee groups.
   2. Entry age: 14 years to 80 years
   3. Age at policy maturity: 15 years to 81 years
   4. Policy tenure: 1 year, renewable.
   5. Minimum sum assured on death of employee: Rs.5,000 per member
   6. Payment frequency: Monthly, Quarterly, Semi-annually, Annually
   7. Premium payment tenure: As long as policy is active.
   8. Riders available:
      1. Group Accidental Additional Death Benefit Rider
      2. Group Accidental Total and Permanent Disablement Rider

9. Reliance Group Sarv Samriddhi: This is a savings plan for employees to help them build a corpus for their future. This is a non-market linked and non-participating policy. The policy gives fixed 2.5% interest p.a. as well as an extra interest of 1.25% p.a. that is credited to the employee’s account every three months. The life cover offered by this policy is up to 25 times your premium amount. There are no fund management charges for the first five years. The plan offers maturity benefits as well as death benefits. The policy period is a fixed 10 years, which means that you will be able to increase your wealth considerably over the years through regular premium payment.

   1. Number of members in the group: 20 to 5,000
   2. Entry age: 14 years to 60 years
   3. Age at policy maturity: 24 years to 70 years
   4. Policy tenure: 10 years
   5. Minimum premium: Rs.1,000
   6. Minimum sum assured on death of employee: At least Rs.10,000 per member
   7. Payment frequency: Once in a month, once in 3 months, once in 6 months, or once in a year
   8. Riders available: None

A brief summary of the policies is given in the table below:

Why You Need Reliance Nippon Group Insurance Plans?

• Easy application process: Enrolling into a Reliance Nippon Group Plan is quite easy. Once an employer buys a group policy, all eligible employees are added to the group plan, including the new employees that join afterwards. Reliance Nippon Group Plans are easy to understand as well. They won’t turn tedious even if your employee numbers are large.
• Easy claims process: Reliance Nippon has a Claim Settlement Ratio of 95.01% as on March 2016, which means that 95 out of 100 claims were processed and disbursed by the company. Group plans are as easy to make claims from as individual policies. The process will be completed between 12 to 21 working days.
• Expert services: Reliance Nippon will provide expert fund management services to ensure high returns and limited hassle for the policyholder. You can choose the funds you want to invest in and can transfer from one fund to another whenever you want to.
• Flexibility: You can select the life cover you want to provide the employees and also add extra benefits and riders for the welfare of your staff.
• Regulations-compliant: Reliance Nippon offers group plans compliant with government regulations.
• Tax benefits: You can claim premium payment exemption from income tax calculations for term insurance plans under the Group Schemes. The nominees can claim tax exemption on death benefits received after the employee’s demise. Companies can also claim exemptions under the respective taxation rules.