HDFC Life Pension Guaranteed Plan

You can choose any of the following annuity options at inception. Plan option once selected cannot be changed.

• Immediate Life Annuity
• Immediate Life Annuity with Return of Purchase Price
• Deferred Life Annuity with Return of Purchase Price

The product is available on a single life as well as joint life basis for all options. The Primary Annuitant will be the primary person entitled to receive the payouts, while the Secondary Annuitant will be entitled to receive the annuities, if so opted, in the event of death of the Primary Annuitant, if applicable.

In a Joint Life annuity, the secondary annuitant can be the spouse/child/parent/parent-in-law or sibling of the primary annuitant. Other relationships maybe considered as long as there is an insurable interest¹ between the annuitants.

1. Annuitants  are said to have an ‘insurable interest’ in the other when they stand to gain or benefit from the continued existence and well being of the other, and would suffer a financial loss if there is a damage to the other.

1. Immediate Life Annuity Option

This option is available on both single life and joint life basis.

a.Single Life

• The annuity will be payable in arrears as per payment frequency chosen by you, for as long as the annuitant is alive.

• On death of the annuitant, the annuity payments will cease and no further benefits will be payable.

b.Joint Life

• The annuity will be payable in arrears as per payment frequency chosen by you, for as long as either of the primary or the secondary annuitant is alive

• On the death of both annuitants, the annuity payments will cease and no further benefits will be payable

2. Immediate Life Annuity with Return of Purchase Price Option.

   This option is available on both single life and joint life basis.

a.Single Life

• The annuity will be payable in arrears as per payment frequency chosen by you, for as long as the annuitant is alive

• On death of the annuitant, Death benefit1 is payable as lump sum to the nominee and no further amount will be payable. Upon payment of the death benefit, the policy shall terminate and all other benefits shall cease.

 b.Joint Life

• The annuity will be payable in arrears as per payment frequency chosen by you, for as long as either of the primary or the secondary annuitant is alive.

• Death benefit is payable as a lumpsum to the nominee, on later of the deaths of the two annuitants.Upon payment of the death benefit, the policy shall terminate and all other benefits shall cease.

3. Deferred Life Annuity with Return of Purchase Price Option

This option is aailable on both single life and joint life basis. Deferment Period may be between 1 to 10 years (Integer values), as chosen by you at inception. The annuity rate shall be as guaranteed at the inception of the Policy.

a.Single Life

• The annuity will be payable in arrears post deferment period as per payment frequency chosen by you, for as long as the annuitant is alive.

• On death of the annuitant, death benefit is payable as lumpsum to the nominee and no further amount will be payable. Upon payment of the death benefit, the policy shall terminate and all other benefits shall cease.

b.Joint Life

The annuity will be payable in arrears post deferment period as per payment frequency chosen by you, for as long as either of the primary or the secondary annuitant is alive. Death benefit is payable as a lumpsum to the nominee, on later of the deaths of the two annuitants. Upon payment of the death benefit, the policy shall terminate and all other benefits shall cease.

A single premium is payable in advance at the start of a contract. Your annuity (for annual frequency) will be calculated as follows:

• Annuity Payout = Applicable Annuity Rate * Purchase Price

The purchase price referred above excludes applicable taxes and other statutory levies if applicable.

Your annuity will be payable in arrears at the end of chosen annuity payment frequency from the date of purchase of the plan. This implies that

• For yearly frequency the annuity payout will be after one year from the purchase.
•  For half-yearly frequency the annuity payout will be after 6 months from the purchase.
• For quarterly frequency the annuity payout will be after 3 months from the purchase.
• For monthly frequency the annuity payout will be one month from date of purchase.

Annuity instalments for frequencies other than annual shall be as specified below:

Note: Yearly Annuity refers to the annuity paid in respect of annual frequency.

• The plan offers a choice to increase your annuity payouts through top-up option.
• The additional annuity amount payable is based on the top-up amount and the annuity rates prevailing at the time of top-up.
• Age considered for annuity rate would be the age at the time of availing top-up.

Discounts in the form of higher annuity rates for Higher Purchase Price will be offered.

Please note that All Joint Life rates are unisex.

For all Single Life policies, the rates offered to a female life will be equal to a male life with a three year setback.

The Death Benefit will vary depending on the annuity option selected by the policy holder. The table   below sets out the Death Benefits for different annuity options:

The purchase price referred above excludes applicable taxes and other statutory levies, if applicable.

Surrender benefit available under different plan options is as follows:

a. Immediate Life Annuity Option (Single and Joint life option): Surrender not allowed.

b. Immediate and Deferred Life Annuity with Return of Purchase Price (Single and Joint life option):

Surrender Value shall be equal to the Present Value (PV) of expected future benefits discounted at the then prevailing interest + 2%.

Illustration:

Details of Surrender Value computation has been outlined in the Policy Document

For the purpose of computing the surrender benefits, the purchase price excludes applicable taxes and other statutory levies, if applicable. Upon payment of the surrender benefit the policy shall terminate and all other benefits shall cease.

Any change in surrender value calculation method shall only be after prior approval of the authority.

In case of surrender of a group policy, the individual members of the group will be given an option to continue the policy as an individual policy. 

