A Unit-linked investment plan, popularly known as ULIP, is an investment plan that is part insurance and part equity-based investment. These plans can cover life insurance, retirement benefits, children's education, and even daughters' marriage. The ULIP investment plan has come a long way since the earliest ULIP insurance introduced by the Unit trust of India back in the early 1970s, followed by the trusted Life Insurance Corporation of India coming out with ULIP insurance in 1989.
There are ULIP companies that are highly professional, and their fund management scheme is such that they guarantee at least 14% returns for a period of 7 years. These ULIP policies are becoming popular in a country like India, where just 400 million people out of 1,3 billion people have insurance investments of some kind. The ULIP investment plan of today is very open, and investors are given the option of switching between equity funds and debt funds several times in a year at no cost. Some of the best ULIP plans have unique features of ULIP insurance where future premium payment is waived off in case of the death of the buyer, and the fund stays invested. In this case, the nominee can withdraw funds at periodic intervals, and this makes it a great support to fall back on. A ULIP plan is long term, and there are benefits in the long term. This is the reason why most ULIP investment plans have lock-in periods between 3 to 5 years where investors are not allowed to withdraw even a part of their accrued funds,
So an investor has made a financial plan and has found a plan conducive to fulfilling those plans. So how does the investor buy a ULIP investment plan online?
The process of buying a ULIP plan online
Once an investor has decided on which ULIP investment policy to purchase, he or she can go to the website and log in. After logging in, the investor will be asked if he or she is an existing policyholder or a new customer.
- The investor will be asked to fill in details such as name, date of birth, email ID and mobile number.
- The investor will require to fill in his or her gender and also mention if he or she is a tobacco user or not.
- Once these details have been filled in, the investor will be required to fill in the type of ULIP investment plan selected and be allowed to use the premium calculator to determine the premium required to be paid for the plan selected.
- Many ULIP investment companies offer to do a suitability analysis of the ULIP investment plan selected vis a vis the investor's personal details. The investor has an option to bypass the suitability analysis and ask for the premium to be paid.
- The ULIP investment company will calculate the applicant's premium based on the details provided, such as age and whether the person is a tobacco user or not. The online system will prompt the required coverage for securing the future of the investor along with his or her family. The premium will automatically be calculated at this stage.
- Once these details have been filled in, the investor will be required to upload KYC (know your customer) IDs such as passport-sized photographs and copies of PAN card and aadhaar card.
- Though there is an option to bypass the suitability analysis, it is better to get the suitability analysis done and have a word with some of the company's financial experts.
- Once the investor is satisfied with the target coverage amount and the premium to be paid, a choice of the payment method can be made and the payment made online. The ULIP investment companies also provide the option of auto-debit from the account of the investor.
In this way, an investor can complete the entire process of buying a ULIP investment plan online. Online buying and payment are the most convenient and preferred ways of transacting business, and the young generation prefer to do all these vital activities online. ULIP investment companies have also understood this customer preference and have made their online processes easy and convenient to use.
