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rubadhuvarai (From 6 to 60), the hero, played by Rajinikanth, lives on the brink of poverty with his family. His wife dies in a fire accident and just when he thought everything was over in life, fortune visits him and his children in the form of a life insurance policy that his wife had taken earlier and sets them free from penury.

The movie not only established the credentials of Rajinikanth as an actor but also helped create awareness on the importance and benefits of taking a life insurance policy in this part of the country. Those were the 1970s and much water has flown into the oceans since then. But the percentage of women among the total number of lives covered through life insurance in India still remains small, even though it has increased over the years. There is no clear database to show the number of women whose lives are covered vis-à-vis men.

According to the market leader LIC, women comprise 6 crore or about 25 per cent of its total customer base of 28 crore. This excludes the coverage through group, social security and microinsurance schemes. According to Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance, women constitute 38 per cent of their customer base over the past four-five years, while it is 30 per cent each for Reliance Life Insurance and Kotak Life Insurance, while a two-year old company like Star Union Dai-ichi claiming to have only 2 per cent women customers among the individual policy holders. Companies such as ICICI Prudential Life and Birla Sun Life refused to disclose their numbers.

However, industry analysts and observers who Financial Chronicle spoke to felt that on an average, the percentage of women among total lives insured in the country could not be more than 15-20 per cent. The primary reason for this trend is the fact the in Indian social system, a male member was seen as the family's bread earner and insurance, till now, was seen as a product which gave security to the family in case of death of the earning member. So, that is the reason why till now the insurance was seen as product for men rather than women.

The low penetration of life insurance among women is also to be blamed on the Indian mindset that considers insurance as an expense and not a form of protection, industry analysts say. Hence the priority is to cover only the life of the man, on whose demise the family would lose an earning member.

But even those women who do not provide for the family financially are major contributors in many others ways to the family. The loss of a woman to a family, working or domesticated, would mean that the family has to look elsewhere for everyday jobs like managing the house, caring for the children, cooking and cleaning, all of which would come at a cost. It is sad that when it comes to insurance, like in life, the contribution of a woman to the family goes unnoticed.

Rural women covered more

There has, undoubtedly, been growth in the number of women's lives that have been covered over the past four-five years. This, many industry members admit has largely come from microinsurance, which is mandatory for self-help group members and microfinance customers, most of whom are women.

"In rural areas, the proliferation of self help groups and other organisations specifically, working with women, has definitely resulted in lives of more women being covered, especially through group insurance policies. In other locations, the increase in number of women as life insurance customers is a function of changes in the socio-economic profile, increasing levels of education and increasing financial independence amongst women," says Malay Ghosh, president and executive director, Reliance Life Insurance.

Woman's cover is cheaper

In fact, life insurance, favours the woman in that for many life insurance products, women are required to pay a lesser premium compared with men. The premium for any life insurance product is calculated based on factors like mortality, age, urban/rural living, nature of work and occupational hazards among others.

"Women have lower mortality risk compared with men making insurance plans for women cheaper. So it is possible to offer the same product cheaper to women," says Elizabeth Venkatraman, senior vice president, marketing, Kotak Life Insurance. If a life insurance product charges the same premium for both men and women it only means that the product is cross-subsidised, making it cheaper for men, says Manikant, vice-president, India Insure Risk Management and Brokerage Services.

Myths about life insurance

The common myth about life insurance among people is that only the lives of those members who have a source of income, either through regular jobs or business or returns on investment like house or land, could be covered by life insurance. Women who are homemakers with no source of income could take a life insurance policy if their husband, children or any interested member is willing to pay the premium. But the interest the person has in paying the premium and securing the life of the woman must be established to avoid misuse.

Products for the fairer sex

Since there is an increase in urban, upwardly mobile women taking life insurance policies both for protection and also as a method of tax planning, many companies are now looking at women specific life insurance products.

LIC's Jeevan Bharathi policy, aimed at women provides cover for pregnancy-related risks also, which are not covered by other regular policies apart from having a congenital disabilities benefit (CDB) rider that provides 50 per cent of the CDB sum insured in case the woman gives birth to a child with congenital disabilities. Bajaj Allianz also offers a women-specific rider, Mahila Gain, which provides protection against risks specific to women such as breast reconstructive surgery benefit for breast cancer patients and pregnancy complication benefit among others.

It is indeed ironical that many women, right from the average middle class housewife to influential women like Ritu Nanda, the country's leading insurance adviser and the daughter of the legendary Raj Kapoor, find it lucrative to be a life insurance agent. But when it comes to taking a life insurance cover for themselves, women go on the backfoot.

Source : www.mydigitalfc.com