Not withstanding anything stated under this document, the following terms & conditions shall apply to QROPS policyholders:

• Cancellation in the Free-Look Period - If this product is purchased as QROPS through transfer of UK tax relieved assets, the proceeds from cancellation in the free-look period shall only be transferred back to the fund house from where the money was received.
• Non-Forfeiture Benefits – If this product is purchased as QROPS through transfer of UK tax relieved assets, access to benefits from policy proceeds would be restricted till the policyholder attains 55 years of age.
• Overseas transfer charge - In the event of applicable tax charge arising as a result of an overseas transfer (Her Majesty Revenue & Customs (HMRC) - policy paper – The overseas transfer charge – guidance, published 8th March 2017) for which the Scheme Manager i.e. HDFC Standard Life Insurance Company may become liable, we shall deduct an amount only to the extent of the applicable tax charge from the policy value and remit the same to HMRC.

Individual:

In case the policyholder is not agreeable to any policy terms and conditions under this product, the policyholder shall have the option of returning the policy to us stating the reasons thereof, within 15 days from the date of receipt of the policy, as per IRDA (Protection of Policyholders’ Interests) Regulations, 2017. If the policyholder has purchased the policy through the Distance Marketing mode, this period will be 30 days. On receipt of the letter along with the original policy document, we shall refund the premium, subject to deduction of the expenses incurred by us for medical examination (if any) and stamp duty (if any).

Group:

In case the Master Policyholder/Scheme Member is not agreeable to any policy terms and conditions under this product, the Master Policyholder/Scheme Member shall have the option of returning the Policy/Certificate of insurance to us stating the reasons thereof, within 15 days from the date of receipt of the Policy/Certificate of insurance, as per IRDA (Protection of Policyholders’ Interests) Regulations, 2017. If the Master Policyholder/Scheme Member has purchased the policy through the Distance Marketing mode, this period will be 30 days. On receipt of the free-look intimation and Policy/Certificate of Insurance, the company shall refund the premium, subject to deduction of the expenses incurred by us for medical examination (if any) and stamp duty (if any). For Administrative purposes, all such free-look requests should be registered by Master Policyholder on behalf of Scheme Member.

If this product is purchased through proceeds from subscribers NPS funds, the proceeds from cancellation in the free-look period shall only be transferred back to the CRA from where the money was received.

Distance Marketing refers to insurance policies sold through any mode apart from face-to-face interactions such as telephone, internet etc (Please refer to “Guidelines on Distance Marketing of Insurance Product” for exhaustive definition of Distance Marketing)

All annuity payouts may be subject to income tax as per the law prevailing on the date of payout. For specific details, please contact your tax consultant. 

Nomination as per Section 39 of the Insurance Act 1938 as amended from time to time:

1. The policyholder of a life insurance on his own life may nominate a person or persons to whom money secured by the policy shall be paid in the event of his death.
2. Where the nominee is a minor, the policyholder may appoint any person to receive the money secured by the policy in the event of policyholder’s death during the minority of the nominee. The manner of appointment to be laid down by the insurer.
3. Nomination can be made at any time before the maturity of the policy.
4. Nomination may be incorporated in the text of the policy itself or may be endorsed on the policy communicated to the insurer and can be registered by the insurer in the records relating to the policy.
5. Nomination can be cancelled or changed at any time before policy matures, by an endorsement or a further endorsement or a will as the case may be.
6. A notice in writing of Change or Cancellation of nomination must be delivered to the insurer for the insurer to be liable to such nominee. Otherwise, insurer will not be liable if a bonafide payment is made to the person named in the text of the policy or in the registered records of the insurer.
7. A transfer or assignment made in accordance with Section 38 shall automatically cancel the nomination except in case of assignment to the insurer or other transferee or assignee for purpose of loan or against security or its reassignment after repayment. In such case, the nomination will not get cancelled to the extent of insurer’s or transferee’s or assignee’s interest in the policy. The nomination will get revived on repayment of the loan.
8. The provisions of Section 39 are not applicable to any life insurance policy to which Section 6 of Married Women’s Property Act, 1874 applies or has at any time applied except where before or after Insurance Laws (Amendment) Act, 2015, a nomination is made in favor of spouse or children or spouse and children whether or not on the face of the policy it is mentioned that it is made under Section 39. Where nomination is intended to be made to spouse or children or spouse and children under Section 6 of MWP Act, it should be specifically mentioned on the policy. In such a case only, the provisions of Section 39 will not apply. 

 For more details, please read the product brochure.

Assignment shall be as per Section 38 of the Insurance Act, 1938 as amended from time to time.

Under Deferred Life Annuity option, Policy Loans will be available during deferment period subject to such terms and conditions as the company may specify from time to time. Our current terms and conditions are stated below:

• The loan amount will be subject to maximum 80% of the surrender value;
• The interest rate on loan is currently 9% p.a. It shall be calculated as the Average Annualised 10 year benchmark G-Sec Yield (over last 6 months & rounded up to the nearest 50 bps) + 2%. The interest rate shall be reviewed half-yearly and any change in the interest rate shall be effective from 25th February and 25th August each year. In case upon review the interest rate is revised, the same shall apply until next revision. The source of 10-year benchmark G-sec yield shall be RBI Negotiated Dealing System-Order Matching segment (NDS-OM).If loan amount plus accrued interest is greater than the surrender value the policy will be foreclosed. At the end of the deferment period, if the surrender value exceeds the loan amount plus accrued interest, such excess will be paid to the customer and policy stands terminated.

No alterations can be made after the annuity has been purchased.

There is no maturity benefit in this plan.

Indirect Taxes

Taxes and Levies as applicable will be charged and payable by you by any method including by levy of an additional monetary amount in addition to premium and/or charges.

Direct Taxes

Tax will be deducted at the applicable rate from the payments made under the policy, as per the provisions of the Income Tax Act, 1961.