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Why are term plans denied to housewives?

Some companies like Aegon Life offer term plans to housewives, but the quantum of cover is linked to the insurance cover of the husband

My daughter-in-law is a housewife and has no formal salary or business income. Because of this fact, she has been disallowed for a pure term insurance policy, even though she is eligible for other life insurance policies with high premium amount for low life cover. Why this discrimination?
-Sushilkumar Makharia
Most insurance companies do not offer pure term plans to housewives. But we do agree that even if housewives may not be working, they do take up multiple responsibilities that has financial value. But according to insurance companies, since term plans are meant for income replacement, housewives technically do not qualify for these products as they have no income. Some companies like Aegon Life offer term plans to housewives, but the quantum of cover is linked to the insurance cover of the husband. Most companies would be happy to sell insurance-cum-investment products like endowment plans, ULIP, etc. to housewives. However, you should stay away from these products, as they offer very little insurance cover and they mostly offer modest returns.

This article was originally published on December 19, 2016.

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